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977.1021
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11949011
M.L
OENEALOGY COLLECTION
3 1833 02279 7473
HISTORY
City of Columbus
Capital ok Ohio,
ALFRED E. LEE, A. M.
Author of "European Days and Ways," "Battle of Gettysburg,
"Sketches and Studies of Leading
CairLpaigns," etc.
IN TWO J'OLUMES.
ILLUSTRATED.
VOLXJMiE II.
PUBLISHED BY
MUNSELL & CO..
New York and Chicago.
COPYRIGHT, ISeS.
MUNSELL & CO.. NEW YORK.
1194901
CONTENTS
Intermediate Period.
Chapter
I.
Chapter
II.
Chapter
III.
Chapter
IV.
Chapter
V.
Chapter
VI.
Cliapter
VII.
Chapter
viir.
Chapter
IX.
Chapter
X.
Chapter
XI.
Chapter
XII.
Chapter
XIII.
Chapter
XIV.
Chapter
XV.
Chapter
XVI.
First Years as a City Alfred E. Lee.
Second War Episode .... Alfred E. Lte.
The California Exodus ..... Alfred E. Lee.
Reception and Visit of Louis Kossulh . Alfred E. Lee.
Balloon Ascensions Alfred E. Lee.
Current Events in the Forties and Fifties . Alfred E. Lee.
Citizen Military before 1800 . . . Alfred E. Lee.
I. In Wartime— 1861 Alfred E. Lee.
II. In Wartime-1862 .... Alfred E. Lee.
III. In Wartime— 1863 Alfred E. Lee.
IV. In Wariime— 1864 .... Alfred E Lee.
Victory and Sorrow — 1865 .... Alfred E. Lee.
Return of the Volunteers .... Alfred E. l^ee.
War Experiences at Columbus . . George B. Wright.
Old Guard and New .... Alfred E. Lee.
The Great Encampment .... Alfred E. Lee.
Metropolitan Period.
Chapter
XVIL
Chapter
XVIII.
Chapter
XIX.
Chapter
XX.
Chapter
XXI.
Chapter
XXIL
Chapter
XXIII.
Chapter
XXIV.
Chapter
XXV.
Chapter
XXVI.
Chapter
XXVII.
Chapter XXVIIL
Chapter
XXIX.
Current Events Since 1865 . . . Alfred E. Lee.
Railways John .1. Jitnney.
Street Transportation .... John J. Janney.
Manufactures Alfred E. Lee.
Industrial Events Alfred E. Lee.
Board of Trade Alfred E. Lee.
Political Events; 1797-184U . . . Alfred E Lee.
Political Events; 1840-1818 .... Alfred E. Lee.
Political Events; 1849- 1 853 . . . Alfred E. Lee.
Political Events; 1854-1860 . . . Alfr>d E.Lee.
The Coalition of 1853 Oren Follett.
Political Events; 1861-1867 . . . Alfred E. Lee.
Political Events; 1868-1889 . . . Alfred E. Lee.
(V.)
Chapter XXX. Council, Mayoralty and Police— I .
Chapter XXXI. Council, Mayoralty and Police— II
Chapter XXXII. Council, Mayoralty and Police — III
Chapter XXXII. The City Government; compiled by
Chapter XXXII. Public Library and Readingrooni
Chapter XXXIII. Streets, Sewers and Parks .
Chapter XXXIII. Recent Street Paving
Chapter XXXIV. Water Supply, Fire Proteclion and Street
Lighting Alfred E. Lee.
Alfred E. Lee.
467
Alfred E. Lee.
474
Alfred E. Lee.
4S2
Alfred E. Lee.
496
516
Alfred E. Lee.
519
N. B. Abbott.
538
s Capitol a.\d Institutions.
Chapter XXXV. The Capitol Alfred E. Lee. 565
Chapter XXXVI. The Penitentiary .... Alfred E. Lee. 578
Chapter XXXVII. Central Asylum for the Insane . . Alfred E. Lee. 591
Chapter XXXVIII. Institution for the Deaf and Dumb .
Professor Robert Patterson. 599
Chapter XXXIX. Institution for the Blind ....
Late Superiuteudent G. L. Smead. 611
Chapter XL. Institution for the Feebleminded
Hon. Norton S. Townshend. 617
Chapter XLI. Ohio State University .... Alfred E. Lee. 621
Church History— Part II.
Chapter
XLIL
Chapter
XUII.
Chapter
XLIV.
Chapter
XLIV.
Chapter
XLV.
Chapter
XLV.
Chapter
XLV.
Chapter
XLV.
Chapter
XLV.
Chapter
XLV.
Chapter
XLV.
Chapter
XLV.
Chapter
XLVI.
Chapter
XLVII.
Catholic Rev. Dennis A. Clarke. 633
Baptist Osman C. Hooper. 675
Lutheran
Protestor Lewis Heyl, F. J. Heer and Rev. C. H. Robe. 693
Capital University . . Professor Emanuel Schmid. 701
Various Churches Alfred E. Lee. 705
Protestant Episcopal 705
Independent Protestant German . . . 709
United Brethren in Christ and Disciples of Christ 710
Universalist Rev. W. M. Jones. 711
Congregation of B'nai Israel .... 714
Young Men's Christian Association . . 715
Columbus Churches in 1892 .... 719
Cemeteries Alfred E. Lee. 721
Charities Alfred E. Lee. 728
Associative Organizations.
Chapter XLVIII. Associative Organizations ; I. Masonic
D. N. Kinsman, M.D. 747
Associative Organizations — Continued.
Chapter XLIX. Associative Organizations ; II. Independent
Order of Odd Fellows . . . Charles L. Young. 7().5
Chapter XLIX. The Miinnerchor Alfred E. Lee. 76.S
Chapter XLIX. The LiederUranz Thomas F. M. Kooh. 769
Chapter XLIX. The Turnverein Alfred E. Lee. 771
Chapter XLIX. The Wyandot Club .... E. L. Taylor, Esq. 773
Chapter XLIX. The Columbus Club 778
Chapter XLIX. Associative Organizations ia 1892 . . 775
Chapter L. Music and the Drama Alfred E. Lee. 782
Chapter LI. Representative Citizens; W. B. O'Neill, A C. Carson and others :
Abbott, N. B 823
Bergin, M. J 848
Bliss, J. P 822
Born, Conrad, Junior 832
Bright, George W 831
Brack, Philip H 820
Clarke, Rev, D. A 827
Dundon, T. J 848
Emminger, Allen F . 840
Evans, Maurice 82.5
Felber, Jacob 836
Freeman, George D 812
Goldschmidt, John C 829
Gottschall, Frederick J 849
Gray, D. S 81^
Grubs, William H 838
Griin, Dietrich 816
Hallwood, Henry S 8.54
Hardesty, W. A 841
Hartman, S. B 843
HeddiiuSj Rev. Christian 830
Hendrixson; O. P 826
Jiiger, Frederick 821
Jessing, Rev. Joseph 828
Jones, J. K. " 807
Kilbourne, JameSj Junior 810
Knight, H. W. . . . . " 824
Lilley, M. C 803
Lower; Valentine 816
Matzel, George H. 814
McKinley, William, Junior 817
Montgomery, James Myers 846
Morley, A. T 839
Neil, H. M 809
Newsom, L. C 845
Biographical — Continued.
Obetz, Nelson 825
Fatten, A. G. 813
Peters, Geori;e M 844
Peters, Oscar G 844
Powell, Tbomas E 819
Pugh, Andrew G 840
T'uliiiip, .Iani.s<i 817
Reynolds, William C 837
Ei.kly, Samuel S 833
Saul, John 850
Savage, William M 805
Shrock, ME 804
Sw^HVne, \oali H 837
Swaviie. Wigfr 808
T. Ilniadge, Theodore W 851
Walterson, Bishop John A. 658
Wrge, Charles 839
W. nz. John 849
AVright George B 168
LLUSTRATIONS.
Churches. Paoe
First Baptist Meetinghouse ^''~
Russell Street Baptist 681
First Baptist 686
Memorial Baptist 689
Saint Paul's Lutheran 697
Universalist 712
Manufactories.
Buckeye Buggy Company ■ . . . opposite 376
Case Manufacturing Company opposite 392
Columbus Buggy Company 325
Columbus Machine Company 333
Crystal Ice Manufacturing and Cold Storage Company . . . opposite 424
Jeffrey Manufacturing Company opposite 432
Kilbourne-Jacobs Manufacturing Company 321 and 329
Ohio (Hall wood Block) Paving Company 33B
The Regalia (M. C. Lilley Company) 317
Surgical Hotel opposite 600
La Normandib opposite 800
Public Buildings.
Capitol, The Slate frontispiece
Courthouse, Franklin County opposite 218
Deaf and Dumb, Institution for the ....-.•• 605
Residences.
Abbott, N. B opposite 240
Belknap, S. C opposite 816
Born, Conrad, Junior, opposite 752
Drake, Mrs. J. M opposite 56
Dunn, Joseph H opposite 616
(ix.)
Illustrations.
Residences — Continued.
Fish, W. H opposite 840
Gray, David S opposite 240
Hardesty, William A opposite 368
Hartr
opposite 616
Hughes, F. L opposite 832
Huntington, B. N opposite 40
Jager, Frederick opposite 496
Kilbourn, James opposite 128
Lazarus, Fredericls; opposite 800
Lilley, Mitchell C opposite 16
Lower, Valentine opposite 272
McMillin, Emerson opposite 24
Patton, Alexander G opposite 208
Powell, Thomas E opposite 544
Prentiss, F. W opposite 40
Pugh, A. G. . opposite 544
Stewart, E. K opposite 56
Portraits.
Abbott, N. B. .
Bergin, Matthew J.
opposite 520
opposite
Bliss, J. P opposite 512
Born, Conrad, Junior opposite 752
Bright, George W opposite 720
Bruck, Philip H -opposite 480
Clarke, Dennis A opposite 640
Dundon, Thomas J opposite 448
Emminger, Allen F opposite 700
Evans, Maurice opposite 570
Felber, Jacob opposite 344
Firestone, Clinton D opposite 160
Freeman, George D opposite 192
Goldschmidt, John C ■ ooposite 656
Gottschall, Frederick J opposite 768
Gray, David S opposite 240
Grubs, William H opposite 784
Griin, Dietrich opposite 288
Hallwood, Henry S opposite 336
Hardesty, William A opposite 368
Hartman, S. B opposite 600
Heddaus, Christian opposite 704
Hendrixson, Oliver P opposite 592
Jaeger, Frederick opposite 496
Janney, John J opposite 2.30
Jessing, .Joseph opposite 648
Jones, James Kilbourne . opposite SO
Illustrations.
Portraits — Continued.
Kilbourne, James opposite 128
Knight, Henry W opposite 528
Lilley, Mitchell Campbell opposite 16
Lower, Valentine opposite 272
Miitzel, George H opposite 224
McDougal, James D opposite 800
McKinley, William, Junior opposite 384
Montgomery, James M opposite 464
Morley, A. T opposite 360
Neil, Henry M opposite 112
Neil, John B opposite 416
Neil, Moses H opposite 144
Newsom, Logan C opposite 624
Obetz, Nelson opposite 608
Patton, Alexander G opposite 208
Peters, George M opposite 64
Peters, Oscar G opposite 152
Powell, Thomas E opposite 400
Pugh, Andrew G opposite 544
Pulling, James G opposite 304
Reynolds, William 0 opposite 352
Rickly, Ralph R opposite 312
Saul, John opposite 736
Savage, William M opposite 48
Shrock, Michael E opposite 32
Swayne, Noah H opposite 8
Tallmadge, Theodore W. . . opposite 176
Watterson, John Ambrose opposite 632
Wege, Charles opposite 576
Wenz, John opposite 792
Wright, George B opposite 168
Preface to Volume II,
The completion of this work happens to be simultaneous with
the celebration of the four hundredth anniversary of the landing of
Columbus. The coincidence is accidental, but appropriate, and in
some respects significant. While the story of the Great Discovery
is being recounted with special observances m every part of the civi-
lized world, the time is propitious for the consummation of a histori-
cal record of the most imjDortant city bearing the discoverer's name.
It is an impressive fact that such a record is possible. When
Columbus found and took possession of the island of Guanahani, so
imperfect was his own knowledge of what he had accomplished that
he believed he had touched the eastern confines of the Orient. In
this belief he remained to the end of his life. He had no suspicion
that an entire hemisphere yet lay between him and India. The islands
which he saAv were supposed to be a western grouji of the Indies, and
were so named. Four centuries later the capital of a great kState, lying
in the interior of a vast continent which Columbus never knew to be
such, bears his name and commemorates his achievements.
The change, the progress implied by this fact is incalculably
great. In the social and material development, the history of which
has been chronicled in these volumes, we have an admirable illustra-
tion of this change. Less than one century ago the ground on which
the City of Columbus now stands was covered with a forest as primi-
tive as any which its illustrious namesake saw when he explored the
(xiii.)
xiv. Preface.
Bahamas, or visited the Orinoco. With miraculous celerity human
energy and genius have transformed that wilderness into what we now
see and enjoy. But yesterday the poetic seer might have said of it:
Bebind the squaw's light birch canoe,
The steamer rocks and raves,
And city lots are staked for sale
Above old Indian graves.
i hear the tread of pioneers,
Of nations yet to be —
The first low wash of waves where soon
Shall roll a human sea.
Today that sea, resistless and unresting, sweeps in vast swelling
tide over all these hills and valleys.
The capital of Ohio is litly named. A child of the wilderness,
it worthily represents the marvelous results of which Columbus the
explorer was the harbinger, and to which his voyages led the way.
If not a continental city, it is at least a typical one. The common-
wealth which created it, and adopted it as a political center, is pre-
eminently a typical American State.
Thou art not East, thou art not West,
Thou shieldest both with thy broad breast
And loyal heart, Ohio.
In the population of the State all the elements of American life
are fused; in its position and history all the important conditions of
American development are found. Such a commonwealth, in growth,
in relations and in social tibre so admirably representing America,
does well to designate its capital by the name of America's dis-
coverer.
What that heroic soul dreamed of and nobly strove after, but
died without seeing, our eyes behold. Of the great things of the
PrEFACK. XV.
futm-e which now lie beyond our sight as these things lay beyond his,
and which will be realized by those who shall come after us, perhaps
we are as unsuspecting as was he of what the last four centuries
have revealed.
ALFRED E. LEE.
Columbus, Ohio, October 12, 1892.
Intermediate Period.
CHAPTER I.
FIRST YEARS AS A CITY.
The original incorporation of the Borough of Columbus was effected bj' act
of the General Assembly passed March 3, 1834. By thsvt act, which will be more
speeitically referred to in a later chapter, " so much of the county of Franklin "
as was comprised within certain specified boundaries was declared to be a city,
and the inhabUants thereof were "created a body corporate and politic, with per-
petual succession, by the name and style of the City of Columbus."
From the passage of tiiis act dates a new era in tlie political life of the capi-
tal, which, for the sake of convenience may be (lenominated the Intermediate
Period. New phases of commercial, industrial and social activity following the
building of the National Road, the opening of the Canal, the establishment of a
solvent and safe system of State Banking, the discovery and practical application
of the Magnetic Telegraph, and finally, the advent of wheeled transportation by
steam, were contemporary and also nearly conterminous with that period. Under
special topics a portion of the incidents attending these economic changes have
already been narrated ; our present task shall be to note the general course of
miscellaneous events in the history of the capital doivu to the time when its polit-
ical and business life assumed a metropolitan type. In other words, we shall
now endeavor to bridge the historical space lying between the first active develop-
ment of commerce by canal and the commercial, industrial and social metamor-
phosis produced by the utilization of mineral resources which followed the open-
ing of the Hocking Valley Railway.
Prior to the construction of the National Road and the Ohio Canal the growth
of Columbus, notwithstanding its advantages as the seat of government, had not
been rapid. In 1831 the town contained about three hundred and fifty dwellings,
fifteen general stores, four printing oflSces, one bank, a markethouse, four
churches— Presbyterian, Methodist, German Lutheran and Episcopalian— five
clergymen, ten lawyers, five regular physicians, and a total population of 2,434
inhabitants.' Such was the capital when the opening of the canal brought it into
direct commercial connections with the East, and imparted a fresh stimulus to its
development. In consequence of that stimulus several now additions to the town
were laid out and sold, and so many new families arrived that a portion of them
were obliged to go away again for want of houses to dwell in. This progress
received a serious check from the cholera outbreak of 1833, but was renewed after
[3]
4 History op the Citv of Columbus.
that epidemic had passed, and received an additional impetus from the completion
of the National Eoad. At the time the Borough was incorporated as a city in
1834, its " official, professional and business men and houses," according to Martin,
were as follows :'
United States Officers.— GXark of the United States Courts, William iMiiior;
Marshal of the District of Ohio, John Patterson ; District Attorney, Noah II.
Swayne; Postmaster, Bela Latham;^ Superintendent of the .National Road,
Henry Brewerton ; Engineer and inspector, ditto, David Seoit: Indian Agent,
John McElvain.
Stdte Officers. — Secretary of Slate, Benjamin Hinkson ; State Treasurer, Henry
Brown; State Auditor, John A. Brj-an ; Ciiief Clerk in State Auditor's Office,
Timothy Griffith ; Keeper of the Ohio Penitentiarj', William W. Gault ; Superin-
tendent of New Penitentiary, N. Medbjifrj- ; State Librarian, Zachariali Mills;
Adjutant-General, Samuel C. Andrews; Quartermaster - General, Christopher
Niswanger.
Practising Lawyers. — Gustavus Swan, Orris Parish, Noah H. Swayne, P. B.
Wilcox, Lyne Starling, Junior, M. J. Gilbert, Mease Smith, John G. Miller, Samuel
C. Andrews, John D. Munford.
Practising Physicians. — Samuel Parsons, John M. Edmistou, M. B. Wright,
Peter Jackson, Peleg Sisson, Robert Thompson, William M. Awl, N. N. Miller, S.
Z. Seltzer, J. S. Landes, P. H. Eberly.
Officiating Clergymen. — James Hoge, D. D., Presbytei-ian ; William Preston,
Episcopalian ; L. B. Gurley, Eussell Bigelow, Thomas Asbury and Jesse F. Wis-
com, Methodist, Mr. Gurley being a stationed preacher and Messrs. Bigelow,
Asbury and Wiscom, Temperance Agents; George Jeffries and Edward Davis,
Baptist.
Merchants. — In dry goods and groceries, L. Goodale & Co., Buttles & Matthews,
Stewart & Higgins, D. Woodbury, J. & S. Stone, A. P. Stone, John Greenwood, D.
W. Deshler, McCoy & Work, John Brooks, Reuben Brooks, David Brook.s, T. Pet-
ers & Son, Saunders & Frye, Bond & Walbridge, Burr & Gregory, M. Northrup,
Brotherton & Kooken, Joshua Baldwin & Co., Jjemuel Eeynolds, Olmsted & St.
Clair, Eobert Russell & Co. ; auction store, C. W. Kent; wholesale druggists, O.
& S. Crosby, Sumner Clark, J. S. & D. Landes; booksellers and stationers, I. N.
Whiting, B. k J. TurnbuU ; tin and hardware, W. M. Kasson & Co., W. A. Gill &
Co. ; shoes, William W. Blake ; jewelry, William A. Piatt ; wholesale grocers,
Sherwood & Gregory, Finley & Ha n ford ; grocer and liquordealer, John Young.
Taverns. — National Hotel, John Noble; Franklin House (Southeast corner
High and Town), J. Robinson & Son; Globe Hotel, Robert Russell; Lion Hotel,
Jerenuah Armstrong; Swan Hotel, Christian Hej'l ; Eagel Hotel, David Brooks ;
White Horse Wagonyard, Amos Meueely; Farmers' and Mechanics' Tavern,
T. Cadwallader ; Boarding House, Ira Grover.
To tliis list should be added some leather stores and small factories. The first
theatre, of which a n\ore particular account will be given in another chapter, was
opened in the autumn of 1835.
First Years as a City. 5
One of the most interesting features of life at tlie capital at this time was the
attendance of distinguished lawyers at the sessions of the courts. On this subject
we find the following intere.sting sentences in one of the Jewett letters heretofore
quoted :
United States Circuit Court closed its session a short time siuce. At the bar was quite a
concentration of western talent. Judge McLean presides with supreme dignity. He is
revered as a judge, and is very popular as a man. His bearing is such as would not ill befit
tlie Chief Magistracy of the United States, and as for strong and commanding power of mind,
the most jealous concede to him a more than ordinary share. The celebrated lawyer Dod-
dridge, of Virginia, appeared at the bar. . . . His constitution is of iron, and dissipation, with
late hours, have not been able to weaken it. . . . He is a signal instance of the weakness of
moral united with the strength of intellectual power. Mr. Ewing, our United States Senator,
was also on the carpet. A selfuiade man, at twenty years of age he was an inferior laborer at
the Kanawha Saltworks in Virginia. Behold him now ! He is distinguished for unraveling
the Gordian knots of the law. Mr. J. C. Wright was opposed to him in several cases. The
sparring of the Judge and the Senator was kept up with wonderful spirit.
Of the general prosperity and prospects of the capital in 18:^6 we have the fol-
lowing coiitompoi-ary statements:''
Our citiz-iis JKive, as it were per force, yielded acquiescence to the gradual, and, because
gradual, almost iuiperceiitible rise in real estate in this vicinity. . . . In the meantime the
National Road has been completed to this point from the East, and is rapidly progressing
West; the Sandusky and Columbus Turnpike has been completed, and numerous important
and feasible projects for ra,ilroads, turnpikes, &c., are in embryo, proposing to connect
our city with the Lakes, the Ohio River South and East of us, and with the Mississippi in the
Far West The consequence of these things, added to the privileges we enjoy from the Ohio
Canal, the rapid increase of our city population (100 per cent in five years) and the high
l)rices which everything consumable bears in our market, has gradually, but certainly and
surely enhanced the value of real estate in this city and the country adjacent. ... It is
rumored, and we believe with truth, that some eastern capitalists have recently turned their
attention tons. . . . In regard to city property it should be borne in mind that we are situated
not only in the center and at the capital of one of the richest and most fertile States of the
Union, but that we are enjoying and about to enjoy extended privileges which no other
inland town can possibly partake of. Who does not perceive that a canal or railroad will in
a very few years connect us by a direct route through the Scioto Valley with Lake Erie ?
Who doubts but the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad will in five years reach the capital of Ohio ?
Who doubts but that the great projected Railroad from Charleston to Lake Erie will be com-
pleted in ten years, and pass directly through Columbus towards Cleveland? If any, surely
no one can doubt but that in less time a Railroad or M'Adamized road will extend from this
direct to Cleveland on the East and Cincinnati on the West. Look which way you will, it is
apparent that Columbus is, and from its situation must be, a radiating centre from and to
which innumerable sources of wealth and prosperity will continue to flow. Five years
since, it contained about i',oOO inhabitants ; now about 5,500. Five years hence its numbers
may not be less than eight — perhaps ten thousand.
The financial troubles which culminated in 1837 put a blight upon these fine
prospects. Real estate and general prices declined, and for several years business
remained in a disturbed or languid state Nevertheless Columbus must have been
an interesting town, and witha.l a pleasant place to live in. The editor of the
Whccliiit/ Times, who visited the place as a delegate to an editorial convention in
18.39 wrote of Ohio's capital :
6 History of the City of Columbds.
It is now the prettiest town we have seen in the western country. It is prettily
situated, and contains private residences exhibiting a high degree both of taste and wealth.
There is an easy and comfortable air, a manifestation of learning, good morals and refine-
ment, in all parts of the city, and a most social and agreeable manner evinced, so far as we
could judge, in its inhabitants.
The soealled Michigan Boundary dispute, which culminated in February
1835, produced an episode of considerable local interest. The origin of this dis-
pute may be briefly sketched. The Ordinance of 1787 authorized the formation
of one or two states from that portion of the Northwest Territory lying " north
of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake
Michigan,'' and the enabling act of Congress under which Ohio was admitted to the
Union as a State described her northern boundary as " an east and west line drawn
to the southerly extreme of Iftke Michigan, running east after intersecting the due
north line from the mouth of the Great Miami until it shall intersect Lake Erie,
or the territorial line, and thence with the same line through Lake Brie to the
Peonsylvania line." Perceiving that a line drawn due east from the southern
extremity of Lake Michigan would probably not intersect the Maumee Bay at all,
but fall south of it, the convention which framed the first constitution of Ohio put
into that instrument a proviso that, should this apprehension be confirmed, then,
with the assent of Congress, the northern boundary of Ohio should "be established
by and extend to a direct line running from the southern extremity of Lake Mich-
igan to the most northerly cape of the Miami Bay, after intersecting the due north
line from the mouth of the Great Miami [Maumee] River aforesaid ; thence north-
east to the territorial line to the Pennsylvania line."
In 1817. the line thus constitutionally defined was surveyed, under national
auspices, by William Harris, and in 1818, it was formally adopted by the General
Assembly of Ohio as the northern boundary of the State. Meanwhile the Terri-
tory of Michigan had been formed with the southern boundary defined in the
same paradoxical terms which had been used by Congress in the enabling act fix-
ing the northern boundarj' of Ohio. Thus a sort of Schleswig-Holstein question
was raised on our northern border, and it was not long in assuming a serious
aspect. Congress undoubtedly intended to assign to Ohio a boundaiy substanti-
ally identical with the Harris line, but the territorial authorities of Michigan were
not disposed to acquiesce in that view. These authorities claimed and proceeded
to exercise jurisdiction over all the territory north of a line due east and west from
the southern extremity of Lake Michigan, thus a.ssuming to take from Ohio a tri-
angular tract over which she had hitherto held undisputed sway, and which
extended from Lake Erie to her western boundary. This strip was about ten
miles wide at its eastern extremity, and inchnied the present site of the city of
Toledo. On February 12, 1835, the Legislative Council of Michigan passed an
act asserting control over this tract, and on the twentysecond of the same month
the General Assembly of Ohio, acting in pursuance of a special message from
Governor Lucas, passed an act identifying the northern boundary of the State
with the Harris line. Thus the issue was joined. Stevens T. Ma.son, acting
Governor of Michigan, officially announced that an armed collision was inevitable
First Years as a City. 7
and niarshalod liis militia forces to meet the crisis; Governor Lucas, equally
determined, appointed a commission to definitely locate the Harris line, and
directed John Bell, M;ijor-General of the Seventeenth Division of the Ohio Militia,
to meet him at Perrysburg, April 1, with a force sufficient to protect the commis-
sioners in the discharge of their duties. Pursuant to this command General Bell
assembled a force of about five hundred men on the frontier, but the intercession
of a ]ieace commi.ssion from Washington prevented an actual outbreak of hostili-
ties. Ncvertheles.s nine members of the Ohio surveying party were seized by the
Michigan militia, and the boundary commissioners were obliged to fly to Perrys-
burg. Thereupon Governor Lucas summoned the General Assembly to meet in extra
session beginning June 8, and directed his Adjutant-General, Samuel C. Andrews,
to ascertain what number of volunteer cavalry and mounted riflemen could be
raised and equipped who would be willing to march out at a moment's warning to
defend the rights and honor of the State to sustain our civil authorities in the dis-
charge of their duties, and to protect our citizens within the constitutional limits of
the State.
Responding to the recommendations of the Governor, the General Assembly
passed acts to " prevent the forcible abduction of citizens of Ohio ;" created, in part
from the disputed territory, the county of Lucas, with Toledo as its seat of justice ;
appropriated $300,000 for war purposes, and authorized a loan of $300,000 more if
needed. In harmony with these measures, Adjutant-General Andrews reported
that he had a force of ten thousand men ready for action. Public opinion fully
sustained the Governor and the war feeling ran high. " Our citizen soldiers," said
the State Journal of August of 28, " are prepared to turn out en masse." Mean-
while Governor Lucas dispatched Noah H. Swayne, William Allen and D. T. Disnej-
to Washington to present the Ohio case to President Jackson, who, without assuming
to exercise other authority in the matter than that of mediator, exerted such
influence as prevented further aggressions from the Michigan side. On June 29,
1836, Governor Mason was removed from office, and in June, 1836, Congress form-
ally confirmed Ohio's claim, but, as an indemnity to Michigan for the loss of disputed
territory on her southern border, presented to her the great mineral and timber
region now known as the Northern Peninsula.
For a long time after this trouble was allayed, the adventures of the " Michigan
War" were favorite themes for popular jest and raillery. In the General
Assembly this disposition to make merry over the matter found vent in various
prosposed amendments to a bill, pending in 1837, to organize and discipline
the state militia. Among these amendments was the following humorous pre-
amble offered by Mr. Quinby :
Whereas, our warriors, in days of yore,
Went forth from peaceful scenes
To try the tug of furious war
Among the Wolverines ;
And whereas, most villanous traps and snares
Were then prepared to catch them ;
8 History of the City of Columbus.
Black swamps to swallow them unawares,
And briars and thorns to scratch them ;
And whereas, most wonderful feats of arms.
And legs, were then performed.
Whilst raging owls sang forth alarms
And the brambly battle stormed ;
Therefore that we may emulate
These deeds of chivalry,
And equal glories perpetrate,
Let it enacted be.
On January 26, 1838, the General Assembly passed an act for the erection of
ft new statehouse. Full particulars as to this measure, and the structure for which
it provided, are reserved for the chapter on the historj- of the Capitol. Present
reference to the subject is made because of its relations to a formidable effort soon
afterwards put forth for the removal of the seat of government. Antecedent
to the formal manifestation of this effort an expectation seems to have taken
root in various towns in Central Ohio that after expiration of the period for which
the State was bound bj- conti-act with the Starling syndicate to keep the capital at
Columbus, a chance would be offered for its location at some other point. As early
as 1837 signs of this expectation assumed the form of open suggestions of removal,
coupled with various labored allegations as to the shortcomings of Columbus. One
of the most conspicuous accusations with which that inchoate city was i-ailed
against was that of putting on "metropolitan airs." To this insinuating charge
was added the assertion that the ffamed " high bank opposite Franklinton " was,
in fact, one of the most unhealthy locations that could have been selected, besides
being, as was alleged, too far from the geographical centre of the State.
These and similar tales were beginning to produce some impression upon
public opinion when an incident took place which gave them sufficient force to
precipitate a crisis. During the legislative session of 1839-40 Samuel Medary,
the State Printer, was blamed by certain political antagonists for having appro-
priated to his own use as a perquisite the outside quires — casse or "quasi"
quires, as they were called — of each ream of paper purchased for the State. In
the House of Representatives charges that the Public Printer had sold as his own
a quantity of broken quires or "quasi paper" were referred to a special committee
of which R. P. Spalding, of Portage County, was Chairman. This committee
reported justifying the Public Printer in appropriating the casse quires, on the
ground that such paper was " not suitable for the Public Printing " nor " for any
other printing of an ordinary character," and that it had " long been an estab-
lished usage among printers to appropriate it to various subordinate and inciden-
tal uses about the office, and to consider it as one of the perquisites of their
calling."
The discussion of this subject elicited jiroposals for the execution of the State
printing on contract at lower rates than were then being paid. These proposals
were presented to the Senate and there referred to a select committee from which
First Years as a City. 9
majority and minority reports were made, the first declaring that the public
printing was being done more cheaply in Ohio than in other states and as cheaply
as it could be properly done; while the minoritj- report took the opposite view
and condemned the perquisite of the casse quires as an abuse which should be
discontinued. All this nettled Mr. Medarj*. who lost no time in making things
interesting for his persecutors. As a means of giving these gentlemen something
else than the casse quires to think about, charges were brought against one of
their party associates, William B. Lloyd, member of the House of Eepresentatives
from Cuyahoga County, of having surreptitiously altered certain accounts against
him which had been assigned to a third party. By a partisan vote, Mr. Lloyd
was pronounced guilty of these charges, and a motion for his expulsion was made,
but failed to receive the votes of twothirds of the members, and was therefore
lost. Thereupon a friend of Mr. Lloyd's drew up the following paper, which was
circulated in the town for signatures:
Columbus, February 13, 1840.
WiUiam B. Lloyd, Esq..
Dear Sir: — The undersigned, convinced beyond doubt that the charge lately circu-
lated against yourself is totally unsustained by the testimony relating to the matter, and
the act charged one of which it is impossible you should be guilty, beg leave respectfully to
assure you of our undiminished confidence in the integrity of your character and to
express to you our sincerest wishes for your future happiness and prosperity.
On the evening of February 17 the State Journal published this document
with sixtj'three names attached to it, among the signatures being those of such
wellknown citizens as George M. Parsons, William A. Piatt, Alfred Keliey, J. N.
Champion and James Kilbourn. As is usual in such cases, most of the names had
been signed thoughtlessly, without intention to give offense, yet such was the
resentment provoked hj it, and by Mr. Lloyd's reappearance in the House of
Eepresentatives, accompanied to the lobby by some of his partisans, that on the
following morning, eighteenth, a bill to repeal the act providing for the erection
of a new statehouse was reported from the Judiciary Committee by Mr. Charles
B. Flood, meiTiber from Licking County; and Mr. R. P. Spalding, member from
Portage Count}', presented, a few minutes later, the following resolution :
That a select committee of five be appointed to inquire into the expediency of remov-
ing the seat of government of the State from Columbus, in Franklin County, to Newark, in
Licking County, Delaware, in Delaware County, or Mt. Vernon, in Knox County, and that
said committee report by bill or otherwise.
The proceedings which followed are thus reported in tiic Stati' Journal:
Mr. Spalding wished to have the seat of government removed to some place where the
members of the legislature could be free from insult and interference.
Mr. [C. B.] Flood moved to amend the resolution so as to instruct the committee to
report such a bill.
Mr. [Mo.ses B.] Corwin [Champaign County] defended the citizens of Columbus from
the imputation cast upon them by the mover of the resolution.
Mr. Spalding maintained that the subject should be inquired into. A bill had been
introduced to repeal the act authorizing the erfction of a new statehouse, which would
unquestionably pass the houses. It was time to take this course before it would be too late.
10 History op the Citt op Columbus.
The New Statebouse had not progressed so far that inquiry or loss would occur to the State
by the removal of the seat of government. The people had talked about the matter.
Mr. S. remarked that the people of Columbus had already received enough from the hands
of the sovernment of the State. Thev hail hung like leeches upon the body politic, and
were filled to surfeiting. Mr. S. alluded to the " loving .satellites of the lobby," but the drift
of the remark was not perceptible.
Mr. [.Alexander] Waddle [Clark County], who thought the object of the resolution was
to manifest a vengeance against the people of Columbus for daring to express their opinion,
made the following amendment:
And that said committee be instructed to report a bill prohibiting the citizens of Ohio
from esjjressing their opinions on the proceedings of the legislature in other terms than of
unqualified approbation.
Mr. Lloyd asked to be excused from voting, as he had just come in, and did not under-
stand the question fully. The House refusing to grant him leave, he voted, remarking at
the same time that such legislation was above his comprehension.
Mr. Lloyd moved to amend the amendment of Mr. Waddle by inserting the following:
" .\nd that said committee be instructed to report also a bill for the removal of the Peni-
tentiary."
Mr. [Andrew H.] Patterson, of Delaware, moved also to insert "the Lunatic Asylum."
Mr. Lloyd observed that he would suggest in the most polite manner possible to the
gentleman from Delaware that this institution was one in which the gentleman had no kind
of personal interest, for, said Mr. L., to those to whom the .\Imighty, in his wisdom and
benevolence had denied preception, such an institution would never become necessary, and
would never need the benefits of a Lunatic Asylum.
Mr. Patterson said he could not reply to the remarks of the gentleman from Cuyahoga,
uttered either here or elsewhere. '
Mr. Lloyd begged the gentleman from Delaware not to be alarmed, as they were not
now on the other side of the Ohio River.
Mr. Patterson moved to add the following:
And that the members of the legislature shall first consult the citizens of Columbus
upon all luatters of importance that may be presented for their action, at least so far as the
expulsion of a Whig member may be coni«rned.
Mr. Waddle moved to strike out ■'Columbus," as possibly the legislature might sit here-
after at Delaware.
Mr. [Samuel] Reed [Ross, Pike and Jackson counties] moved to lay the resolution on
the table 'till "the House should get cooler."
The amendment offered by Mr. Flood was lost b}- a tic vote, 32 to 32, the
Speaker (Thomas J. Buchanan, Clermont County) voting in the affirmative. The
amendments of Messrs. Waddle and Lloyd were both lost by a vote of three yeas
to sixty naj^s. The resolution offered by Mr. Spalding was then adopted, with-
out amendment, by the following vote :
Yeas— Messrs. Bartley, Blair, Downes, Fisher, Flood, Hanna, Henderson, Hite, Hoag-
land, Hubbard, Jenkins, Johnson of Monroe, Johnson of Jackson, King, Leedom, Leonard,
Lepper, Lloyd, McAnelly, Mitchell, Moore of Hamilton, Morris, Purviance, Ravenscraft,
Reed, Riblet, Rogers, Shideler, Shreve, Spalding, Warner, Way, Welch of Seneca, West,
Whittlesey, Wilson of Perry and Speaker— .37.
Nays - Messrs. Ackley, Adams, Raskin, Bliss, Carpenter, Casad, Comstock, Corwin,
Davis, Dunham, Everhard, (iotlman, Harrison, Howe Miller, Moor<j of Guernsey, Morse,
Patterson, Pollock, Powers, Scott, Sellers, Smith of Stark, Spencer,. Waddle, Wilson of Wayne
and Worth— 27.
First Years as a City. 11
The Flood bill repealing the act of January 26, 1838, providing for the erec-
tion of a new stateliouse was passed by the House February 25, and by the Senate
March 10, 1840.'' It therefore became a law, notwithstanding the fact that over
forty tiiousand dollars had already been expended in the construction of the new
capitol building. It set back the erection of a new statehouse nearly a decade.
Immedialely after this repealing act was passed the advocates of capital
removal renewed their agitation of the subject, and obtained its reference in the
General Assembly to a joint select committee. The report of this committee, sub-
mitted to the House on the thirteenth and to tiie Senate on the sixteenth of March,
argued that a removal of the cajiital would not be a broach of fiiith, inasmuch as
the act of Februarj- 14, 1812, bj- which the seat of government was fixed at Colum-
bus, expressly provided that the legislative session should continue there until Maj-
1, 1840, " and from thence until otherwise provided by law." The report con-
cluded by recommending the adoption of the following resolutions:
1. That the Governor be requested to issue his proclamation setting forth that the period
has arrived for the permanent establishment of the seat of government, that all portions o*
the State may have an opportunity of oflering such inducements as they may deem proper
for the permanent location at such point as may be designated.
2. That all propositions for the permanent establishment of the seat of government at
any point in the State be .sealed and directed by the persons making the same to tlie Gover-
nor by the first day of August next, who s-hall open and communicate the same to the next
General Assembly.
In the House, on March 14, these resolutions wore adopted by a vote of 34 to
20; in the Senate, on March 16, they were referred, togctlier with the report
recommending them, to the standing committee on Public Buildings. A majority
re])ort adverse to the i-esolutions was presented from that committee bj^ its Chair-
man, Hon. John L. Green, March 20, and was laid on the table. The rejiort thus
disposed of maUcs an elaborate review of the legislative history of tho act of
February 14, 1812, locating the seat of government at Columbus, and makes num-
erous citations fi-om the records to prove that the location was intended to be per-
manent. Eeferring to the clause in the locating act which provides that the Icijis-
lative sessions shall continue to be held at Columbus until May 1, 1840, and
" thenceforth until otherwise ]ir<ivided by law," the report states that this clau.se
was added by way of amendment after the bill had been engrossed for third
reading, an. 1 al.so Kubse(|iicnl to the exccuti.iii by (lie |)ropriet(irs of their penal
bond. riiforlmiatcly tor this aiguinciil , the amend iiieiit reli-n-cd to was not
attached to the bill until all.T the proprietors had subniilled their supplementary
pro])osition pledging Ibcmselves to comply with the term.s of their bond, then
already execuleil and deli vcreil, provided the ca]>ital should remain on the lands
oftered by them until 184(1. In his Hist, )ry of Franklin County. Hon. William T.
Martin says that neither llir advoeali-s nor tin' ..pp.incnls of <a].ital removal seem
to have been aware of this snpplenicntai-y jiroposilion, ami accounts for this by
stating that the document had somehow got lost f>om the tiles of the State Treas-
urer's office. This welltimed accident — if such it was — Mr. Martin thinks, "was
possibly the means of saving the seat ofgovernment to Columbus."
12
History of the City of Columbus.
The following paragraph from the report of the committee is still pertinent ;
It is said that the City of CoUimbus and the County of Franklin have derived great
pecuniary advaatajjes from the location of the seat of government here. This is true to some
extent. But it is also true that the real property of the city and county has been assessed
higher, on this account, by at least a million and a quarter of dollars. On this increased
assessment the people of Columbus and of the County of Franklin have been com-
pelled for years to pay taxes as well for state purposes as for corporation and county
purposes.
In support of these allegations the report makes the following citations from
the annual report of the Auditor of State:
Counties.
Number .\cres.
Value.
Value of Town
Property.
Total in each
County.
Franklin
337,410
$1,839,174 00
$1,255,969 00
§3,005,141 00
Licking
418,360
1,746,542 00
459,520 00
2,106,062 00
Muskingum
404,293
1,279,003 00
799,040 00
2,078,043 00
Fairfield -
320,250
1,389,327 00
487,727 00
1,877,054 00
While partisan resentment and expectation of profit from the seat of
government seem to have had mucli to do with the repeal of the act providing for
the erection of a new statehouse, the repeal was doubtless due in a much larger
degree to tiie monetary stress then prevailing. The problem of providing the
means necessary lor continuance of the work was a serious one to a state
treasury already fearfully embarrassed. In another chapter the financial depres-
sion which prevailed during the last of the thirties and first of the forties has been
described, and the tact and resolution bj^ which the State was saved from the dis-
grace of repudiation have been referred to. The condition of the state and gen-
eral finances in 1841 is thus portrayed in a private letter written by Colonel Xoah
H. Swayne to a correspondent in the East:
I am greatly alarmed by what you say in regard to the prospect of raising means to pay
our interest. Stocks dull at 75 ! The London Agents forbidden to make advances 1 The
banks pressing for the payment of their temporary loans! Money tight beyond example,
panic and paralysis universally prevalent, everything covered with gloom and despondency,
and tending downward to the lowest point. It is a crisis calculated to quail the stoutest
heart.
That the construction of the new capitol should have been suspended at such
a time is easy enough to account forasidefrom the complications of contemporarj-
partisanship. That the repealing act went farther than nierelj- to suspend the work
is true, yet evidences are not wanting that a strong disposition to renew the work
as soon as circumstances would permit still lingered in the General Assembly. On
Februar}' 20, 1841, Mr. Probasco reported from the standing committee of the
Hou.se on Public Buildings a bill to provide for the erection of a new statehouse.
After rejecting a proposed substitute appropriating $1,500 to put a new roof on
First Years as a City. 13
the old statehouse, the House passed this bill, March 10, by a vote of 34 to 25 On
March 15 the Senate postponed it indefinitely by a vote of 20 to 15.
Of the efforts to remove the scat of government from Columbus we hear
nothing more until the legislative session of 1842-3, when the matter vvas brmight
up again bj' reference of a memorial praying for the removal to tiie Senate stand-
ing committee on Public Institutions. The memorial thus referred was that of a
meeting of citizens of Licking County hold at Newark-, and was presented to the
Senate by Mr. Parker, December 20, 1842. It was accompanied b}- proposals to
erect public buildings without expense to the State provided Newark should be
selected as the seat of government. The members of the committee to which the
memorial was referred were Senators Nelson Franklin, of Pickaway and Fair-
field ; Samuel Lahm, of Stark ; and James Parker, of Licking. A majority and a
minority report were made from the committee, the former hj- Messrs. Franklin
and Lahm, the latter by Mr. Parker. The majority report reviews the legislative
proceedings germane to the location of the capital in 1812, and bases its argument
almost exclusively upon such facts as support the theorj' that the location was
intended to be permanent. "In the face of all this," concludes the report,
Could the legislature make a removal without a manifest violation of the faith of the State,
and a direct outrage upon the rights of the citizens of ColuinbusV A majority of tfie com-
mittee think not ; and believing, as they do, that the honor of the State is of more importance
than the paltry sum in dollars and cents which it is believed by some could he saved by a
removal, they here express their decided disapprobation of any legislation designed to
accomplish that object.
The minority report, like that presented in the House by Mr. Flood, of Lick-
ing, in 1840, lays groat stress upon the limitation of time inserted into the locat-
ing act of 1812, but neither Mr Parker's report nor that of the majority refers to
the voluntary acceptance of that limitation by the original proprietors.
In tiie course of his argument, Mr. Parker puts forth this appeal ;
Tlie time is not distant when the present dilapitated and inconvenient Statehouse must
be replaced by one more commensurate with the wants of the legislature, and consistent
with the rank and importance of the State. Indeed, so obvious was this a few years since,
that the legislature commenced preparations for building a new capitol on a scale of princely
magnificence which was only prevented from adding one or two millions to the burden of the
Stale debt which now oppresses us, by the offer, on tlie part of some other town, to erect the
public buildings at their own expense on condition of becoming the seat of government, and
the increasing wants of an exhausted public treasury. The minority of your conmiittee
doubt whether at any time the erection of a palace, at the expense of millions to the people,
is consistent with the genius of that people or the simplicity of our institutions. But he sub-
mits, that at a time like the present, with a people already borne down by taxation and debt,
as our people must necessarily be for years to come, they will not he inclined to submit
to an addition of a million or a million and a half to their already oppressive burdens,
to beautify and adorn the city of Columbus, particularly when other places as conveniently
situated for the interests of the State are willing and have oflfered to erect all the buildings
necessary for the proper accommodation of the dillereut departments of the government, free
of expense to the State.
The report concludes by recommending passage of the resolutions quoted in a
preceding part of this chapter which were presented and recommended by the
14 History ok the City op Columbus. '
Joint Select Committee of 1840. On March 6, 1843, these resolutions were adopted
b_v the Senate, yeas 18, na_ys 16." On March 7 they were taken up in the House
and rejected, yeas 29, nays 36.'
This decisively adverse vote of the House of Representatives gave to the capi-
tal removal project its final quietus. From that hour to tiiis no such scheme has
again been seriously broached.
NOTES.
1. Jewett Letters.
2. History of Franklin Count}'.
."5. The Postotlicc was at that time located in one of the Bucke3'e Exchange buildings,
on West P.rnail Stnct. where it bad been since its orifjinalestablisliment and where it
remained until ii wa- iviiDved to East^tate-Stm**. ^a-ii***'-'^ *-'-*iy ^ ^-<1«_A*^^,
4. Ohh, sufic Joiirnal, February 2, ISIM.
5. In the House the vote stood :
Yeas. — Messrs. Barlley, Baskin, Blair, Downes, Dunn, Filson, Fisher, Flood, Henderson,
Hite, Hubbard, Jenkins, Johnson of Jackson, King, Leedora, Lepper, McAnnelly, Mitchell,
Moore of Hamilton, Morris, Purviance, Eavensciaft, Rea, Keed, Riblet, Rogers, Shideler,
Shreve, Smith of Montgomery, Spalding, Warner, Way, Welch of Seneca, West, Whittlesey,
Wilson of Perry, and Speaker— f>7.
Nays.— Messrs. Ackiey, Adams, Bliss, Carpenter, Casad, Comstock, Corwin, Davis, Dun-
ham, Everhard, Ford, Harrison, Hoagland, Howe, Lake, Miller, Moore of Guernsey, Morse,
Patterson, Pollock, Powers, Scott, Sellers, Smith of Stark, Waddle and Worth— 26.
Senate :
Yeas.- Messrs. Allen, Bissell, Brady, Craighill, Faran, Holmes, Hough, Humphreys,
Hunt, Ihrig, Mathews, Mitchell, Patterson, Shideler, Spangler, Stadden, Thompson and
Utter— 18.
Nays.— Birch, Glover, Green, Harlan, Henderson, Hostetter, Lord, Nash, Perkins. Shan-
non, Smith, Thomas, Tod, Tracy, Vance and Speaker — 16.
6. Senate, March 6, 1843. Vote on resolutions reported from the Standing Committee
on Public Institutions:
Yeas. — Messrs. Aten, Clark. Harris, Hazeltine, Johnston, Jones, Koch, Louden, Miller,
Mitchell, McAnelly, McConnell, McCutchen, Parker. Ritchey, Robbins, Wolcott and Speaker
-18.
Nays— Messrs. Barnett, Denny, Ford, Franklin, Fuller, Henderson, Jackson, Lahm,
Latham, Newton, Nash, Ridgway, Stanton, Updegraff, Vanvorhes and V>'ade — 16.
17. House March 7, 1843 :
Yeas. — Messrs. Baird, Brush, Brown, Dyington, Cahill, Clark, Douglass, Green,
Gruver, Henderson, Humphreys, James, Kilgore, King, Larwell, Martin of Columbiana, Mar-
tin of Stark, Meredith, McConnell, McNulty, Okey, Pilcher, Rces, Reid, Spindler, Steedman,
Warner, White and Wilford— 29.
Nays. — Messrs. Ackiey, Atberton, Baldwin, Bowen, Campbell, Chambers, Chenowith,
Converse, Curry, Counts, Dike, Fisher, Fudge, Fuller, Gallagher, Hauseman, Johnson, Kel-
ley of Cuyahoga, Kelley of Perry, Larsh, McClure, McFarland, Olds, Pardee, Probasco, Robin-
son, Ross, Seward, Sclienck, Sharp, Smith, Tuttle, Wakelield, Webb, Wondbridge and
Speaker-36.
CHAPTER 11.
SECOND WAR EPISODE.
Passing the events of the earlier forties which liave been or will be treated in
other chapters, we ari-ive at an epoch which for convenience nia}' be terined
the second war episode in the history of Cchimbus. On February 2S, 1S45, the Texas
Annexation Eesolutions were passed by Congress, and on March 1 Lhey were
signed by President Tyler. Three days later James K. Polk was iiiMUgui-ated as
Mr. Tylcr'8 successor, in the National Presidency. Texas was at this time an
independent republic, claiming territory as far west as the Rio Grande. Mexico,
also a republic, claimeil as far oast as the river Nueces. On June IS, 1845, the
Texan Congress gave its unanimous assent to the terms of annexation proposed by
the United States and summoned a convention to assemble July 4 to frame a
constitution for the new State of Texas.
By direction of the War Department, General Zachary Taylor, then com-
manding in the Southwest, sailed iu July from New Orleans with fifteen hundred
troops, and with this force landed early in August at Corpus Christi and took his posi-
tion on the line of the Nueces. Here he was reinforced with twentyflvc hundred
men and remained unmolested during the ensuing autumn and winter. On March
8, 1846, he advanced by positive orders of the President into the dis])utcd territory,
crossed an arid, unpeopled region to the Rio Grande, and erected Fort Brown on
the left bank of that river, opposite Matamoras. The Mexican General Ampudia,
commanding on the right bank, addressed a note to Taylor demanding that
he should return immediately beyond the Nueces and there remain until ''the
pending question in relation to Texas " should be adjusted. Acquiescence in this
demand being refused. General Arista, who had succeeded Ampudia, crossed from
Mexico a few days later with a force six thousand strong and attacked Taylor
May 8 at Palo Alto, a few miles east of Matamoras. The Mexicans were defeated,
renewed the battle next day at Resaca de la Palraa, were again defeated and were
driven across the Rio Grande. On May 11 President Polk sent a message
announcing these events to Congress, which responded two days later by the pass-
age of an act calling for 50,000 volunteers and appropriating $10,000,000 for
the prosecution of the struggle.
The call lor ti'oups was enthusiastically responded to in the South, but not so
ardently in the Noi-lh, where the war was regarded with deep disfavor as an
aggression for the aggrandizement of slavery. Besides, in Ohio, as generally in the
[15]
16 History of the City of Columbus.
Northern States, military ardor bad become almost extinct. Militia service was
considered a nuisance, and its musters and parades were subjects of ridicule. An
attempt to assemble the militia officers of the State in a general encampment
at Columbus in 1842 encountered such hopeless indifference that, after much effort,
it was abandoned. The finest company of citizen soldiers which had ever been
organized at the capital prior to the outbreak of the Mexican War was that known
as the Columbus Guards, which had been disbanded some four years earlier. The
Cadets, another fine company, had also been disbanded. Almost the sole remain-
ing military interest in the city was confined to its Gormanborn citizens, by whom
two excellent artillery companies had been organized and kept in training.
But notwithstanding the laxity of militia organization and the popular dis-
like of conquestfor the extension of slaveholding, Ohio sent more troops to the
field than any other northern state. Her enlistments for the volunteer service
numbered 5,536,' from which were organized four regiments and three independent
companies. Besides these the Stale furnished 2,321 recruits, during the war, for
the regular army. The first call to meet the militia requisitions of the President
was issued by Governor Mordecai Bartley May 20, 1846, as follows :
It has been declared by the Congress of the United States, and announced by the President,
that war exists between the United States and the Republic of Mexico. Every day's mail
brings intelligence that hostilities have commenced and are now in progress on our south-
western frontier. The blood of our countrymen has been shed, and hostile demonstrations
are making by Mexico to prosecute the war. Patriotism and fidelity to our country call upon
us to fiy to the rescue.
A requisition has been received from the President of the United States at this Depart-
ment calling on Ohio for three regiments of infantry or riflemen to repair as speedily as pos-
sible to the theatre of war. Under these circumstances I now appeal to the gallant and
spirited sons of Ohio to come forward in this emergency and promptly meet the expecta,tions
of the General Government. Let it not be said that when our country appeals to the courage
and patriotism of the citizen soldiers of Ohio for aid that that aid was not properly rendered-
Whatever may be the diversity of views, it is now sufficient for us to know that war
exists on our borders, and that it is our duty to exert every eflTort to secure a speedy and
honorable termination. This event in the history of Ohio will afford her sons an opportunity
of devoting themselves to the cause of their country ; they are therefore confidently relied on
to give a hearty and cheerful response to this call.
General Order Number One, issued May 20, 1846, by Samuel R. Curtis,
Adjutant-General of Ohio, coutains the following passages :
The number of volunteers should be carefully enrolled and the number forthwith
reported by the brigade inspectors to this office. From these volunteers the requisite num-
ber will be detailed, and they will therefore be directed to hold themselves ready to march
at a moment's warning. ... A principal rendezvous will be selected at or near Cincinnati,
and temporary depots will be established at Zanesville and Columbus for the purpose of
organization and mustering in the service of the United States.
The act of Congress providing for enlistment of the volunteers required them
to serve for a period of not less than six months, at the discretion of the President.-
and to furnish their own clothes, " and if cavalry, their own horses and horse equip-
ments." They were armed at public expense. While in actual service, they were
placed on the same footing as to clothing and pay as the troops of similar corps in
Second War Episode. 17
the regular army, and were entitled to receive in mciney a sum equal to the cost of the
clothing of the soldiers in regular service. A general order issued by the Adjutant-
General of Ohio May 25, 1846, stated that companies would be permitted to con-
tinue the use of whatever styles of uniform they had adopted, but prescribed a
style for general use, and concluded with the following suggestions:
The cost of the articles must vary, and it is therefore impcssible to determine at the
present wliat allowance will be made for this clothing. A cheap, strong article of cloth for
dresscoats and jackets is best for the service, and for overcoats a coarse article of gray cloth
would be best adapted to the occasion. Several of the articles, and especiidly a great coat,
are not immediately requiied. The volunteers will consult their own convenience by dis-
pensing with every unnecessary burthen.
Recruiting began in Colurabiw immediately after the issue of the Governor's
call. The Washington German Artillery declared its readiness for service, and
the two old independent companies known as Guards and Cadets were reorganized,
the first under the name of Montgomery Guards, Captain George B. Walcutt.
Captain William A. Latham commanded the Cadets. Directly an entirely new
company known as the Columbus Grays was announced. Its commissioned oflS-
cers were Captain J. W. Mulligan, First Lieutenent I. G. Dryer, Second Lieutenant
A. P. Stone. Recruiting was greatly stimulated by General Taylor's preliminary
victories, of which announcement was made in the Htoti' Journal of May 26, as
follows :
The intelligence received last evening by the western mail of a conflict between General
Taylor's forces and those of the Mexican General was issued from this office in an extra a
little after ten o'clock. From 10:30 until between twelve and one o'clock our press was in
motion issuing extras. We circulated near a thousand copies, and still hundreds left with-
out obtaining a copy. Our citizens who had generally retired were aroused from their slum-
bers by the ringing of bells, the firing of cannon, and shouts and singing prolonged far into
the morning. Bonfires were kindled at various points, and all felt proud of our gallant little
army which has borne itself so gallantly and threatens to end the war before aid is received.
On May 27, a general rendezvous for the Ohio volunteers was established
near Cincinnati, and called Camp Washington. General John E. Wool, of the
regular army, was appointed to muster and organize the troops at that point.
The two Columbus companies, Guards and Cadets, were nearly full by May 80,
and the third company, Grays, was organized and ready if needed. The German
Artillery had been ready since the issue of the call, and many of the men were
willing to serve as infantry if not accepted for their favorite arm. In all the con-
siderable towns of the State volunteers were making hasty prejjarations for march-
ing orders. Aside from patriotic considerations the opportunity for making a
voyage down the Mississippi, for visiting the Sunny South, and above all for
marching to the " Halls of the Montezumas " under such a leader as Taylor, had
a fascination for the adventurous which it was not easy to resist. The triumphant
beginning of the war was auspicious of a speedy end. No Bull Run defeat
obscured the prospect. The worst dangers to be feared by the northern recruit
were those arising from changes of climate and mode of lite. Disease was likely
to slay more than the sword, and did, in fact, claim the largest share of the vic-
tims of the war.
18 History of the City of Columbus.
On June 8, announcement was made from the State Adjutant-General's office
that more volunteer companies had been organized than would be necessary to
fill the requisition of the War Department. Over a thou.sand men were at that
time under drill at Camp Washington, and several companies had arrived at
Columbus where they awaited orders to move on by canal or stage to Cincinnati.
Arms and accoutrements, it was stated, would be furnisiied to the Ohio troops
from the liaton Rouge arsenal. Forty cartridges and two flints were to be sup-
plied with each musket. On June 9, the following companies were en route or
under orders to march to Camp Washington: The Columbus companies, uiidoi-
Captains "Walcutt and Latham ; Captain George W. Morgan's Company, of iiount
Vernon ; a Zanesville company ; Captain Meredith's, of Coshocton ; Captain St;id-
den's, of Newark; Captain Irvin's, of Lancaster; a Wooster company; Captain
Alien's, of Massillon ; Captain Brunner's, of Circleville ; Captain Reynolds's, of Ciiil-
lieothe ; Captain Patterson's, of St. Clairville ; Captain McLean's, of Athens ; a High-
land Count}' company, and four Northern Ohio companies under Captain McLaugh-
lin. In orders from the Adjutant-General's office it was stated that no other com-
panies than tho.se whose geographical position was east of a north-and-south line
tliough Columbus would be accepted, excepting tho-se already at Cincinnati. As to
the companies west of the line mentioned, the Governor hoped that they would pre-
serve their organization and discipline and await orders.
Notwithstanding these orders, a Seneca County company n\arched into
Columbus on the evening of June 10, with drums beating and flag flying. This
company came entirely unheralded and was followed by a long train of wagons.
As all the troops necessary to fill the requisition had already been accepted,
the Governor and his staff were dismayed by this unexpected arrival, but finally
arranged for the subsistence of the men until the disposition to be made of them
could be considered. At this time a plan was seriously entertained for transfer-
ring the surplus Ohio volunteers to the states which had not yet filled their
requisitions.
For a time the organization of a regiment at Columbus was intended, but
delay in the arrival of some of the companies expected to take part in the organiz-
ation induced the Governor to order those already at the capital to proceed at
once to Cincinnati. Accordingly the Columbus companies left by canal, June 9,
for Camp Washington. The State authorities had found much difficulty in pro-
viding food and camp equipage for the troops sojourning at the capital, and were
doubtless much relieved when these companies were transferred to the general
rendezvous.
On June 15 Governor Bartley and staft' arrived at Camp Washington, where
twentyeight hundred volunteers were then assembled. Two Portsmouth com-
panies were denied admittance to the camp for the reason that it was already full,
and a Cincinnati compan}-, the Jefferson Grays, was also turned away. Three
German companies were declined on the ground that they could not "speak and
understand the English language." The discharged companies were furnished
transportation home, and advised to preserve their organization, but accepted
both the favor and the advice with very ill grace.
Second War Episode. 19
On June 22 three regiments were organized at Camp Wasliington, tlie field
officers being chosen by the men, as follows :
First Iiegime7it. — 0o\oue\, A. M. Mitchell, Cincinnati; Lieutenant-Colonel,
John B. Weller, Butler County-; Major, Thomas L. Hamer, Brown County.
Second Regiment. — Colonel, ^George W. Morgan, Knox; Lieutenant-Colonel,
William Irvin, Lancaster; Major, William Wall, Athens; Surgeon, William
Trevitt, M. D., Columbus.
Third Regiment. — Colonel, S. R. Curtis, Wooster ; Lieutonant-Colonel,
McCook, Steubenville; Major, J. S. Love, Morgan County.
Of the colonels, Mitchell and Curtis were graduates of the West Point Aca-
demy; Colonel Morgan had also attended that institution for a time. Each reg-
iment contained ten companies with a requisite musterroll of not less than sixty-
four nor more than eight}' privates each. The Columbus companies under
Captains Walcult and Latham were assigned to the Second Regiment.
The First Regiment quitted Cincinnati for the seat of war July 2 ; the Second,
about a week later Both regiments were transported to New Orleans "on steam-
boats provided for the occasion, on contract." During the ensuing November the
Second was encamped at Camargo, Mexico. While the regiment was crossing the
Rio Grande, Lieutenant John Arnold fell overboard from the steamer and was
drowned. On December 4, 184t;, Captain W. F. Sanderson, of Columbus, arrived
at New Orleans by steamer Amaranth with Company B, United States Mounted
Riflemen. This company had been largely recruited at the capital of Ohio, and
was originally intended for service in Oregon. Its leader. Captain Sanderson, had
been the commander of the Columbus Guards during most of the career of
that noted company, and in 1841 had been appointed a brigadier-general in the Ohio
Militia. He was an accomplished and very popular officer, with a natural taste
for military life.
During the winter of 1846-7 First-Lieutenant F. S. Muiiford, of the First
United States Infantry, established a recruiting retidezvous at Columbus, under
orders from the War Department. His advertisement contained these seductive
phrases :
A bounty of twelve dollars will be given, half down and half on joining the regiment to
which the recruit may be attached ; also lUO acres of land given when he may be discharged.
Board, clothing and medical attendance supplied by the United States. Pay from seven to
seventeen dollars per month.
Some items of personal mention which assist in fixing the historical sequence
of events incident to the war may here be pertinent. On May 14, 1846, Hon.
Allen G. Thurman, then a member of Congress from Ohio, addressed the House of
Representatives in support of the Mexican War appropriation bill. Mr. Thur-
man's speech was in the nature of a reply to attacks upon the general war policy
made by Messrs. Giddings, Tilden [D. R.] and Delano. Hon. Thomas Corwin's
famous speech condemning the war was delivered in the National Senate, February
11, 1847.
A correspondent of the St. Louis Republican, writing on February 28, 1847,
concerning the battle of Buena Vista thus referred to Lieutenant Irvin McDowell,
20 lllSTURY OF THE CiTY OF CoLUMBUS.
of Columbus: "Lieutenant McDowell, aid of General Wool, deserves public notice
for his untiring activity and unflinching courage in the most exposed points of the
field, all day." The young officer thus spoken of afterwards became a leader of
armies in the Civil War of 1861.
Captain George E. Walcutt, who had resigned on account of infirmity of
health, returned to Columbus in the summer of 1846. On December 31 of that
j-ear the death of General Thomas L. Hamer was announced in the Ohio States-
man. He had gone to the field as Major of the First Eegiment, and on July 1,
1846, had been commissioned as a brigadier-general. He was a popular and prom-
inent member of Congress, and, as General Grant has since testified, a very able
man. His death, which took place before Monterey after a brief illness, was deep-
ly and universally regretted.
On April 9, 1847, the War Department made requisition upon Ohio for ten
additional infantry companies and one company of mounted riflemen. This
started recruiting again, and during the ensuing five or six weeks two new com-
panies were organized in Columbus. One of these, commanded by Captain Mit-
chell C. Lilley, was locally known as the Franklin Guards; the otlier was a Ger-
man company linder Captain Otto Zirckel. Rosters of these comjianies, copied
from original musterrolls, mostly much dilapidated, now in the Adjutant-General's
ofiice, are appended hereto. The departure of Captain Zireliel's command is thus
referred to in the Ohio State Journal of May 27, 1847:
For several days past troops have been passing from this place to Camp Washington as
fast as they could be pressed into the public conveyaaces. On Tuesday afternoon the
German company took its departure from this place. The leavetaking extended nearly
through the whole twentyfour liours preceding their departure. This time was devoted by
them to business arrangements, parting salutations, dancing and amusements. The parting
scene extended from the rendezvous in the southern part of the city to half a mile west of
Franklinton, and lasted from some time in the afternoon until twilight, when the volunteers
took their seats in a number of coaches and moved off amid shouts and cheers. Scores of
wives, sisters and sweethearts accompanied them to that extent on their way to Mexico.
They were escorted out of town by Captain Lilley's Company, the Franklin Guards, who
will follow them in a few days.
The Licking Eangers, one hundred and twenty strong, Captain John R.
Duncan, passed through Columbus about this time on their way to the seat of
war. They were "escorted out of the city" by the Franklin Guards, Captain
Lilley.
As a parting testimonial Captain Lilley's friends made arrangements to
present him with a fine sword, but he preferred to have them wait and see,
when he returned, whether he deserved •one. The Ohio Statesman of June 2,
1847, thus refers to the departure of his command :
This fine company of volunteers [Franklin Guards] under Captain M. C. Lilley, left
this city for Cincinnati on last Monday evening [May 31] at six o'clock p. m. They formed
in front of General Gale's Hotel, and proceeded to the American Uoiel, according to arrange-
ments, where Second Lieutenant Robert Thompson was presented with a beautiful sword by
7*. J. Mathews on behalf of the young men and associates of Lieutenant Thompson. . . .
After the presentation, Lieutenant Groom returned thanks to the citizens for the kindness
Second War EnsoDE. 21
shown them during the time of their recruiting, wliicli was responded to with loud cheers.
They tlien marched down to the bricige where they mounted the coaches prepared for tliem
by the Oliip Sta^e Company, and were off amid the cheers of the people and the roar of
artillery. . . . They were in full uniform of blue coats trimmed with buff and blue pants
manufactured by William Burdell of this city, and looked remarkably neat and comfortable.
They aleo had a grey fatigue suit, which is all right. Our gallant soldiers should be clothed,
and so far as our companies are concerned this has been done.
By this lime many of the volunteers who had enlisted under the tii-.st call had
completed a year's service, and were on their way to their homes. The Columbus
companies of the Second Kegiment were expected to arrive early in July, and
arrangements were made to give them a reception. General E. Gale was
appointed Maishal of the Day, and Samuel Medary was requested to deliver an
address. The day appointed for the reception was July 5, by which date a consid-
erable number of the volunteers had arrived, in squads, by the western stages. A
procession was formed, which moved down High Street to General Gale's Hotel,
where open order was- formed and the returning soldiers were saluted as they
passed between the ranks. They were then welcomed by Mr. Medary.
The organization of a new regiment to be known as the Fifth Ohio, to serve
for the war, was undertaken a few days later by Colonel William Irvin, of Lancas-
ter, and an office for recruiting and reorganizing the Cadets for that regiment was
opened at Columbus by Captain William H. Latham. Referring to this fact the
State Journal of July 10 said : "Those whd hunger and thirst for glory have now
an opportunity to try their hand." Kecruits were obtained rapidly and the new
regiment was organized with William Irvin as Colonel, William H. Latham as
Lieutenant-Colonel, and Captain Link, of Girclevilie, as Major. Lieutenant James
Markland was elected Captain of the Columbus Cadets vice Latham, promoted.
On July 17, 1847, a report reached the city that General Scott had occupied
the City of Mexico. This proved to be a canard. The actual conquest of the
Mexican capital took place September 14, on which date the arrival of Scott's
army before the city was first authentically announced in Columbus by telegraph.
Particulars of the battles of Churubusco and Contreras were telegraphed on the
same date from Pittsburgh. An armistice followed Scott's victories, and on Feb-
ruary 2, 1848, a final treaty of peace was concluded.
In November, 1847, a public meeting was held for the purpose of starting a
subscription for the purchase of a sword to be presented to Colonel George W.
Morgan, of the Second Regiment. Bj'ram Leonard was chairman of the meeting
and D. A. Robertson secretary. The committeemen to solicit subscriptions were
Samuel Medary, William Kelsey, Isaac Davis, E. Gale and Jacob Reinhard.
Returning from Mexico, Colonel Morgan arrived in Columbus December 7, 18,47,
and on the tenth of that month was given a complimentary dinner at the Ameri-
can House. The invitation to Colonel Morgan bore the signatures of forty promi-
nent citizens and members of the General Assembly. R. P. Spalding and J F.
Williams were appointed to escort the guest of the evening to the table. Numer-
ous toasts were proposed and responded to. The swoi'd ordered for Colonel Mor-
gan arrived and was displayed at the jewelry store of Mr. Savage, in February.
22 IIlSTORY OF THE ClTV OF COLUMBUS.
It was described as "richly and brilliantlj' laid with gold," and was said to have
cost five hundred dollars.
The final return of the Ohio Volunteers from Mexico took place during the mid-
summer of 1848. Coming up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers by steamers, they were
welcomed at Cincinnati by the ringing of bells, firing of cannon and other dem-
onstrations of greeting. They were also formally escorted through the streets
when that ceremony was practicable, but unfortunately it was in some instances
not practicable. Speaking of the arrival of four companies of the Second Regi-
ment in July, 1848, the Cincinnati Gozetfe said :
The firemen again turned out nobly, with their engines, &c., tastefully decorated, . .
but there was no parade, no procession; the wretched condition of the soldiers — many of
them being destitute of shoes and [having] scarcely clothing enough to cover their naked-
ness [made them] refuse to leave the boat and march through the streets.
In a later issue the Gazette stated that many of the returning soldiers when they
arrived at the Cincinnati landing were destitute of hats, coats, shirts, shoes and
even pantaloons, and that they had been fed during their voyage on "wormy
bread and tainted meat." As their pay was reserved for final discharge, they
were totally destitute of money.
Most of the men belonging to the Columbus companies returned to the city, in
detachments, during the month of July. On the twentyseventh of that month a
formal reception was given to them under the auspices of the Democi'atic Central
Hickory Club. The returned volunteers, numbering about two hundred in all,
were organized for the oeca.sion into three companies, all under Lieutenant-Colonel
"William H. Latham, of the Fifth Regiment. They were bronzed and hirsute, some-
times wore articles of dress peculiar to the climate or customs of Mexico, and bore
many curious mementoes of their campaigns. The President of the Day was Jacob
Hare, and the orator Samuel Medary. Colonel Latham was assisted in the com-
mand by Captains M. C. Lilley and George E. Walcutt, and by his Lieutenants
Hermann Jaeger, R. H. Thompson and Francis Moyer. A procession comprising
the volunteers, the escorting body and citizens was formed in front of General Gale's
Union Hotel and moved by State, Third and Broad Street to High, from whence it
proceeded down Hisrh Street to Jaeger's Orchard in the southern part of the city.
The march is thus described by the Ohio Statesman:
As the procession passed the Statehouse they [the volunteers] were met by a band of
some sixty or seventy [actually fiftyfour] young girls dressed in white, supporting a vast
wreath of oak and evergreen with which they encircled the volunteers, and thus marched
with them to th° place of reception. The large gateway of the orchard was formed into a
triumphal arch ; rare flowers were mingled with the evergreen and the oak. the whole sur-
mounted and decorated with flags. On the left of the arch, and forming a part of it. was the
American shield, on the right the American Eagle, and in the centre the words: Ehrel die
Braven — " Honor the brave." This arch was the work of our German friends. . . . The pro-
cession of young ladies which surrounded the volunteers and led them captive was the work
of the German fair, and as the vast procession passed down High Street the beauty and
appropriateness of the compliment made them the observed of all observers. As the pro-
cession reached the orchard, the German volunteers were received by two j-oung ladies in
the language of their " Faderland."
Second War Episode.
23
The two little maidens here spoken of were Misses Silbernagel and Wendell.
They wore dressed in white, and welcomed the German volunteers in a poetical
address in the German language, repeating the verses alternately. A bevy of
young ladies strewed Howors in the path of the volunteers as they moved into the
grove. Samuel ^iodary <li'li\ cred an address of general welcome, to which Colonel
W. A. Latham responded. In the evening the costly sword which had been pur-
chased by citizens and friends for Colonel George W. Morgan was presented to
him at the Democratic Hall, where a banquet was held. The presentation address
was delivered by D. A. Robertson.
Thus ended the second war episode of which the history has been blended
with that of the capital of Ohio.
NOTES.
killed and thirtynine wounded
Li.iM A. Latham's Company (Colu.mbu.s Cadets), S^econd Regiment
Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
Mustered in July 1, 1846; mustered out July 1, IS47.'
William A. Latham, cai)tain.
James Marklaiul, first lieutenant.
John Arnold, second lieutenant.
Jolin A. Harvey, first sergeant.
W. H. Sanford, second sergeant.
William Cloud, third sergeant.
Victor Trevitt, fourth sergeant.
Charles Johnson, first corporal.
Lewis Hadley, second corporal.
H. W. Johnes, third corporal.
John Righter, fourth corporal.
George Atwater, private.
George Altin, private.
James Bennet, private.
Robert Benns, private.
Moses Bedell, private.
Joseph Bidwell, private.
I. R. Brake, private.
Jacob Brown, private.
A. Clarke, private.
F. CofFman, private.
Thomas Davies, private.
Louis Evans, private.
Elias Fink, private.
J. S. Foley, private.
William Forrester, private.
William Greenly, private.
John Leonard, private.
B. F. Lincoln, private.
Robert Lucas, private.
Augustus Marcy, private.
John W. Marcy, private.
Abed Moore, private.
Franklin Meyer, private.
Samuel Mutchler, private.
T. Nadenbousch, private.
Samuel Pierce, private.
Samuel Reaver, private.
Joseph Righter, private.
Samuel Sabines, private.
D. K. Seltz, private.
Frederick Schilling, private.
John Scott, private.
Samuel J. Scott, private.
Ralph J. Scott, private.
Scribner, private.
M. Simcox, private.
R. J. Shannon, private.
James Sheperd, private.
Seth Shoemaker, private.
James Thomas, private.
Samuel Taylor, private.
Daniel Townsend, private.
Henry Tuttle, private.
24
History of the Citt of Columbus.
William Greenwood, private.
S. Handsucker, private.
Samuel Hartsoc, private.
W. Harbaufih, private.
Nicholas Harrington, private.
John Knoderer, private.
Christian Karst, private.
George Krome, private.
John Weaver, private.
S. S. Weaver, private.
Harvey Wheeler, private.
Thomas Whiteford, private.
Joel Williams, private.
John H. Williams, private.
Charles Yerk, private.
Stephen Young, private.
^ This company was originally mustered in by General Stockton, at Columbus, all its
officers and men being from that city. Seventeen men whose names are not above given
deserted from the company. The above list has been copied from a musterroll in the office
of the Adjutant-General of Ohio.
Captain J. T. Mickum's Company (Montgomery Guards), Second Regiment Ohio
Volunteer Infantry.
Mustered in July 1, 1846; mustered out July 1, 1847.'
J. T. Mickum, captain.
W. I. Medary, first lieutenant.
J. Neereamer, second lieutenant.
E. R. Hile, first sergeant.
J. W. Cowan, second sergeant.
H. G. Hood, third sergeant.
M. A. Boling, fourth sergeant.
John Heston, first corporal.
W. Parkerson, second corporal.
John W. Ford, third corporal.
Jacob Oyler, fourth corporal.
J. B. Ingalls, musician.
Alexander Butler, musician.
Daniel Acre, private.
R. O. Allison, private.
William Borg.strep, private.
Orange Barnhart, private.
Henry Baughman, private.
Harry Bowman, private.
A. H. Barnes, private.
J. R. Bowman, private.
James A. Boggs, private.
Adam Bidwell, private.
John W. Copeland, private.
Peter G. Catlin, private.
Thomas Cook, private.
Samuel Cain, private.
Joseph Cower, private.
John Donalson, private.
Daniel Deatz, private.
John Edgar, private.
C. Fenstoneak, private.
C. Harbaugh, private.
G. S. Hoover, private.
Jacob Houtz, private.
John Hanover, private.
I. B. Hedges, private.
A. I. Hinman, private.
E. A. Hill, private.
Harry Johnson, private.
A. S. Jones, private.
George Kroup, private.
John Lash, private.
John Moore, private.
James McKelvey, private.
Jacob Mosier, private.
K. K. Miner, private.
S. C. Mickum, private.
C. Nagfster, private.
J. Nagfster, private.
J. W. Oyler, private.
J. R. Osgood, private.
H. Ogden, private.
Peckham, private.
James Pinney, private.
J. Parret, private.
D. C. Bowhan, private.
S. Sparks, private.
James Spurgeon, private.
Daniel Shetler, private.
Lemuel Swesey, private.
D. H. Shaw, private.
John Settson, private.
William Shaw, private.
Second War BrisooE.
B. L. Friar, private.
William Fisk, private.
John Fay, private.
N. Gilkison, private.
James Gale, private.
Jacob Gale, private.
Norton Hessel, private.
E. B. Harris, private.
Samuel Herrman, private.
'This company was originally commanded by Captain George E. Walcutt, who resigned
by reason of impaired Iwalth. Its officers and men were, with one exception, all from
Columbus. Two men whose names are not above given are borne on the roll as deserters.
The above list has been copied by permission from a musterroll in the ofhce of the Adjutant-
General of Ohio.
George Skid more, private.
John Wilkes, private.
John Wetherhall, private.
David Wilson, private.
William Wetherington, privatt
John C. Walton, private.
Seneca Weathing, private.
William Weeth, private.
Captain Otto Zirckel's Company, Fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
Mustered in May 27, 1.S47 ; mustered out July IS, 1S4,S.
Otto Zirckel
Eduard Proessler
Frederic Schmidt
Hermann Jaeger
George Cullman
John Kern
John Rickenbacher
Frederick Pruflf
G. A. Fuchs
Charles Stephany
Andrew Reinhard
Peter Freudenberger
Matbias Ruff .
Wilmer Simons .
Henry Snyder
Henry Bieber
Christian Bruec-k
Jacob Breith
John Battefeld
Andrew Baumeister
John Bergwitz
William Dadt
Paulus Dussel .
Frederic Becker
John A. Eitel .
Pearce Freese
William Fassig
Henry Goebel
Jacob F. Glauner
Sebastian Gramlich
Frederick Harris
. Captain
First Lieutenant
. Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
. First Lieutenant
First Sergeant
. Second Sergeant
Third Sergeant .
. Fourth Sergeant
First Corporal
. Second Corporal
Third Corporal
. Fourth Corporal
Musician
. Musician
Private
. Private
Private
. Private
Private
. Private
Private
. Private
Private
. Private
Private
. Private
Private
. Private
Private
. Private
. Columbus.
Columbus.
. Columbus.
Columbus.
. Columbus.
Columbus.
. Columbus.
Lancaster.
. Columbus.
Columbus.
. Columbus.
Columbus.
. Lancaster.
Bloomfield.
. Lancaster.
Paulding County.
. Columbus.
Newport.
. Columbus.
Columbus.
. Delaware.
Columbus.
. Columbus.
Columbus.
. Columbus.
Lancaster.
. Columbus,
Columbus.
. Lancaster.
Columbus.
. Columbus.
History
OF THE City ov C
OLUMBUS.
John Hauffman .
Private
Columbus.
Jacob Heller . .
. Private
. Lancaster.
Jacob Hittler
Private
Columbus.
Christian Kastner .
. Private
. Cincinnati.
George Kohlepp .
Private
Columbus.
Henry Kruse - .
. Private .
. Mouth of Rio Grande.
Gottlieb Link
Private
Columbus.
Henry Longhenry
. Private .
. Columbus.
Peter Marx
Private
Columbus.
Joseph Meyer .
. Private .
. Columbus.
August Maertens
Private.
Lancaster.
George Nithard
. Private .
. Marion.
ririch Preii
Private
Columbus.
JohnPranft
. Private .
. Columbus.
Adolph Proetger .
Private
Columbus.
Geoige Schmidt
. Private
. Columbus.
George Schaefler
Private
Columbus.
George Fleinman . . '
. Private .
. . . Columbus.
John Schrott
Private
Columbus.
Henry Schreiner
. Private
. Columbus.
George Schatzman
Private
Cincinnati.
John Sclieryer
. Private .
. . . Columbus.
Jacob Schoenlaub
Private
Marion.
Valentin Scheuerman
. Private .
. Columbus.
Jacob Pchmerz
Private
Columbus.
George Schott .
. Private .
. . . Chillicothe.
Anton Speek
Private
Columbus.
JohnTobler .
. Private .
. Cincinnati.
Paulus Trott
Private
Columbus.
John G. Trapp
. Private .
. Columbus.
John Trapp
Private
Columbus.
John Voelh
. Private .
. Columbus.
L. Weenesdoerfer
Private
Columbus.
Henry Witzel
. Private .
. Columbus.
Christian Woehrly
Private
Columbus.
John Watter .
. Private .
. Columbus.
John Wieler
Private
DIED.
Columbus.
Henry Steinmetz
. Privaie .
. Columbus.
Jacob Schenkel
Private
Columbus.
Jacob Noto
. Private
. Columbus.
Peter Oestrenger .
Private
Columbus.
Gustav Hahn .
. Private .
. Columbus.
George Cullman .
First Lieutenant
DISCHARGED.
Columbus.
Edward Lilly .
. First Sergeant
. Columbus.
John M. Hansel .
Private
Columbus.
Adam Rickenbacher
. Private .
. Columbus.
Charles Hantzsche
. Private
Cincinnati.
Second War Episode.
Bernbard Steint
. Private .
. Columbus.
William Kuehner
Private
Columbus.
Napoleon Meyer
. Private .
. Columbus.
Anton Voetb
Private
TKANSFERRKU.
Columbus.
Benedict Diesterweig
. Private
. Cincinnati.
Jacob Schneider .
. Private . . .
Columbus.
William f^chneider
. First Sergeant
. Columbus.
Sixteen privates of this company, part of whose names are illegible on the original roll,
deserted. Their names are not embraced in the above list.
Captain M. C. Lilley's Company, Franklin Guards, Fourth
Infantry.
lENT Ouio Volunteer
Mustered in June 2, ]847 ; mustered out July 18, 184S.
Copied from an original musterout roll iu the possession of Captain Lilley.
Mitchell C Lilley .
. Captain
. Columbus.
John C. Groom
First Lieutenant
Columbus.
Robert H. Thompson
. Second Lieutenant
. Columbus.
Abel Moore .
Second Lieutenant
Delaware.
John Adams .
. First Sergeant
. Columbus.
A. B Parraenter .
Second Sergeant
Marysville.
Jacob Taylor
. Third Sergeant
. Coluuibus.
John T. Collins .
Fourth Sergeant
. Marion.
David W. Henderson
. First Corporal
. Marysville.
Charles P. Cavis . .
Second Corporal
Marysville.
Joseph G. ^Cormick .
. Third Corporal
. Columbus.
Oliver N.Du rant .
Fourth Corporal
Columbus.
Charles E. Bynner .
. Private .
. Cincinnati
Francis G. Bowers
Private
Marion.
Andrew J. Baker
. Private
. Cincinnati.
Abram Bechtel
. Private
Columbus.
Joshua Brothers
. Private .
. Marysville.
J. M. C. Bogan .
Private
Bellpoint.
William Burdit
. Private .
. New Philadelph
Daniel Bill .
Private
Columbus.
Norman H. Bucklee
. Private .
. Columbus.
W. W. Clevinger.
Private
Wat kins.
Andrew Clark
. Private .
. Delaware.
Charles Carpenter
Private
Columbus.
James Cowdell
. Private .
. Delaware.
Peter Deffenbaugh
. Private
Columbus.
Ira H.Dayton .
. Private .
. Columbus.
John H. Dugan
Private
Columbus.
George W. Everson
. Private .
. Columbus.
John W. Fletcher
Private
Columbus.
Noah Green . ...
. Private .
. Columbus.
John Graham
George W. Graham
Jaiues B. Graham
William Graham
Samuel E. Bodwin
Robert Geffs
John Hughes
Joseph G. Hawkins
William Hopkins
Alexander Houston
Samuel Hill .
James P. Johnson
Edward L Johnson
James Johnson
William R. Johnson
Abram Mathias
William H. Morris
Francis Miles .
Thomas McGraw
Lewis Morrison
German S. Merrick
Farron Olmsted
Thomas W. Pease
John Price
John Parker
David Keed
Alvan Rose .
Levi Richeldarfer
Hiram D. Robie
Lemuel Rodarnel
Frederick Smith
Fletcher Shout
Jacob Stickley
Thomas Simmons
Nelson Simmons
John L. l^mith
James B. Tupper
Ornon Tubbs
Robert Thompson
Owen Turney .
John White
James F. Williams
Thomas Coulter .
Richard George-lst
Robert Giles
Joseph H. Groom
John Harrington
James T. Johnson .
Alexander G. Oliver
William R. Simmons
Horace Train
History of the City of Columbus.
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
DIED.
Private
Private .
Private
Sergeant
Private
Private .
Private
Private .
Private
Columbus.
Marysville.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Cincinnati.
Cincinnati.
Marysville.
Columbus.
Marysville.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Marysville.
Delaware.
Columbus.
Marysville.
Marysville.
Columbus.
Marysville.
Delaware.
Columbus.
Jefferson.
Columbus.
Marysville.
Marysville.
Johnstown.
Rareysport.
Rareysport.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Westchester.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Delaware.
Columbus.
Newark.
Columbus. *
Marysville.
Columbus.
Mount Vernon.
Second War Episode.
DISCHARGED
George W. Clutter
Hiram Deptin
Alfred Foreman
Elisha M. Glick .
Samuel Groover
Richard George-2d
John Harrison
Daniel Rodarnel .
Lorenzo Sinims
Hiram Trout
Joseph Thomas
Elias Walters
. Private
Private
. Private
Private
. Private
Private
. Private
Private
. Private
Private
. Private
Private
Fourteen privates of this company deserted. Thei
Columbus.
Delaware.
Columbus.
Marysville.
Columbus.
Centerville.
Marysville.
Columbus.
Columbus.
Delaware.
Columbus.
Columbus.
not above give
CHAPTER 111.
THE CALIFORNIA EXODUS.
The Mexican war had no sooner closed than a new and still more alluring
opportunity for adventure was presented. On February 9,1848, while tliree men
were repairing the race at Captain John A. Sutter's sawmill on the American Fork
iu California, the overseer, James W. Marshall, noticed some shining particles in
the sand at the bottom of the race, from which the water had been drawn. The
metal thus detected was gold. Marshall suspected as much, and after gathering
up a small pouch full of the yellow grains he rode full speed to Fort Sutter, where
he called Captain Sutter into a private room, asked him to lock the door, and
showed him his treasure. In great excitement Marshall broached his opinion as to
what the metal was, and told the story of its discovery. Captain Sutter applied nitric
acid to the particles, and by this test proved beyond doubt that they were gold.
Such was the beginning ot one of the most unique and memorable episodes in
American history.
For a time the discovery at the mill was kept secret, but not long. Sutter
made his workmen promise not to divulge what they knew but his precautions
-were thwarted. The garrulity of a bibulous teamster made the whole story
kjiown at the nearest trading post, and from thence the news spread like wildfire
up and down the Pacific coast. Soon it flew, as it were, upon the wings of the
wind across the Rocky Mountains, and filled the whole country with excitement.
Directly an unparalleled tide of emigration began to pour into California from all
parts of the Union, and from Mexico, P^urope and China. Within four months
from the time gold was found in Sutler's millrace, five thousand delvers were at
work in the ravines, watercourses and caverns of the Sacramento Valley.
Speaking generally as to the effects of the gold excitement, one account says :
Lawyers, clergymen, physicians, hotelkeepers, merchants, mechanics, traders, farQiers
left their occupations and hurried with basket and spade to the land that glittered. Homes
and houses were closed ; the grass threatened to grow over whole streets ; deserted ships
swung on their anchors in silent harbors. . . . Within a period of five months the popula-
tion of the territory had run up to one hundred thousand, having just quadrupled during
that time. Of these, some fortyiive thousand arrived in the nine thousand wagons that
traversed the overland route, and four thousand on muleback, while the remainder came via
Panama and round Cape Horn. One third of this multitude was composed of farmers, another
of tradesmen and mechanics, and the rest of merchants, professional men, adventurers and
gamblers. The vast emigrant armies acted as pioneers on their various routes, hewing down
[30]
The California Exodus. 31
trees, filling up chasms, leveling the grcunds and bridging torrents. But the sufferings
endured in these colossal caravans were terrible. Many perished on the route ; many becaiiie
insane, or wasted away through lack of food and water. The scourge of cholera also overtook
the early emigrants before they were fairly embarked in the wilderness; the frequent rains
of the early spring, added to the hardships and exposure of their travel, prepared the way
for its ravages, and the first four hundred miles of the trail were marked by graves to the
number of four thousand. Bayard Taylor, in his narrative of what befel these pioneer emi-
grants, says that not only were they compelled to kill their horses and mules to keep them-
selves from starvation, but it was not unusual for a mess, by waj' of variety to the tough
mule steaks, to kill a quantity of rattlesnakes with which the mountains abounded, and have
a dish of them fried for supper.
The state of societ.y which this sudden, mi.scellaneous influx proiluced, \va.s of
a most unique and amorphous character. A San Francisco letter of Januarj- 23,
1849, thus described it:
Crowds of men are flocking in from all quarters of the country, and among them are
many persons of bad character and desperate fortunes. . . . The only tribunals which have
attempted anj' jurisdiction in cases of murder and other atrocious crimes for some months
past are those formed for the occasion as it arises ; and offenders generally escape, or if
they are taken, it is amidst the phrenzy of popular excitement, when the guilty and innocent
may be victims together. Several executions have taken place in pursuance of this kind of
law ; and it is supposed several others will be announced by the next mail from the south.
In the meantime outrages are taking place in all paits of the country and the public astonish-
ment has scarcely subsided after one murder before another is committed more horrible than
the first. Housebreaking, thefts and robberies are almost of hourly occurrence.
But the vast tide of goldseekers was not to be turned back by such reports as
these. The prevailing phrenzy was inflamed by multiplied and astounding dis-
coveries until it reached a fever heat. In due time it reached Columbus. How
many persons quitted the city for tlie gold fields, singly or in small parties, during
the years 1848 and 1849 there are no means of ascertaining— probably a good
many. The first attempts at organized emigration from the capital of Ohio to the
nev7 El Dorado seem to have been made during the month of January, 1849. On
the tweutyninth of that month a meeting was held at which thirty men signed a
pledge to be ready to start together for the West at the opening of spring.' At a
meeting held January 31, twentyseven signatures were obtained, and a constitu-
tion was adopted. During the month of February the Franklin California Min-
ing Company and the Columbus and California Industrial Association were organ-
ized. The articles of association of the Franklin company were as follows :
This article of agreement made and entered into this eighth day of February, A. D.
1849, by and between the undersigned citizens of Columbus, Franklin County, in the State
of Ohio, witnesseth :
That for the consideration hereinafter mentioned the undersigned do agree to become a
company to be known as the Franklin California Mining Company of Columbus, Ohio, for
the purpose of proceeding to California to procure gold, golddust, &c., and other metals, and
all such other purposes of profit as shall be decided upon by a majority of said company on
their arrival in said territory of California ; said company and association to exist as such
under these articles for the period of eighteen months from the first day of May next, by
which time said company is to return to the United States and have a settlement of all its
affairs in the city of Columbus, Ohio, and to be held liable to be called to an account and
32 IIltSTURY 01' THE CiTV OF COLUJIBUS.
settlement in the Court of Common Pleas of Franklin County, or in any other court in the
United States, in Chancery, by any member of said company or his assigns or representa-
tives, at any time after twenty months from the first day of May next.
The officers of said company are to consist of one captain, one lieutenant, one quarter-
master, one treasurer, one secretary and one chief of every mess of the number of six, which
officers are to be elected by ballot for three months, the first election to be held before leav-
ing Columbus, Ohio, a majority of all the votes to be necessary to a choice. Said officers are
liable to be removed at any lime by a vote of twothirds of the surviving members of said
company.
Each member of said company is to pay the sum of two hundred dollars to the
Secretary of said company within thirty days from this date, in such instalments as the
company shall designate, as his part of the expenses of outfit and travel to California. Each
member of said company and the representatives of each member who shall die after leav-
ing Columbus, to be liable to an equal share of the expenses of said company, and to be
entitled to an equal share of the profits from said expedition, and if any member shall desert
and abandon his company before the expiration of eighteen months from May 1, 1849, with-
out the consent of twothirds of the survivors of said company, he is to forfeit all moneys
invested by him in said association, and all share of the profits arising from said expedition.
Any member may be expelled by a vote of twothirds of the survivors of said company.
The powers and duties of the officers of said company are to be defined in bylaws to be
enacted by said company ; said company to have power to pass any bylaws by a vote of a
majority of the survivors not inconsistent with the provisions of these articles of association,
which are not to be altered, amended or abrogated, and the right of each and all members,
or their representatives, of the company to his or their shares of the profits of said company
are not to be lost in any other manner than herein provided.
Witness our hands and seals the day and year above written.
Of the bylaws of the Franklin Company, the first article, in five sections,
j^rescribes the dutie.s of officers. The second article, in two sections, makes it the
dutj' of each member "to be industrious and faithful; to act justlj^, honestly and
respectfully to the company; to obey the orders of the commanding officers and
not absent himself without consent of the captain," and to ''perform all duties
required of him by law or the company. A refractory member is to be reported
to the captain, and if he does not take action, the company may. Members are
required to serve on guard in regular order, to protect the company's property,
and to keep themselves and their arms clean. Each member must furnish his own
personal outfit, which shall consist of a good and sufficient waidrobe and weapons
of seifdelense, which weapons shall consist of one good rifle gun, one revolving
pistol or a good pair of pistols, and a knife."
The third article, in three sections, provides that all appropriations shall be
made by a majority of all the members present, when a quorum ; that grievances
shall be investigated by a committee; that no lueraber shall vote on a matter in
which he is personally interested; that punishment shall be by reprimand, expul-
sion, or "in such other manner as the company may determine; " that all gambling
and drinking of intoxicants as a beverage shall be forbidden ; that the company
will, so far as practicable, refrain from work or travel on the Sabbath day; and
that no personal or individual trade or traffic shall be engaged in.
The fourth article requires regular meetings to be held monthly, authorizes
special meetings by request, makes a quorum consist of a majority of all, and lays
down some parliamentary rules to be observed in company meetings.
The California Exodus. 33
The officers chosen by this association were as follows : Captain, Joseph
Hunter; Lieutenant, John Coulter;' Secretary, J. H. Marple ;^ Treasurer, F. A.
McCormick ; Quartermaster, O. S. Hunter. The other members of the association
were: Chester F. Colton,* J. Eobey, Joseph W. Booth, George Woodward, Samuel
Price, Matthew Williams, Alexander Robertson, John Spaythe, V. R. Smith, John
Uncles, Charles A. Robertson, John McCartney, K. J. Barr,' R. J. Hunter, C. M.
Shaw, C. H. Myers, Jacob Armitage", Samuel Myers, A. M. Hunter, Jonathan Bobo,
Anderson Cornwall, J. W. Coulter, Nicliolas Deinorest, O. S. Walcutt', and E.
Gaver*.
The articles of the " Columbus California Industrial Association" began with
the following significant "whereas":
The undersigned parties have agreed to associate themselvts together for the pur-
pose of prosecuting and conducting raining operations and pr curing gold and other
minerals in the territory of California and on and about the shores of the Pacific Ocean ; and
whereas, an undertaking requiring our presence at a point so remote from our homes sub-
jects us to many privations and hardships, and calls for cordial and united efforts for our
mutual welfare ; and whereas, we cannot hope for success in our undertaking without the
blessing and guidance of an Allwise Creator, and a due observance of His laws, now there-
fore, etc.
A copy of the constitution and bylaws of this company was deposited with
the County Recorder for safe keeping. These regulations so deposited were sub-
stantially the same as those of the Franklin Association. The officers of the com-
pany were: President, John Walton; Vice President, J. G. Canfield ;' Secretary,
Peter Decker ;'» Treasurer, C. G. McColm; Directors, S. J. Price, H. Moores, G.
Walton and C. Breyfoglo;" Physician, C. B Boyle. The nonofflcial members were;
D. Bryden, E. Barcus, Junior, B. E. Catifield," G. Chadwick, W. Cain, A. B. Crist,
C. Dewitt, J. S. Domigan, T. Davis, L. A. Denig, C. M. Fisk, J. Krumm, J. C.
Lunn, P. McCommon, H. Ranney, T. Rugg, D. Rugg, J. P. Stone, W. C. Stiles,
C. D. Wood and L. Sherman." The company had ten wagons, forty mules and
a good supply of camp equipage, provisions and arms. It was subdivided into
five messes. Its intended route lay via Xenia to Cincinnati, thence by water t6
Independence, Missouri, and thence westward overland. The Franklin company
proposed to follow the same line of travel. It provided itself vcith eight new,
strong wagons, twentysix yoke of oxen, and provisions for eighteen months.
A small company of Columbus men sot out for California by the overland
route during the latter part of March. The names of these adventurers were
H. L. Morgan," L. Green, B. Johns,'^' S. F. Hoyt, H. C. Riordan,"'" J. Cowcn and
B. Carpenter." The Ohio Statesman of April 2, 1849, thus describes the departure
on that date, of the Columbus company, and its associate, the Franklin, above
mentioned :
Our streets today presented an unusual appearance in consequence of the movements of
the goldhunters toward California to "seek their fortunes," as the storybook says, and to
gather the precious metals in the mines of California. Mule teams rattled through the
streets, filled with the baggage and other flxins of the emigrants. The two companies from
this city will rendezvous in Cincinnati during the latter part of the week ; from thence they
3*
34 History of the City of Columbus.
take steamers to Indepenilence, and then by the overland route by mule and oxteams for
the promised land. , . . The number [thirty in each company] embraces several of our
most enterprising citizens — men in the prime of life and wellarmed against the dangers of
the overland route. ... In addition to the above, Messrs. McDowell & Purdy, of this city,
and a couple of gentlemen from Lancaster, have fitted out another expedition. They have
provided a wagon and will procure the necessary oxen in Missouri. Their intention is to
aid in forming a carav.m for mutual protection going out, and after anivintr at the gold
region to go it on their own hook.
The Ohio Statcsmiiii of April 6, 1849 — four days after the departure ol the
Columbus companies — said :
The whole West is crowded with our fe'.lowcitizens passing towards California. Every
stage, every steamer, every road leading to the Upper Missouri is thronged with the very
choicest of our population on their way to the Pacific shores. The number is legiun, and
from a careful observation we do not think there can be less than twenty thousand from
Ohio alone. Almost every village furnishes its company, and some tWD or three. Home go
single, some in pairs, and others in companies varying from ten to thirtj' and even sixty. . .
They go with provisions enough to last twelve months, and some longer ; they are equipped
with every possible necessary, and besides, many singular and ingenious instruments for
finding gold, either on the surface or deep in the soil. . . . Taking Ohio as data to estimate
from, and at the lowest calculation, there will be one hundred thousand able and enterpris-
ing men leave Independence, St. Joseph, &c., on the Missouri for the Plains from the
twentieth of March or first of April to the first of June next — two months. This will
average over a thousand a day, and will line the road hundreds of miles.
These statements, though exaggerated, are useful as illustrating the impres-
sions made upon the editor's mind by the movement then in progre.ss.
On May 'M, 1849, the Ohio Statesmen announced that William S. McElvain,
son of Colonel Andrew McElvain, formerly of Columbus, had died of cholera at
Manitou, Missouri, while on his way to join his father in California. On Maj- 23,
Oliver S. Walcutt, of the Franklin company, wrote to his fatiier from the Little
Blue Grass Eivcr that while the company was encamped on the Big Sandy, dur-
ing the night of the eighteenth, its cattle were stampeded, that they ran over and
seriously injured .some of the members of the company, and that ten yoke of oxen
were lost. The letter continues :
Next morning, in talking over our misfortune, we agreed to separate and divide the
money and the property. Those who go on will do so in small companies of six or eight
men. The remainder will return home. For my own part, I am still bound for California.
The mess to which I am attached will go on in a body. It consists of Messrs. Roby, Price,
Woodward, Barr and myself. . . . Major Sanderson, with a body of the mounted riflemen",
passed us on the twentieth instant enroute to Fort Laramie. Edward Gaver is with Marple,
McCormick and Colton, who are determined to go ahead.
On August 21, 1849, Peter Decker, of the Industrial As.sociation, wrote from
Sacramento, California, to W. B. Thrall, of Columbus:
The main train with the wagons arrived in the " diggins " on the twelfth instant. Mess
number two, of which 1 was u member, packed and were sent in advance of the company
from the Cannon [canyon] in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and arrived in this city on the
ninth, the former having been on the road one hundred and four days and the latter one
hundred and one days from St. Joseph. We were fortunate in being among the foremost
trains on the road this year, crowded to an excess that must result in much suffering to
The California Exodds. 35
some of those behind on account of scarcity of grass, which, to emigrants, is second in
importance to bread. From advices received on the road from packers who left St. Joseph
after all the wagons had left, I suppose the number of wagons that started across the plains
this season was from eight to nine thousand, and, on an average, at least three persons to a
wagon. Our company came through as an association, but since have dissolved by unani-
mous vote. Nearly all companies formed in the states broke up on the road —even down
to the number of two or three. This may appear mysterious to many, but those who have
observed human nature as developed on the plains have no difficulty in solving this
mystery. . . .
Some make money fast, while others do but little and yet labor hard, for mining is hard
labor. An ounce a day is considered doing tolerably well. . . . Mechanics and laboring
men get from $10 to $20 per day, and prices in other respects range as follows : Flour $8 (aj,
$10 per hundred pounds ; ham 40 to 45c per pound ; mess pork 35c per pound ; coBee from 12
to 20c, and brown sugar the same ; tea from il.OO to $1.50 ; molasses from $1.00 to $1.50 per
gallon. Butter is almost out of the question here; some which in the States woulil only be
used in place of lard sells at two dollars per pound. Saleratus is 13.00 @ $4.00 a pound.
Watermelons sell at from four to six dollars apiece ; cheese at one dollar a pound. Loaves
of bread that sell in your city at five cents are fifty cents here. Boarding is eighteen to
twentyone dollars per week, with the privilege of selecting the smoothest ground you can
find to sleep on outside of the " shanty," and then, too, you have a nightly serenade from the
wolves. . . . The city from which I address you is abont three months of age, and has a
population of from four to five thousand inhabitants. The houses are mostly h'nt.-;, though
some good wooden hou.ses are being built, for one of which I heard a gentleman offer
$3l.000rent a year. . . . Lots sell from $1,000 to $30,000 apiece.
During the year 1850 numerous parties of welluquippod Oaliforniabound
emigrants passed through Columbus. To what extent the tide of goldseekers was
recruited from the capital of Ohio dui-ing the fifties there is no record, but doubt-
less its full share of adventurers joined in the grand march over the plains and
mountains. The extent of the general exodus to the Pacific Coast may be esti-
mated from the fact that, within ton years from tlie date of the discovery at
Sutter's Mill, California — admitted to the Union as a State in 1850 — had
increased her population from 30,000 to 600,000, and j-icidcd a gold product of
nearly six hundi'cd million dollars.
HoxEs ^194901
1. John M. Kerr, son of John Kerr, one of the original proprietors of Columbus, organized
a company of California emigrants in Cincinnati, where he was engaged in keeping a boarding-
house. Among the persons who signed his roll was an English nobleman then visiting the
United States. When the time fixed for departure approached, most of Mr. Kerr's men found
pretexts for refusing to go. Kerr was nevertheless determined to go himself and accordingly
quitted Cincinnati for California on April 1, 1849, accompanied by James Way, of Boston,
George Krauss and a third goldseeker named Kloppenberg. Mr. Kerr and his companions,
after crossing the plains and mountains together, halted at the Feather River placers, in
Butte County, where they extracted their full share of wealth from the diggings of that region.
After mining awhile Kerr bought a camp inn, consisting of a long canvas booth, erected and
sold to him by a brother of Mr. Powell, the artist who painted the picture of Perry's Victory,
now in the rotunda of the Statehouse. While managing this business Mr. Kerr had in his
employ a negro ofHceboy who had been brought out to California as a slave and was hired or
let from his master. This boy was accustomed to claim as his perquisite the droppings of
golddust which accumulated during each day's transactions in a crevice of the office counter,
36 History of the City of Coldmb0s.
Every evening the boy took from that crevice about three dollars worth of dust. Whisky
was sold over the counter at twentyfive cents, or, in the absence of coin, a pinch of gold dust
per dram. In larger transactions the golddust and grains with which payment wns made were
weighed in a pair of scales standing on the counter ; from these scales the dust fell which the
officeboy secured in the manner just stated. Wliile conducting his camp tavirn, Mr. Kerr
was elected as the first treasurer of Butte County, which was then large enough territorially
to constitute a goodsized state. Failing in health, Kerr sold his inn on ihe Feather River
and removed to San Francisco where he bought the City Hotel. The seabeach then skirted
Montgomery Street, from which it is now nearly a mile distant, the dry land having since
been extended that far seaward by filling. When Ihe " great fire " took place in San Fran-
cisco, Mr. Kerr's establishment was destroyed, and all that he had invesle<l in it was lost.
He remained on the Pacific Coast until the outbreak of the Civil War, wlien he euli.sted in
the First California Infantry, with which he served until the close of the v\ar, mostly in New
Mexico and Arizona. In 186.5, he returned to Ohio, where he has since remained. Having
lost his property in California, he found, upon his return, that most of his Columbus po.sses-
sions, now worth hundreds of thousandsof dollars, had also passed beyond his reach. Broken
in health, he was reduced to penury and has never since been able to retrieve his fortunes. He
is now over seventy years of age. In his earlier life he was not only wealthy but i)rominent.
His clothes, purchased annually in New York, were of the latest .style and set the fashions
of the town. A friend and ardent admirer of Henry Clay, he took an aclive part in the
National campaign of 1840, and was accustomed to drive through the streets a pair of " day-
bank " mares, hitched tandem. He was a boon companion, generous to a fault, and enjoyed
an extensive acquaintance. His life has been replete with strange adventures and vicissi-
tudes, extending all the way from princely atHuence to abject want. The author is indebted
to hnn for the information contained in most of the remaining notes appended to this chap-
ter.
2. Coulter returned to Columbus and died in a state of ntter destitution.
3. J. H. Marple became one of the functionaries of Butte County, California.
4. Was a clerk in the drugstore of Sumner Clark.
5. Brother to John Barr, recently deceased.
6. The same elsewhere mentioned in connection with the Jerry Finney kidnapping
case. See Chapter XXXI.
7. Brother to General C. C. Walcutt.
8. Was John M. Kerr's mining partner. Settled in California. Obtained a position in
the United States Mint at San Francisco.
9. Obtained a position in the San Francisco Customhouse. Became a judge of one of
the California courts.
10. The same whose letter is quoted in a later part of the chapter. Established a trad-
ing post on the Yuba River and became wealthy. Organized a banking institution at Marys-
ville, California.
11. Afterwards a member of the Columbus City Council.
12. Obtained a position in the San Francisco Customhouse.
13. A comb manufacturer on South High Street.
14. Was connected with Neil, Moore & Go's StageofHce.
1.5. From Kidgway's Foundry.
16. Connected with the stove and tinware establishment of Ellis. Ayers & Co., where
the Neil house now stands.
17. Among olher Columbus men who went to California during the gold excitement
was John Bigler, of the Ohio Statesman. Mr. Bigler acquired a fortune on the Pacific Coast,
entered political life and became Governor of the State. He was a brother to Governor
Bigler, of Pennsylvania.
The California Exodus. 37
Charles H. Bryan, brother to John A. Bryan, Auditor of the State of Ohio, went to the
Pacific Coast with the goldseekers and became one of the judges of the California Supreme
Court.
Milton S. Latham, son of Bela Latham, one of the postmasters of Columbus, emigrated
to Alabama, studied law in that state and went from thence to California during the gold-
seeking excitement. John Bigler, who knew him and who had become wealthy, established
him in a lucrative law practice at Sacramento. Latham acquired a fortune and was elected
Governor of the State under an alleged private arrangement whereby he received the sup-
port of John B. Weller, also from Ohio, on condition that Wellcr should be United States
Senator. Immediately after his inauguration as governor, Latham sought and obtained the
senatorship for himself. He is said to have been an instigator of the duel between Judge
Terry and United States Senator David S. Broderick, in which the latter was killed. Latham,
after this affair, became unpopular, lost his propertv and returned to the East, where he
died.
IS. Major W. F. Sanderson, previously of Columbus, bad been ordered to establish a
post on the California route near Fort Laramie, on the Upper Platte River. His command
consisted of two companies of United States Mounted Riflemen, partly recruited at Columbus,
and one company of the Sixth United States Infantry.
CHAPTER IV.
RECEPTION AND VISIT OF LOUIS KOSSUTH.
Fieemcui liavua profound isj-mpatln' for fi-eedom's cause tlirougliout tlio civil-
ized world. One of the most impressive illustrations of this which modern liistory
has furnished was the reception i^iven in this country to the Hungarian patriot
Louis Kossuth.
During the summer of 1849 the effoi-ts of Hungary-, first to obtain an extension
of natural rights under the Crown of Austria, and finally to establish an independ-
ent government, culminated in failure. Thej' were overcome bj' the combined
forces of Austria and Eussia. Far outnumbered and in part betrayed, the armies
of the revolt were vanquished, and Kossuth, the leader in the Hungarian cau.se,
tools refuge in Turljey. His extradition was demanded by the allied powers, but
the Sultan, supported by France and England, refused to grant it. He was finally
liberated and soon afterwards embarked on the steamship Mississippi, which was
dispatched b}- resolution of the Senate, to convey him to the United States as a
guest of the nation. On December 5, 1851, he arrived in New York, whei-e bis
reception was in the nature of a triumph. The j)opular enthusiasm with which he
was received is said to have surpassed even that with which Lafayette was wel-
comed in 1824. At Philadelphia he was received in Independence Hall, and at
Baltimore was escorted to his hotel bj- a vast concourse of people. On December
30 he reached Washington, and was officially welcomed by Senators Seward, Cass
and Shields. He was immediately visited by Daniel Webster, Secretary of State,
and on the following day a levee in his honor was given at the Executive Mansion.
On January 6, he dined with President Fillmore, and on the seventh visited the
Capitol by the invitation of Congress. During the ensuing evening the members
of the two Houses jointly honored him with a banquet, at which the Vice Presi-
dent of the United States, Hon. William R. King, presided. To the toast
"Hungary,'' proposed by the Vice President, he responded in a strain of splendid
eloquence.
From Washington Kossuth extended his journey through the South, West,
and back again to the East. Cities, corporations and legislatures honored him
with their attentions, and vast crowds of jjeople everywhere rushed to give him
welcome. To all these greetings he responded with the most fascinating and
inspiring eloquence, such as modern oratory has rarely equaled. The inde-
[38]
Reception ani> Visit of Louis Kossuth. 39
pcndonce of Hungary, and the intorvenlion of the United States in her behalf,
constituted the burden of iiis appeal. He failed, of eourse, to realize his wishes in
this regard ; however just his cause, our government could not, in its behalf, meddle
in the politics of Europe; nevertheless the popular sympathy for him was every-
where unbounded.
In appearance Kossuth is described as a man slightly above medium stature,
with broad forehead, large blue eyes, heavy mustache and a countenance indicat-
ing earnestness and refinement. Of the manner and matter of his speeches, of
which he delivered a great many, the following has been written :
In speaking, nothing could be more incomparably dignified and graceful than
Kossuth's manner ; gestures more admirable and effective and a play of countenance
more magnetic and winning could not be conceived. He always stood quite erect,
instead of fi'equently bending forward, as is the case with some orators, to give
emphasis to a sentence. His posture and appearance in repose indicated great-
Tiess liy their essential grace and dignity, and impres.sed the beholder with a sense
of riiurked individuality and power. This sense of reserved power in the man —
the cerlainty that he was not making an effort and doing his utmost, but that
beliind all this strength of fascination there were other treasures of ability not
brought into notice and perhaps never made use of — constituted one of the great
charms of his oratory. He spoke as if with little preparation, and with that
peculiar freshness which belongs to extemporaneous speaking; every movement
seemed perfectly easy, and he gesticulated a good deal, equally well with either
arm. The universal remark concerning him in this respect was that he was the
greatest of living orators.
On December 15, 1851, a public meeting was held at the City Hall, in
Columbus, to make arrangements for Kossuth's reception at the capital. Robert
Thompson presided at this meeting, which is described as very large and very
enthusiastic. It was addressed by S. S. Cox, R. P. Spalding, Samuel Galloway,
George E. Pugh, William Dennison and John Woods. The meeting adjourned to
reassemble December 18, when a reception committee of one hundred and a
finance committee were appointed. Of the Finance Committee Peter Ambos was
chairman, W. F. Wheeler secretary, and Luther Donaldson treasurer. In
January, 1852, resolutions were adopted by the General Assembly, welcoming
Kossuth to Ohio, and on the fifteenth of the same mouth a third meeting of citi-
zens to arrange for his reception was held. At this meeting, which is described as
very large and enthusiastic, Samuel Galloway presided, an executive committee
was appointed, and William Dennison, R. P. Spalding and L. V. Bierce were dele-
gated to confer with the reception committees appointed by the General Assembly.
On the morning of February 4, 1852, Kossuth and his companions quitted
Cleveland for Columbus. The party traveled on a special car, and was accom-
panied by the legislative committees. At Berea, Grafton, Lagrange, Wellington,
New London, Shelby, Cardington and Ashley the Hungarian leader was greeted
by enthusiastic throngs of people, and was presented with their offerings to defray
the expenses of a new effort to emancipate his country. Between Cleveland and
Columbus be received for this purpose the total sum of $312.50. The contribu-
tion at Shelby, amounting to $57.50, was presented to him by Hon. Jacob
Brinkerholf. When he arrived at Delaware, he was met by an immense crowd
40 History of the City of Columbus.
and was escorted to a church filled with people, including the Hungarian Associa-
tion of the town and the students of the University. Formally welcomed at the
church, first by Mayor Buck and then by Doctor Edward Thomson, President of
the University, he replied in a brief address, said to have been one of the most
charming of all he had delivered in the English language.* Expressing his appre-
ciation of the sympathj^ shown him, and hoping the people would be true to their
fiiendship for Hungary, he said: "Then, indeed, it will be recorded in imperish-
able letters in the heart of my nation, that out of the Delaware Springs of
American sympathy I have filled a tumbler of health for my people of Hungary."
At the conclusion of his address, S. M. Little presented him $210.00 in behalf of the
Hungarian Society, after which ceremony he was escorted to an omnibus by
Governor Wood, and drove to his train amid defeating shouts.
At Columbus, the Hungarian party was met at the railway station by officer.s
of State, members of the General Assembly, the military and fire companies and
beneficial and industrial associations of the capital, and a vast throng of citizens,
including many delegations from the country for fifty miles around.' Crowds
began to assemble, both at the station and in front of the Neil House, long before
the time for the arrival of the train, the approach of which was announced at six
p. M., by the boom of cannon and the ringing of bells. Under the direction of General
T. Stockton, an escorting jn-ocession was formed at the station, and moved up
High Street to the Neil House, amid the enthusiastic shouts of the people. The
buildings along the street, and throughout the city, were profusely decorated with
flags, including those of Hungary and other nations. At the Neil House, into
which Kossuth made his way with difficulty, owing to the density of the crowd,
he shortly appeared on the portico, in front of the main entrance and was
presented to the people by Hon. David A. Cox, of the State Senate, but gracefully
excused himself with a very few sentences, as he expected to speak at length on
the next day following. After the reception was over, the fire companies paraded
the streets with torchlights and banners. In the course of the. evening, Ko.ssuth
was serenaded by one of the German bands of the city, and responded briefly in
the German language.
The Ohio Statesman of the next day said, enthusiastically: "The reception
of Kossuth at this place on last night was one of the most splendid and enthusias-
tic outbursts of popular feeling ever witnes.sed in this part of creation." In the ^ ^
procession, the Columbus Artillery (German), Captain :^uhl ; Captain Snyder's If'O ■
Grenadiers, and the fire companies bore the colors of the United States and Hun-
gary. The fire companies also bore the Turkish flag, and carried torches. The
City Butchers' Association, on horseback, wore regalia in the Hungarian colors.
Kossuth's carriage was drawn by four white horses. The only ladies in the Hun-
garian party were Madame Kossuth and Madame Pulszky. Kossuth's children
were in England.
On the evening of February 4 a meeting of workingmen was held at the City
Hall to arrange for receiving an address from the Hungarian leader, and to aid
him in the liljcration of his country. Charles B. Flood was chairman, and Milton
M. Powers secretary of this meeting, which packed the hall as full as it would
Residence of B. N. Huntington, 620 East Broad Street, built m 1872.
Residence of F. W. Prentiss, 706 East Broad Street, built in 1890.
Eeception and Visit of Louis Kossuth. 41
hold. A committee was appointed which waited upon Kossuth next daj-, and
requested him to deliver the desired address, but owing to his weariness and the
condition of his lungs he was obliged to decline.
February 5 was so clear and mild as to be quite favorable to an outdoor meet-
ing. Directly in front of the Old Court House on High Street, a platform for
speaking was erected, conducted to which, about eleven o'clock, by Governor
Wood, Kossuth was presented by Hon. William Dennison to a dense mass of peo-
ple, crowding the street, the windows, the awnings, and all available space within
seeing or hearing distance. Prayer was offered by Eev. H. L. Hitchcock, after
which Hon. Samuel Galloway^'elcomed Kossuth in a glowing speech to the capi-<^ /($k-t'*(^'^^ ^w/i
tal of Ohio. Kossuth then rose, and excusing himself for keeping his hat on spoke f.^/i,f,-€:s>l^ '>^
as follows : 2>V^/ -^^ "^
Sir, I most humbly thank you for the information of what I owe to Ohio lor \^ ^ ^^ ^_
my liberation. I stood upon the ruins of vanquished greatness in Asia, wlici'e ^^ a*<3^
tidings from young America are so seldom heard that indeed I was not ac(ju;iintcil i^jjU^ t^M^
with the fact. Still, I loved Ohio with affection and with admiration bcfoiv I ^
knew what I had yet to hear. Now I will love her with the affection and tender- ^-^^
ness of a child, knowing what part she took in my restoration to life — because to
liberty.
Sir, permit me liunibly to decline those praises which you have been pleased
to bestow upon nu' jn'r.soaal!}'. I know of no merit — I know only the word duty,
and you are acquainted with the beautiful lines of the Irish poet;
Far dearer the grave or the prison,
Illumed by a patriot's name,
Tiian the glories of all who have risen
On liberty's ruins to fame.
I was glad to hear that you are familiar with the history of our struggles and
of our achievements, and of our aims. This dispenses me from speaking much,
and that is a great benefit to me, because, indeed, I have spoken very much.
Sir, entering the j'oung State of Ohio — that giant in its ver^- vdiilli — tboiigU
my mind be constantly filled with homeward thoughts and homewanl .soriow s,
still BO wonderful is what I see, looking at it through the glass of ^'our short history,
that even my sorrows relax for a nioineiit in their torturing Jiangs wliile I look
around me in astonish mcnl and rub my eyes to ascertain that it is not the magic
of a dream which makes your bold, mighty ami floui'ishing commonwealth i-ich
with all the marks <jfcivili/,al ion and olMif," hrrc, where ainn.sl yesterday was yet
nothing but a vast wihierm'ss, sih^nt an.l <lmiib like ilie elenn'iit's of the world on
creation's eye. And here 1 slaml in Cohimhiis, which, though ten years younger
than Iam,"isslill llie ea|iital of that mighty eomnn.n wealth which again, in its
turn, ten years before 1 was born, nursed but three tlnjusand daring men, scat-
tered over the vast wilderness, fighting tor their lives with scalping Indians, and
now numbers two millions of free, ha|j])y men, who, generous because free, are
conscious of their ])ower, aiid weigh heavily in the scale of maidtind's destiny.
How wonderful that the exiled chief of a distant European nation of Asiatic
origin, which, amidst the ra^'inu,- waves of centuries s\vee|iing away empires by its
flood, stood for a thou.saiid years like a rock and |iiol,>eled Christendom, and was
the bulwark for civilization against harl.arism — how wonderful that the exiled
chief of that nation has to come to this land, where a mighty nation grows up as
it were over night out of the very earth, and found this nation protecting the
rights of humanity when offered in his own humble self, and found that useful
nation ready to stretch its powerful gigantic arm over the Atlantic to jirotecl all
Hungary against oppression, and found her pouring the balm of her .sym)iathy
42 History of the City of Columbus.
inlu IIk- bk'cdiiig wounds of Hungary, tliut, regenerated bj the faitliful spirit of
America, it may yet rise once more independent and free, a breakwater to the
flood of Russian ambition, oppressing Europe and threatening the world.
Citizens of Columbus, the namesalce of your city, when he discovered America
little thought that ho would liberate, by his discovery, the Old World [cheers];
and tiiose exiles of the Old World who, sistyfour years ago, first settled within
the limits of Ohio at Marietta, little thought that the first generation which would
leap into their steps would make despots tremble and oppressed nations rise. [Great
cheering.] And yet thus it will be. The mighty outburst of popular feeling
which it is my lot to witness is a revelation of that future too clear not to
be understood. The Eagle of America beats its mighty wings ; the Stars of
America illumine Europe's night; and the Starspangled Banner, taking under its
protection the Hungarian flag, fluttering loftily and proudly in an imposing atti-
tude, lells the tyrants of the world that the right of freedom must sway, and not
the whim of despots but the law of nations rule. [Cheers.]
Go on, go on, young Eagle of America! Thy place is not more upon the top
of the low hills where thou restest till now, growing in proud security. Thy
place is above the mountains — above the hills. Thy place is high up near the
sun, that with the powerful sweej) of thy mighty wings thou mayest di.spel the
clouds of despotism which prevent the sun of freedom over all Europe to rise.
[Cheers.] There is thy glorious place. Thither calls thee the thundering voice
of thy people ; thither calls thee Ohio, that wonderful jewel of the wonderful
West. [Cheers.] Oh! I will not, indeed, speak longer. [Cries of " go on, go on."]
Yes, gentlemen, I thank j'ou very much. Give me your breath and then I will go
on. [Great laughter.]
Citizens, 3'our young and thriving city is conspicuous by its character of
benevolence. There is scarcely a natural human aftJietion for which your young
city has not an asylum of benevolence. Today you have risen in that benevolence
from the ground of alleviating private affliction to the high level of consoling
oppressed nations. Be blessed for it. I came to the shores of your country plead-
ing the restoration of the law of nations to its duo sway, cruelly violated in my
downtrodden fatherland; and as I went on pleading I met flowers of sj-mpathy.
Since I am in Ohio I meet fruits [great cheering] ; and as I go on thankfully
gathering the fi-uits new flowers arise still promising more and more beautiful
fruits. [Renewed cheering.] That is the character of Ohio, and you are the
ca]iital of Ohio.
lY I am not mislakcii the birth of your city was the year of the trial of war
by which your nnti(jn ]n-(jved to tiie world that there is no power on earth that
can dai-e more to touch that loftj- building of independence which, by a glorious
struggle, was achieved when this vast region was yet a desert unexplored and
unknown. Ohio is a youthful son of this independence, grown up to a giant in a
short time. What I saw yesterday and what I see today proves that you are
conscious of owing something — of owing your national existence to that word
"independence." The glory of j'our eastern sister states is to have conquered that
independence to you. Jjot it be your glory to have put your mighty weight into
the scale, that the law of nations, guarded and ])rotected by you, may afford to
every op])ressed nation that fair play which America had when it struggled for
independence. [Cheers.] ,
Sir, i-eineniberance of received benefit is congenial to highminded men; and
that " Golden Rule"' to which you so eloquently alluded is the source of great
benefit to mankind when practiced by a nation powerful like you. But I am not
surprised to hear invoked that Golden Rule here. It is Franklin County to which
Columbus belongs [laughter and cheers], and it is Franklin who brought not only
mere su)iport but material aid from Eurojie when America rose to assert its
IiECEPTION AND ViSIT OF LOUIS KOSSDTH. 43
natural right to a national independence on earth. [Cheers.] The very name of
your county is a pledge of success to me. [Cheers.] There is a touching advice
in it — " Do to others as you would that others should do to you." Tlie acknowl-
edgment of that eternal justice — of that principle of Christian brotherly love — I
have seen it in the generous reception you honor me with, equall}^ conspicuous by
its spontaneity and its warmth, as also powerful in its character. I have seen it
in the generous welcome which the eloquent interpretei of the sentiments of the
peoplcof Ohio proclaimed to my consolation, to my country's ho]ie. I thank you
most kindly for it.
Last night, having laid down my head upon the pillow of your ho.spitalities,
I dreamed of what Franklin had brought from Europe to struggling America, and
I have seen enough of j-our public spirit to be quite sure that now, when I wake,
I will find that the citizens of Franklin County will prove to be those who claim
what once Franklin claimed; that in the city of Columbus reality is more delight-
ful than even the most delightful historical dream.
Gentlemen, I am tired out. You mu.st generously excuse me when L conclude
by humbly recommending my poor country's future to your generosity. [Great
cheering.]
In the course of his tour Kossuth had, up to this time, delivered over two
hundred speeches; the wearinessand physical exhaustion for which he apologized
were therefore quite to be expected. After the meeting, which concluded with a
short address by Hon. William Dennison, he withdrew to his apartments and
there received various deputations, one of which, from Mount Gilead, presented
him a contribution of fifty dollars. A Kossuth ball took place the following even-
ing at the American House.
During the same evening — February 5 — a large meeting was held at the Citj'
Hall, at which both a State and a Franklin County Hungarian Association were
organized. Judge William R. liankin presided at this meeting. For the Stale
Association a constitution was adopted and the following officers were elected :
President, Governor Reuben Wood ; Vice Presidents, Lieutenant-Governor
William Medill, Samuel Galloway, William Corry, of Hamilton County; Peter
Ambos, of Columbus; and John Woods, of Butler County ; Treasurer, William,
Dennison ; Secretaries, H. B. Carrington and Joseph H. Smith; Central Commit-
tee, Doctor Robert Thompson, Samuel Medary, Doctor William Ide, Charles B.
Flood, C. T. Solis; Finance Committee, William Dennison, Pcler Ambos, L.
Donaldson, M. P. Hewlett, Edward Lilly, William F. Wheeler, L. Hosier, If. B.
Carrington ; and an Executive Coinniitiee of thirtyfive members.
The officers chosen by the Franklin County Association were: President,
Judge William R. Rankin; Vice President, G. Lewis; Treasurer, L. Donaldson;
Secretary, Milton M. Powers; Executive Committee, L. Hoster, C. F. Schenck,
James Lennox, Charles Klie and William F. Wheeler.
On Saturday, February 7, Kossuth was received by the two houses of the
General Assembly jointly convened in the chamber of the House of Representa-
tives in the Odeon Building. At precisely eleven o'clock a. m. the great Hunga-
rian, attended by his suite and conducted by Governor Wood, entered the hall
and was presented by Senator Ransom A. Gillet, of the Reception Committee.
Lieutenant-Governor Medill then addressed him, first reading the resolutions wel-
coming him in eulogistic terms to the capital of Ohio, denouncing Russian inter-
?
44 History of the City of Columbus.
vontion in Hungarian affairs, and tendering him a public reception b}' the General
Assembly in behalf of the people of Ohio. Governor Medill's welcome was
expressed in eloquent words. Standing in the aisle facing the Speaker's desk
Kossuth read the following reply : "'
The spirit of our age is democracy : all for the people, and all hj the people ;
nothing about the people without the people. That is democracy, and that is the
ruling tendency of the spirit of our age. To this spirit is opposed the pi-inciple of
despotism claiming sovereignty over mankind and degrading nations from a posi-
tion of self-conscious, self-consistent aim, to the condition of tools subservient to
the authority of ambition.
One of these principles will and must prevail, so far as our civilization pre-
vails. The destiny of mankind is linked to a common source of principles and
within the boundaries of a common civilization community of destinies exists.
Hence the warm interest which the condition of distant nations awakes nowadays
in a manner not yet recorded in history, because humanity never was yet aware
of that common tie as it now is. With this consciousness thus developed, two
opposite principles cannot rule within the same boundaries — democracy or
despotism — there is no transaction between Heaven and Hell. [Applause.]
In the conflict of these two hostile principles, until now it was not justice but
only success which was met with applause. Unsuccessful patriotism was stigma-
tized as crime. Eevolution not ei-owned by success was styled anarchy and revolt,
and the vanquished patriot, being dragged to the gallows bj^ victorious despotism,
it %vas not the consideration why a man died upon the gallows but the fact itself
that there he died which im]mrtcd a stain to his name. And although impartial
historj' now and then casts the halo of a martyr over an unsuccessful patriot's
grave, yet even that was not always sure. Tyrants often perverted history sullied
by adulation or by fear; but whatever the late verdict might have been for him
who dared to struggle against despotism, when he struggled in vain there was no
honor on earth ; victorious tyranny marked the front of virtue with the brand of
a criminal. . . .
The view has changed. A bright lustre is spreading over the dai-k sky of
humanitj-. The glorious galaxy of the United States rises with imposing bright
ncss over the horizon of 0))presscd nations and the bloody star of despotism, by
your declaration fading in its flame, will soon vanish in the sky like a meteor.
[Applauso.l
Legislators of Ohio, it m.-iy he ttallcring to ambitious vanity to act the part of
an execrated conqueror, but it is a glory unj)aralleled in history to protect right and
freedom on earth. The time draws near when, by virtue of such a declaration
like yours, shared by your sister States, Euro])e's liberated nations will unite in a
mighty choir c)t hallelujahs thanking God that His paternal cares have raised the
United Slat.s \i> the glorious position ot a first born son of freedom on earth.
[A],j,h.ns,..]
Washington jtrophesied that within twenty years the Republic of the United
Slates would be strong enough to defy any power on earth in a just cause. The
State of Ohio was not yet born when the wisest of men and piurest of patriots told
that prophesy, and God Almighty has made the prophesy true by annexing in a
])ro(ligiously sliort period more stars to the jiroud conslcliation of your Republic,
and increasing the lustre of every star more powi-rl'ully than Washington could
have antici])ated in the brightest moments of his patriotic hopes. [Ap|)lause.] . . .
The State of Ohio and mj'self are the same age. The very year your consti-
tution was framed I was born. [Applause.] My breast has always heaved with
intense interest at the name of Ohio. It was like as if something of supreme
importance lay hidden for nic in that name to which my future was bound by the
Heception and Visit hf Ijouis Ko.ssuth. 45
very year of my nativity. This day my anticipations are realized, and tlu; second
coincidence is that the tidings of the present day will just reach Washington City
when the Senators of the United States sit down in judgment upon the question
of international law, and pronounce upon yonr country's foreign policy. Oiiio
has given its vote by the resolutions I had the honor to hear, and Ohio is one of
the brightest stars in the Union. Ohio's vote is tiio vote of two millions, and it will
have its constitutional weight in the coniicils whore the delegates of the people's
sovereignty find their glm'v in ihiing llir pci)|ili.'s will. [A])]il;iiisc.]
Sir, it will bo a day "t (Minsdhitidu ;mhI joy in Hungary when luy iilooding
nation reads these rcsdiiilions wliich I will sciid to iier. [ A |iplaiisr.J Tlioy will
spread like lightning over llic glimriiy liind ami my n:ili(ni, milirokcn in courago,
steady in resolution, (ii-ni in (■(mliJcni-c, will druw .slill nmn' cnuriigc. mciri^ reso-
lution from them, liccauso it is well aware that the Lcgi.slatiiic ol'Oliin would
never pleilge a word of which it were not sure that ti\c jieopU^ of Ohio will lie, in
case of need, as good as that word. [Apjilause.]
Sir, I regret that my sickness disabled me to express my tirmesl thanks in a
manner more becoming to this assembly of dignity. 1 brg to be excused loi- it,
and humbly beg you to believe that my nation lorever. and I lor all my lile. elierisli
the memory of this benefit with cxoi-lasling gratitude. ['I'liMnendous ap]il;iiisi',J
At the conclusion of this address a recess was lak-en and (iovernor Medill
presented to Kossuth the sum of $211 as the conlrilmt ion of l!ie ollieers and mem-
bers of the Senate to the cause of Hungary. In tlio evening of (he same <biy ^
February 7 — the first i-egular meeting ol I lie ■Dhio State Association of the
Friends of Hungary " was held at the City Ilalk which was crowded to its utmost
eapacitj'. Kossuth was conducted to the Hall by Governor lieuben Wood and
Doctor Eobert Thompson. Governor Wood presided, and on taking the chair
made a brief address, in the course of which he said:
Louis Napoleon never would have taken the step he has taken if lie did not
believe that he would be backed bj' the power of Eussia, Austria, Prussia and
other monarchies. Thus it appears that there is a combined effort in Continental
Europe to overthrow all free and liberal institutions. This accomplisheil, what
next? The efforts of tyrants will be directed to our institutions. It will be their
aim to break us down. Must we not prevent this event, peaceably if we can,
forcibly if we must? [Applause.] No power will prevail with tyrants and
usurpers but the power of gunpowder and steel.
Kossuth was then introduced, and delivered an address of considerable length,
going into the merits of the Hungarian cause. The following extracts, explaining
what the speaker expected of the United States and disparaging the counsels of
Washington as to our foreign policy, is important :
But I am told, "suppose the word of America shall not be respected, then
America has to go to war." I have very often answered that question, but now
I will give another answer to it. Well, if the people of America fear war, let them
pronounce in such a way for the maintenance of the great principle of international
law, and let them add such a sanction to it as will in itself secure to America that
it will have no war. [Applause.] You have an act of Congress, passed in 1818, by
which the people of the United States are forbidden by law to take any hostile
steps against a power with which the United States are in amity. Well, suppose
that Congress pronounces such a resolution, that in respect to any power which
violates the laws of nations we recall the neutrality of the law and give full liberty
to the people to follow its will. [Applause.]
But again and again meeting the doubt that your protest, oven with such a
46 History of the City of Columiuts.
sanction, will not be respected. I again answer in respect to the doubt of success,
let me entreat j-oii to try. It costs nothing. You are not bound to go further
than j'our will ; try ; perhaps it will be respected, and if it be, humanity is rescued
and freedom on earth reigns where now despotism rules. It is worth the trial.
My humble prayer in that respect is often answered by the traditional policy of
the father of your country, tlie great Washington. I have already hud the o])por-
tunity to explain what I have found in the documents of America — that such was
never a principle of Washington's. If it was anything, it was a recommendation
of policy for twenty years. Here, I that consideration ]iarticularly repeat. Why?
Because Ohio did not yet exist when AVasliiiigtoii pronounced that policy.
[Laughter and great applause.] And I am sun- lliat Washington was too wise a
man to frame laws for those who did not exisl. [Great laughter.] This country
is now in quite a different condition. A world of power rises up. States which did
not exist among the old thirteen who achieved your republican existence are now
added.
But, sir, certain newspapers charge me with impertinence in having come to this
country-, a stranger, with the arrogant intention to teach here the true sense of the
Farewell Address of Washington. Now, indeed, if ever came a man unpretend-
ingly to America I may say I came so. But I believe the people of America have
not written its history for being shut up in a trunk, but for giving and imparting
instruction by it to humanity. I have not written the documents ; 1 have read
them, and perhaps it is no arrogance to take that construction out of your history
which I found there ready expressed, and so taking that ground, I today say that
very soon (and I believe this not upon my own authority, but upon the authority
of one of your very distinguished fellowcitizens, an American in a high position),
you will have to read a historical work from a classical American author, where you
will find the truth stated that the principle of not entangling America in Euro-
pean alliances, even as I have interpreted it out of American documents, was not
the will of Washington ; it was forced upon him by peculiar circumstances— by
l^ecuiiar considerations. It was a principle of General Hamilton. Washington
resisted all suggestions for a very long time, and only when he saw what the French
nation had executed, who sent help to America in your War of Independence and
banished that Lafayette who fought for your independence — only then did Wash-
ington, by that impulse congenial to such a man as he, declare that with a luition
wiiich had so acted towards the benefactors of his country, he would not mix in
entangling alliances. That is a historical fact. You will see it proved very soon
by an American historian.
Kossuth concluded his address with the following apologetic words:
Ladies and gentlemen, I can speak no more; you will kindly excuse me. I
am entirely exhausted, so much so that every word I speak is like a dagger into
my wounded breast. I humbly recommend, not to your sj'mpalhy — that you
have [given] — but to your energy the cause I plead, and 1 take leave of you by
humbly entreating you [to] think not less favorably of me because you have seen
today a sick man, and have heard a very bad speech."
On motion by Mr. Smith, of the Ohio Statesman, Kossuth's speech was adopted
"as the position of the Association." Thanks for the address were voted on
motion of Judge Spalding, and the preparation of an address to the people was
ordered on motion of H. B. Carrington. After Judge Spalding, who was called
for, had made a few remarks, Kossuth spoke briefly in German. As he quitted
the hall he was loudly cheered. He was much depressed in spirits, as well as
exhausted physically, during his sojourn in Columbus, but favorably impressed
Reception and Visit ok
everyone by his simple and ing'onuous muniu'i
ary 9 contained the following:
An affecting and lovely scene took iilarc
nor Kossuth immediatel}' after the cc iHuimni
of boys, on the part of tlieir associati(]ii. \va
with tlieir mite, wlicn Master M. H. Lrwis
Kossutli, 1 am rc(jiu'slcd by the boys of Coli
suri]ilioii to ilir Iliiiii;'arian cause, which is ll
a set speech, but must say what fii-sl coinc:
overcome bv the feelings inspired by llir i>r(;i
in his eyes, and with considerable clloii h
Kossuth, and Heaven bless your cause wliidi
hajipv in its success." T.'ars ,li,,k,.,l iiis utl.
attMacd, Ihc tears r,,llin- down liis rliccks, repi
quence in tliis than in words, ' Here K(
I: "May Heaven bless you, in tin
Love freedom, love vour country,
Tod.' Kossuth then withdrew bis
lie iitlier inciiiber of the coininittcr,
heart Howed sci purcl_y. The room was nearly filled wilh ladies and ue
frtun whom sobs and tears came freely,
Loins
Kos.
UITII.
47
•. Tlu
■ O/il
.. St,l/r Jininnll
of F
cb,a,-
,,,, S;l
im-da
.y at the room
of G
over-
lie l(
.\u;islature. A
com 11
littee
ilcd on
Ihc
Governor to p
resen
t him
in pr
USCIll
iiig it remark
ed :
"Mr.
iinbiis
to p
resviit \i)u (1111
■ littk
• sub-
irtyfiv
sion. h
,■ add,
,■ dol
<■ pal
■d ;
lars. i caniH
lind.- Unv, :
is.mI, Ihr l..ars
■■ llravc^n lilrss
ll ■i'ivi
i|.|iar
f yon
i'iiil\-
. My.
h we
love
as well, and n
ia\' A-
ou be
terancc
\, an
d Kossuth, scarceh
■ less
l.lied:
" M.
V boy, tbure i,>.
1 more
3 elo-
1 gentl.
y reached his arm ;
aroun
d the
boy,
drew him to his i
^ide and add
truel
learted boy and :i
I noble man.
then
1 that snfter everx
where; love
shoo
k him by the liaii
d, as well as
le le
ast expected.
ity
of KossiUh, ;
am
le
pre-
M
a ni Testations
of
th
is
fact
Attempts were' not wanting to turn the |io]iular
vailing sympathy for his cause, to partisan account,
have probablj' been observed in the significance of various circumstances and the
complexion of various events narrated in the course of this chapter. The City
Council, probably influenced by political considerations, refused to take anj- pai't,
as a body, in the reception ceremonies, and thereby aroused so much feeling that
a public meeting denunciatory of this action was held. At this meeting, which
took place in the City Hall, Februaiy 3, Samuel Mcdaiy jircsiiled and Judge Ean-
kin and Doctor Johnson delivered addresses. The Ohin Stitti'^innn .said of it: " The
meeting was terrific, crowded to suffocation . . . the most extraordinary outburst
of feeling we ever witnessed anywhere." Resolutions were adoj^ited fiercelv
denouncing the action of the Council, condemning the members by whose votes
that action was taken, and applauding those who opposed. The members com-
mended were Benjamin Blake, John Miller, Louis Hosier, James H. Armstrong
and William Miner; those criticised were, Robert McCoy, Robert Cutler, Theodore
Comstock, J. William Baldwin, Robert Riordan, William Roedter and John
Butler.
During Kossuth's sojourn in Columbus, great preparations were made for his
reception in Cincinnati. Advised of this, he wrote to the committee of arrange-
ments declining all banquets, processions or illuminations in his honor, deprecat-
ing any escort from Columbus, and concluding : " Let me enter the city jirivately
and unnoticed, and let me express my views and feelings in a private interview
immediately after my arrival." Kossuth quitted Columbus on the morning of
May 9, and journeyed to Cincinnati via Xenia, Springfield and Dayton. As his
train moved away he was honored with a parting artillery salute. He was accon\-
panied by Governor Wood, Lieutenant-Governor Medill and numerous invited
48 History of the Citv of Columbds.
guests. At Xeiiia be was met by an " immense concourse," was addressed by
Doctor J. A. Coburn, and replied briefly. At Springfield he was introduced by
General Charles Anthony and spoke about ten minutes. His reception at Day-
ton, was very enthusiastic, but the condition of his voice was such that he could
utter but a few words of appreciation. At Hamilton a great crowd met him, but
the crowning reception awaited him at Cincinnati. A contemporary account thus
describes it :
From Mill Creek to the depot tlie railway was lined with peo]:)le, who gave
cheer upon cheer in such a manner that there seemed to be one prolonged shout.
The arrival was announced by the booming of cannon and the ringing of bells.
It is estimated that one hundred thousand people assembled to welcome the great
Afui^'x ;ir. It was the greatest display ever witnessed in the West. The arrange-
nuiiis were cnmjilctc and Kossuth was conducted to his splendid suite of apart-
ments at the Burnett House, the great Hotel of the West, in a manner doing the
highest honor to the cause in which he is engaged.^
With Kossuth's departure for Cincinnati terminated one of the most unique
and memorable events in the history of Columbus. The city has since that time
given great receptions to distinguished men, but to no other foreigner tiian Kos-
suth has it ever extended such a splendid welcome. The reason is not far to seek.
The eloquent Hungarian ro])resented principles which every American holds
dear. As one touch of Nature makes the whole world kin, .so do Freedom and
Freedom's cause, make brothers of us all, no matter what language we speak or in
what clime we were born.
The amount of the Columbus contributions to the Hungarian cause was about
two thousand dollars; the whole amount of the Ohio contributions about sixteen
thousand. Meetings of the associations, including one of German ladies, organ-
ized in behalf of Hungarian independence, continued to be held for a time, but
after some weeks wore discontinued. On Julj- 14, 1852, Kossuth sailed for Eng-
land.^
NOTES.
1. Kossuth was sufficient!}' master of French, German^ English and Italian to be able
to speak fluently in all those languages.
2. The City Council refused to participate, as a body, either in tlie reception or the
parade.
3. By order of the General Assembly the manuscripts of Governor Medill's speech and
Kossuth's reply were handsomely bound and deposited in the State Library.
4. Oldo State Journal.
0. During his sojourn of about six months in the United States, Kossuth delivered
about three hundred speeches. The changes which meanwhile took place in European poli-
tics having destroyed nenrly all hope of Hungarian independence, the contributions to that
cause were comparatively insignificant.
/IV^ ^yJO ^A^^--^^-;^^-^-^
CHAPTER V.
BALLOON ASCENSIONS.
Fifty j-cars ago aerial navigation was much more of a noveitj-, as well as more
hazardously executcii than it is now. Its most notable instance, down to 1859,
w:i8 that of John Wise and John La Mountain, who, in July of that year, sailed
through the air from St. Louis to Henderson, New York, a distance of 1,150 miles,
at the rate of nearly a mile per minute. The first balloon ascension at Columbus
was made by Richard Clayton from the Capitol Square on July 4, 18-12. In
advertising this performanc-c it was stated that Mr. Clayton was one of the "most
daring aeronauts in the world," and that on this occasion he would make his
thirtieth ascension. "He will take his departure," the announcement pursued,
"from a spacious amphitheatre erected for that purpose, at five o'clock p. m. To
generate all the necessary quantity of hydrogen gas for the inflation of this
stupendous vessel, 2,800 pounds of oil of vitriol, 3,000 pounds of iron, and 15,000
pounds of water have to be used."
Clayton's ascension, we are told, was a beautiful one, and was witnessed by
" a vast concourse of people," occupying streets, windows and tops of buildings.
"The balloon," the account continues, "rose gracefully from the amphitheater
where the process of inflation took place, and the intrepid aeronaut waived an
adieu to the congregated thousands as long as he could be distinguished."' On
July 7, Mr. Clayton published the following account of his voyage:'
Preciselj' at the time proposed in my advertisement, I took my departure
from the earth. The weather was calm, but the atmosphere was extremelj' hazy.
The enclosure from which the ascension was made contained the most respectable
and influential citizens of Columbus and its vicinity. As I arose, hats and hand-
kerchiefs were waved, the military gave a salute, and an approving smile beamed
from a thousand lovely countenances, giving buoyancy to one's feelings and
adding enchantment to the scene. The movement of the balloon was so steady
that no sensation of motion was experienced; the earth appeared to gradually fall
from my feet and the spectators to dwindle into dwarfs and blend, at last, into
masses. A gentle breeze wafted me nearly in a north direction, a little to the
right of the Delaware Road. A number of persons on horseback endeavored to
keep up with me, who, together with their horses, resembled the toys of children
moving with snaillike velocity. On attaining the altitude of half a mile and a dis-
tance of five or six miles froni the city, I caught a different current of air which
bore me in au eastern direction. . . .
[40]
4»
50 History of the City op Columbus.
After feasting a few minutes upon the beautiful view beneath me, I turned
my attention to tlie balloon and arranged various articles in m^- little car so as to
have no confusion at the time of landing. This being done, I took some refresh-
ments which an old acquaintance and intimate friend had provided fur me. On
passing from one current of air to another, a slight agitation takes places in the
silk envelope. At half after live o'clock Columbus bore west, southwest, distance
about ten miles. At 5:45 the thermometer stood at 52° ; threw over ballast,
ascended rapidly and moved eastward with increased velocity. At 5:55 gained
the altitude of two miles; looked back to see Columbus, but it was lost in the
hazy vapor. The thermometer now stood at 38° ; a great quantity of water
poured down upon me from the neck of the balloon. This water was taken into
the balloon in the Ibrni of vapor when the gas was generating, and afterwards,
when it was exposed to extreme cold, condensed and fell in copious showers of
rain upon me. Being drenched with water, and the thermometer down to 38°, I
felt extreinel}' chillj-and rather sick at the stomach; the sickness was occasioned,
partly, perhaps, by inhaling a goodly quantity of hydrogen gas. A teaspoonful
or two of brandy and a little excellent cake prepared by a fair friend of mine
restored me to my proper feelings.
I was now rapidlj- descending to a warmer and pleasanter region. Crossed
the main canal at six o'clock between Hebron and Newark and had a tine view of
both towns; could hear the shouts of the inhabitants and the sound of a band of
music. A few miles beyond Newark, 1 approached the earth ; voices sounded in
every direction calling me to come down. When within cable distance of the
ground, I perceived two persons at work in a cornfield, neither of whom had seen
the balloon, for their backs were towards me. To one of these men I shouted to
take hold of my rope. He gazed around him to see where the voice came from,
but did not think for a moment of looking ujiwards and consequently did not see
the balloon until it reached the ground.
Not the slightest difHculty was experienced in landing. Per.sons came run-
ning from all points. The balloon was conducted in its inflated state to the house
of Mr. Seymour, where I remained all night and received the kindest and most
hospitable treatment. My landing was effected at twenty minutes after six
o'clock, after remaining in the atmosphere one hour and twenty minutes, and on
the farm of Mr. Seymour, five miles east of Newark, and thirtyeight miles east by
north of Columbus.
The next ascension worthy of note was made July 4, 1S51, by John Wise, of
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, above mentioned, from an enclosure erected by John
M. Kinney, at the corner of Broad and Seventh streets. The day dawned clear
and gentle, and at an early hour the people began to pour into the city from all
the country round until Broad Street and its pavements were literally packed
with eager multitudes. The balloon having been inflated, Mr. Wise stepped into
his " car" at three o'clock p. m., gave the signal to let loose, and soared skyward,
greeted liy the shouts of many thousands of delighted spectators. His airship
drifted in a southerly direction and landed without accident about six miles
from its startingpoint, from which Mr. Wise returned to the city the same
evening.
On September 26, 1851, the .same aeronaut ascended in his balloon " Ulysses,"
from Kinnej-'s Museum, in the presence of a great concourse of people. He was
accompanied on this trip, said to have been his one hundred and twentyfourth, by
Mrs. Wise and his son Charles. The balloon floated in a northeasterly course and
landed on Mr. Noble's farm, about four miles from Columbus. Here Charles Wise
Balloon Ascensions. 51
alighted and Mr. and Mrs. Wise reasceuded to a height of about ten thousand feet.
At 6:15 p. M. they alighted near Blendon Corners, about ten miles from Columbus.
On October 29, 1857, the French aeronaut. Monsieur Godard, and his brother,
made an ascension from the Capital City Fairgrounds, a short distance southeast-
erly from the locality now known as East Park Place, on Bast Broad Street.
P. W. Huntington, of the Exchange Bank, and E. H. ("Rocky") Thompson, an
employe in the postofRce, accompanied the Godards, one of whom suspended
himself head downwards by a rope dropped from the " car," and in that position
waved a flag while the balloon floated through the air. The party alighted about
five p. M. in a pond near Reynoldsburg, and returned to the city the same evening.
The Godards had been advertised to go up on horseback in their balloon, the
" Ville de Paris," but owning to the inability of the Gas Company to manufacture
thirty thousand feet of gas all in one day, this project had to be reserved for a
later expedition from Cincinnati.
The next mentionable ascension of which we have record took place Septem-
ber 13, 1864, from an enclosed lot near the railway station, on High Street, and is
said to have been a very fine one. It was made by William Shotts in a beautiful
balloon which bore the name of " General Grant."
An aeronaut styling himself Professor Brooks advertised that he would make
an ascension by moonlight during the evening of September 15, 1864. Admission
to the enclosure from which the start was to be made was charged for, but the
supply of gas from the works being insufliicent to inflate the balloon without leav-
ing the city in darkness, Brooks was obliged to announce a postponement of his
intended exploit. Thereupon his patrons, believing themselves to have been
duped, seized his apparatus and destroj^ed it.
On July 4, 1881, Charles H. Grimley made an ascension from the northeast
corner of the Capitol Square in a balloon of twentytwo thousand cubic feet capac-
ity, on which was displayed, in large blue letters, the name " Columbus." In and
about the Square, at the time of the start, which took place about three o'clock
p. M., ten or fifteen thousand spectators were assembled. When let loose, the bal-
loon rose grandly and sailed off' in a southeasterly direction, exciting the vociferous
enthusiasm of the observing multitudes. The aeronaut was accompanied by S. J.
Flickinger, representing the Ohio State Journal, from whose account of the voyage
the following passages are taken :
As we glided up through the warm air to more pleasant climes the effect
was most grand. There was none of the rattle of machinery nor the jar of rail-
cars, and not even the quiver of a vessel on a clear sea. It was such peace and
comfort as mortals never realize at their common altitude, and enough to make
one believe in the promises made for mansions in the skies. ... It was not till
we had passed over the County Infirmary that the Professor felt like consulting
his instrument and then cried out "3,250 feet high, and just now beginning to
move up rapidly." At this place, or a few moments later, when at 4,200 feet, the
view of the city began to grow dim, but before that it was a magnificent panorama.
The streets looked like paths and the bright sun made them, as it did everything
else, shine. The diagonal streets, irregular blocks and other things out of the
uniform sj'Stem seemed to be most prominent. The Scioto soon began to look like
a white whiplash lying on the ground and its bridges like rings about it. The
52 History hf the City of Columbus.
grander view was spared for the eountiy. . . . The course was southeast, about
midway between the Hocking Valley and the Ohio Central railroads, and through
that fertile region the farms presented a grand view.
After we were about ten miles out of the city, the Professor was observed
throwing bits of paper from the balloon. We were fiilling and he wanted to
observe the rate. The j^aper seemed to go up, which showed that we were going
down. He said that would not do, and it was after this that the surface currents
were surmounted. Out went the ballast, and as the sand was poured down, the
first part of the stream had not yet touched the ground when tiie bag was closed.
For a moment it looked like a suspended rope of sand. . . .
After we had disposed of considerable paper and some sand, Professor
Griniley noted the instrument, which was suspended in the balloon, and called
out, " 5,600 feet high" — considerable more than a mile. The barns and farm-
houses were seen with some indistinctness as to form or color, and the view was
a general one, circumscribed by the horizon. As we were passing between
Lockbourne and Groveport the Professor announced the height at G,S(I0, and soon
at 7,250. We soon passed back over on the east side of the Hocking Valle}- and
then had a grand view of that road, which seemed like a line, but the tracks could
not be noticed. This road was followed for some distance, all the little jilaces
appearing in their turn, on both this and the Ohio Central. Canal Winchester
was left to the south some distance. The balloon was making all liic lime a liee-
line for Rushville, on the Ohio Central. The trains could be heard, liut it look a
long time to find them, and they seemed very small and to be going very slow,
although at full speed. At the greatest rise there was almost absolute silence, and
this was grand for a few moments, after which it became somewhat awful and
was not pleasant. Even the Professor did not relish being out of hearing distance,
not from fear but from a distaste for an entire stillness which cannot he
described. . . .
The balloon, as is the custom, took spells at going up and then dropping, as
the gas would expand and contract, and whenever it made a big spurt upward so
much force was gone and its equivalent in ballast had to be dispensed with in
order to keep from coming down. During the expansions in rising, gas would
escape from the " mouth "' into the basket and make a disagreeable smell. During
the second of these changes we wei"e lowering over a harvestfield and j-elled out
to the men, wanting to know how far we were from Columbus. They had great
dilficultj^ in understanding us, but we caught their response of "eighteen miles '
quite plainly. Then we went up to three thousand feet again and the Profes.sor
called out in order, 4,200, 5,450, 6,800, 7,200, 7,500, 7,850, 8,000, and so on. At
this time we had in view more than fifty miles on each side, or a stretch of one
hundred miles on the horizon, which was tinted with delicate colors and pre-
sented a fine sketch. ...
Opposite Lancaster the ship "went down" somewhat, and immediately, by
throwing out ballast, it ascended, when the Professor called out 8,200, 9,275 and
9,300. The canal in the bright sun then looked like a silver thread lying on the
ground. We were up out of the surface currents. The lower part of the dragrope
was, however, flying around in them. . . . The balloon remained at her fine alti-
tude and bore gently on in her southward course. Finally, by the use of slips of
paper, a very slow downward movement was perceptible. Professor Grimley saw
a large open space in what seem to me the " far distance," and he said, " we will
try to land there." After some time the dragrope struck the ground, and that
meant only four hundred and fifty leet to fall. ... It was found that the balloon
was going beyond the open-space and more ballast w;ie thrown out to lift us over
the woods. We went over it safely, and arrived at another apace of open fields.
The men in the field were called to all the time and were running after us. The
Balloon Ascensions. 53
second open space was struck all right, but none of the persons following had hold
of the rope. We let out all the ballast after the valve had been opened tor the
escape of gas, so as to come down easy, but we struck the ground with some force
owing to a breeze that came up just tlien and swept us along. We \yere pretty
well bounced up in the basket when the ground was struck, but held in, and the
wind carried the balloon up again and right over into the woods. When we
landed in the field, the men had not got hold of the rope, and there was nothing
to hold us down when he got there. The anchor was out, tearing up the ground
and opening fences, but it could not hold the monster, which seemed to be raging
in the wind ju.st when it should have been tame. The ballast was all gone and
we had to land wbere the wind put us. We went down into^tho tree tops and
were in a decidedly bad fix.
While lingering around in the treetops the men came up and took hold of the
dragrope while the anchor had its fastening. But still the balloon swung to and
fro with us in such a manner as not to be described, tearing off limbs and making
a general crash. When it would strike a treetop the men below would cry, "jump
out now while you can." The striking of the trees and the blowing up of a stiff
wind at that very time had placed us in a frightful condition. The basket was at
times over on end and it was very difficult to hold onto it, but all this time the
valve rope had to be pulled and much more looked after. Professor Grimlcy told
me to hold on to the valve rope and hang to the basket, and so I did till tossed
aliout and scratched in the branches. We held on till our hands were peeled, and
finally the Professor told nic to get out the next time we sti-uck an ash treetop in
which we had been lunged once. ... A strong sweep of wind soon swung us back
to the ash tree and then he said, " be careful that you make the tree." It was
made, and when in the treetop, pretty well used up, a look was taken at the Pro-
fessor who hung to the balloon. . . . The writer finally made his way down to
the forks of the tree, being fifty feet from the ground when he perched in the
treetops, and then he stootl watching the Professor hang to that balloon. It is a
jiropcrty worth SoOO, and wanted for another venture at Coney Island, New York,
next Saturday. Grimlc}' was, however, soon fastened in the treetop, and then he
came down the same tree, both alighting on terra firina about the same time. The
start was made about 3:10 and the forest was struck at 5:30. We were up over
two hours, but it was more than three hours before we got to the ground. The
struggle in the treetops lasted half an hour and then the balloon was still to be
gotten down. . . .
As soon as we felt like getting our bearings we learned that we had landed in
the woods of James Brisbine, two miles from Eushville, on the Ohio Central Eail-
way, and eight 'miles southeast of Lancaster, being in the northwest corner of
Push Crook Township, Fairfield County. . . . The distance traveled was about
fort}' miles. This was made in less than two hours and a half, but owing to the
stillness of the day tlie speed was not great and quite irregular. We left the city
about the same time as the Hocking Valley passenger train and beat it to Lan-
caster by twenty minutes.
This was said to have been Mr. Grimley's fiftythird ascension. He repeated
it on July 6, 1882, again accompanied by S. J. Flickinger. The balloon floated, on
this latter occasion, in a northeasterly direction, and about seven o'clock in the
evening landed gently on the lawn surrounding the Academy in the village of
Central College.
During the last ten years balloon ascensions from the city have been fre-
quently made, for amusement only, and have been accompanied in many instances
by lofty leaps with the parachute, and other feats of daring. Of ballooning
54 History of the City of Columbus.
for scientific, economic or military purposes, the curreut chronicles give no
NOTES.
1. Ohio Slate Jovnial.
2. Ibid.
CHAPTER V
CURRENT EVENTS IN THE FORTIES AND FIFTIES.
ill 1847 au epoch of general prosperity supervened, not previously equaled or
since surpassed. Excepting the episode known as the crisis of 1857, brought on
mainl}^ by currency disorders, excessive speculation and bad banking, this pros-
perity continued without serious interruption until the outbreak of the Civil War.
Of the benefits of these favorable conditions the capital of Ohio derived its full
share. In 1849 more building was demanded than workmen could be found to
execute. The same was true during the earlier fifties. Houses sprang up in all
parts of tlie city and were rented or sold as fast as they could be built. Among the
larger structures erected were the Starling Medical College on State Street and the
Gwynno Block on Town.
In November, 1848, sealed proposals were invited for a new marketbouse
which had long been needed. It was located on Fourth Street, where it now
stands, and was first opened for business on June 1, 1850. H. H. Blackmore and
N. B. Kellej' were its architects. The original building was 388 feet long, 37 feet
wide in the center and 30 feet wide at each end. Its height was two stories, the
lower one rising fourteen and the upper nineteen feet. A contemporarj- descrip-
tion says:
The first storj' is divided into sixtyfour stands, twelve entrances or doorwaj's
and two stairways leading up to the second storj'. The upper story will contain
a City Hall 92 feet by 27 feet. ... It will contain offices for the City Clerk, City
Survej-or, Citj' Marshal, Marketmaster and Mayor, all of large dimensions. Besides,
there will be a Council Chamber 50 by 27, and two cells of ample capacit}-. The
building is of brick, with the watertabling and winding sills of limestone of the
hardest texture. The first floor is to be paved with brick. The estimated cost of
the whole, not including the bell, is ?15,148.10 ; contractors, G. Vantlemark and
D. Barnhart.'
Of the borough in 1830 the population was 1,437; of the city in 1840, it was
6,048. A census taken in 1846 by George R. Swan showed a population of 10,016.
This rose to 12,804 in 1848, according to a business directory published in that
year. In 1850 the population, by wards, was as follows . First Ward, 3,633; Sec-
ond, 2,668; Third, 3,249; Fourth, 4,160; Fifth, 3,946; total, 17,656. From 1840
to 1850 Columbus, Cleveland and Dayton made, with respect to population, what
was then termed "a neck-and-neck race," as appears by the following tabulation
published in the year last named :
[55]
56 History of the City of Columbus.
1840 184(J 1850
Columbus, •. 6,048 lO.ClG 17,H56
Cleveland, 6,071 10,135 17,500
Baj-toti, 6,067 10,192 13,104
In 1850 illuminating gas was for the first time iutrodueed. Of this event a
fuller account will hereafter be given. A spirit of progress in street improvement
was about the same time awakened. The Columbus & Xeiiia Eailway had just
been built, and various other railway lines were projected or under construction.
On March 23, 1850, a new charter for the city was passed by the treneml A.^sem-
blj' ; in short, as the capital turned the meridian of the century it entered, we may
almost say, into a sphere of new existence.
From 1842 to 1852, says Studer, over thirty additions were made to the city
and laid off into lots. The value of real estate in the city, assessed for taxation in
1852, was set down at §3,113,612; and of personal property at $1,648,305, to
which add the amount returned by the banks for ta.xation, 81,249,770.73, and the
amount returned b}' insurance companies, 32,197.73 ; and there is presented a grand
total of property in the city, entered on the dujjlicate for taxation, of $6,014,-
185.48.=
One of the notable events of the year 1852 was the burning of the Old State-
house, of which a circumstantial account will be given in the history of the Capi-
tol. The conflagation took place on February 1.
Of the l)uildings and improven.ents on Town Street in 1852, we have the fol-
lowing account under date of May 19 :*
We enumerate by commencing at Walcutt's new threestorj^ building contain-
ing four stores, offices and a spacious Concert Hall. We understand the building
will be continued east to Centre Alley and ultimately west to High Street. The con-
gregation of Zion Chapel have erected a most tasteful and substantial parsonage —
an ornament to the street and a credit to the church. ' Nearlj- opposite, our fellow
citizen, P. Bain, has become the owner of the Espy property and made extensive
repairs. Colonel Brown has fi.xed up very comfortable buildings on the corner of
Town and Third. Farther east is Mr. C. P. L. Butlers cottage, the most elegant
and tasteful, by all odds, in the citj-. On the opposite side is the new dwelling of
Mr. Denig. Next is the beautiful cottage of General Olmsted, where everything
is arranged in order, and where the General can enjoy himself as a person ought
to in the evening of his days. On the same .side of the .street is the new dwelling
of Mr. V. Burkley: and on the opposite side, those of Adams Stewart, D. S. Far-
man, and H. N. Hubbell, all new and substantial buildings.
Ea.st of the Deaf and Dumb Institution, Thomas Sparrow, Esq., and Mr. Bart-
let are finishing elegant and tasteful mansions, and M. Northrup, Esq. (whilom of
the Capita!), and P. T. Suowden, Esq., have just commenced building. Hon.
Samuel Galloway has become the owner of the large lot on the southwest corner
of Town Street and East Public Lane, and we understand he purposes building the
present season.
At the east end of Town Street is the commanding residence of our fellow
citizen George M. Parsons, Esq., outside of the cily limits. ... As we return
west we cannot but admire the taste displayed at the beautiful mansion of our
friend Kelsey, of the American [Hotel]. Evergreens, roses and shrubberj- of all
kinds, with a great variety of fruit and vegetables display themselves in abund-
ance. So it is at Mr. Kimball's, adjoining him on the west, while opposite both
is [are] the tasteful building and grounds of the Ohio Deaf and Dumb Institution.
Coming on west our attention is next attracted by the cottage of Mr. Carrington,
Current Events in the Forties and Fifties. 57
who has just commenced ornamenting his grounds in a manner worthy of imita-
tion. Next is the plain dwelling of Mr. Glenn, an old typo (though yet ajipar-
ently young in _years) with the most tasteful lot (or it.s size on the street. The
shrubbery and fruit trees, we aiie informed, have ikU lictn )iluntod over two years. . . .
We understand Mr. Glenn has about twentj- variitlLs ot liiapes in cultivation, with
quite a variety of fruits. . . . Next comes what is toiisidered by those residing in
the neighborhood as an eyesore and a nuisance- the (.lu-nfi' oi' Town anil Sixth
streets, right under the shadow of the magnificent ediiicc dl {\\v Starling .Medical
College. It is the wonder of every passerby that stnli a niiisuiice is permitted to
offend the eyes and nostrils of our citizens.
This street is paved on the south side as far as Seventh, and we understand an
ordinance has been passed to pave the north side to its terminus at East Public
Lane. The citizens are also determined to have a good coat of gravel put on the
street, from Fourth Street east. There are many beautiful shadetrees on this
street, and we hope the owners of property who have not planted these beautiful
and necessaiy ornaments will not let another season pass without doing so.
The residence grounds of Genei'als Olmsted and Stockton are mentioned as
being particularly embellished by trees. Of Rich Street in 1852 the following
account was piiblished May 25 :*
Between Pearl and Third are the ])i-ivate residences, made of brick, of
.Thomas Woods and Mrs. Bareus; adjoining is that of Mr. Cleveland, whose garden
has every appearance that a man of' taste has been at work there with his hoe,
spade and pruning-knife. It is delightful to look at. We jiass the excellent
residences of A. P. and D. Stone, and find the Baptist Church, which was erected
in 1836, and a fine edifice it is, which, from present ajipcaranccs, will ^crvc as a
house of worship for many years. The vacant lots next hiy I air ilic |iru|icrty
of Mr. Asbury. Mr. Hare, we perceive, has erected a g 1 Mihsianl ial lirick
dwelling (new) on his lot adjoining. The new Gothic residence of our friend
C. Breyfogle no one would have cause to be ashamed of It is an ornament to the
street, as also that of our friend S. E. Wriglit, whose house is also new. Passing
that fine edifice, the Catholic Church, we come to two more new buildings, the
private residences erected by Mr. Worthington and Mr. Howell. No one could
object to living in either. The Fielding property has much to recommend it in its
beautiful shrubbery, trees, etc. It is a luxury to look at it. Next in view are five
small cottages, all of which are placed a respectable distance from the street, and
taken together make a very handsome appearance. The}' are occupied and owned,
we believe, by Mr. Horemus, Mr. Fenton, Mrs. E. Barnhart and D. Barnhart,
Esq. Another large twostory brick dwelling is here, and is owned by S. Cros-
well, Esq. John Bagshaw, Esq., has not been unmindful this spring, and has gone
to work and put up for himself a good twostory brick dwelling.
Passing a large vacant lot, we come to the new dwellings, all brick, of Mr.
Taylor, C. Lancaster, Esq., and Thomas Evans, Esq. Leaving Mr. Knoderer's
house, whict' :c ucxt, we find a very large lot on which there is but one building,
intended for two families. . . . This is what might be termed the end of the
street, for here we find the grounds intended for the Capital University, and
which, but for the noble and praiseworthy generosity of Doctor Goodale, our fel-
lowtownsman, would have been used to build the University buildings on, he hav-
ing given them a lot in the north part of the city. This lot [on Rich Street] is
now for sale, and a friend suggests to us to call the attention of the city to it —
that it would be a suitable place for a City Park.
On the opposite .side of the street, on the corner of Washington Avenue, is the
nice little brick residence, nearly new, of Mr. Justice. Adjoining him arc two
other brick buildings, one new, with five beautiful yards attached. A little fur-
58 HisixiRY (IF THE City of Columbus.
ther this way is another now brick biiildiug, two and a half stories high and
belonging to Mr. Jones and Mr. Hughes. Tiae residence of Mr. Miller, ou the
corner of Seventh, strikes us as being as pleasant a one as is to be found on the
street. ... «
Next come four more cottages, the last of whicb is occupied by Mr. Eichards.
His yard is Improved in a style very becoming, and by another year will present
a very handsome appearance. Next are six or seven substantial residences,
remarkable only for their handsome dooryards. . . . Isaac Austin, Esq., has a
very large brick dwelling nearly new in this vicinity. The residence of P. Eose,
Esq., is newly painted, and looks cheerful and pleasant enough for anyone. We
noticed no place on the street that is more deserving of remark than that of
Mr. McClelland's, not so much from the building as the elegant j-ard that sur-
rounds it. " It is a bed of roses "...
With the residences of Mr. Harrison and W. B. Hubliard must we close our
notice of jirivate residences on tbis street. They are both fine structures. . . .
Several offices and millinery shops are between Mr. H's and friend Schneider's
Drugstore, which is located on the corner. . . . There are but a few business
houses on this street, and what tbere are may be found between High and Third.
The general improvement of the city during the early fifties was very active,
and the demand for dwellings was considerably in excess of the supply. In 1852
the Neil House was so improved as to give better light and ventilation to that
socalled '' enormous structure,'' and in July of that year Goodale Park, which had
recently been donated to the city, was. for the first time, apparently, surrounded
by a fence. In Maj', 1852, it was announced as an important fact that a " city
express"' had been established for the convenience of persons "wishing to send
packages into different parts of the city, and nearly at the same time the follow-
ing additional evidence of progress was communicated to the public: " There is
an omnibus that now runs to and from the cars every day to accommodate per-
sons wishing to go on the evening packets. It also calls at the different hotels,
for which no charge is made.' In 1854 the first step in the direction of systematic
water supply was taken, of which more hereafter. The first delivery of ice for
family use seems to date from 1854; likewise the use of roofing slate in building.
Sj^eaking of the general outlook for the prosperity of the cajiital in 1853 the
Ohio State Jovrnal of March 23, in that year, said :
Never did a season open more propitiously than this spring of 1853 at the
Capital of Ohio. In every portion of the city progress is the order of the day.
The busy hum of industrj- is heard on every street and alley. New buildings are
going up in every direction, and old ones are being repaired and improved.
Large blocks of valuable stores are projected and contracted for. Quite a number
of first class dwellings are planned, and some are under waj^ Real estate is
rapidly rising in value in all parts of the city. We hear rumors of magnificent
factories and heavy establishments of various kinds in contemplation.
The most rapid growth, the same paper informs us, had been " in the north-
east part of the city, in the neighborhood of the New Catholic Church. " From
the same source, and on dates of the same season we have these interesting state-
ments :
Several substantial dwellings are going u]i on Broad Street. Time will line
that fine street with dwellings to the Lunatic Asylum, when Broad will rank
among the most splendid streets in the city.
Current Events in the Forties and Fifties. 59
Mr. Hayden is jiroparing to orecl a i^'ood business house on High Slrect,
adjoining the Buckeye Block. Anotiier wood building is also to be creeled
adjoining it. The old crazy buildings gi'adually disappear frcjni the business
streets.
Joiin Field is tearing down the twostory brick on his lot east of the Deaf uud
Dumb Asylum preparatory to erecting a new residence for himself
Jolui Ij. (tIII is excavating his lot on High, between Gay and Long, ibr a large
business house.
Tlie large twostory frame building which stood next to the Buckeye Block,
on High Street is being removed ; the frame building which stood next is also to
be cleaned out.— 0/uo 'St'ifr-vixn,, Mmj 29, 1853.
Our city just now looks enticing, even to one who has arrived from the rural
districts. The neat yard plots, with their jirofusion of flowers, give a rural fresh-
ness to Columbus which cannot but render it attractive.— OA/o State Joiinnil, Mmj
31, 1853.
The Ohio Stiitcsman, under different dates in the building season of 1854, con-
tained the following notes of improvements then in progress:
Doctoi" J. B. Thompson has nearly completed an elegant and substantial
brick block four stories high, on the southeast corner of High and Gay streets.
William Neil is excavating for three new stores on the east side of High
Street, between Broad and Gay.
D. W. Deshler is preparing to build on the site of the City Hotel, southeast
corner of High and Town streets.
Doctor Parsons is erecting a fine threestory block with a stone front on High
Street, near Rich. . . . Adjoining this, and uniform with it, he contemplates erect-
ing a large store on the corner of High and Rich.
The workmen have commenced removing the materials from the old wood
buildings on High Street, north of the American. A new and elegant structure
will soon grace the spot.
Much inconvenience is felt for the want of another bridge over the Scioto, to
connect the central portion of the city with the flourishing settlement upon the
West Side. .
Iron fronts are coming into vogue. We see Mr. [D. W.] Deshler is using
them in his splendid block on the corner of High and Town.
Statf^ Joimal, February 24, 1855:
The old buildings on High, below State Street, now occupied by Doctor Buck
[and] Messrs. Buck, Crawford and Sessions will be torn down early in April [to
make way for a fourstory business block].
State Journal, April 9, 1855 :
Workmen are now engaged in tearing away the old buildings on High Street
below the Clinton Bank, preparatory to the erection of a splendid new block of
stores. . . . The first twostory house ever built in Columbus [the old Globe Inn,
where the Johnson Building now stands] has just been torn down to make room
for a splendid block of stone buildings about" to be erected by Orange Johnson,
Esq.
Ohio Statesman, May 5, 1855 :
The old frame house adjoining the splendid block of Mr. [D. W.] Deshler on
High Street is to be removed next week [to give place to a threestory brick].
State Journal, June 19, 1855 :
C7?i?tefZ States Courthouse.— This old and ugly building that has so long
obstructed the view in front of the Neil House is being torn down. . . . Like the
(iO History of the City of Columbus.
old square structure [Old Statehouse] with the steeple on it, that formerly stood on
tlie corner, its destruction will be a source of gratification, for it has lony been an
eyesore and has stood in the waj' of the new improvements now rapidly approach-
ing completion. We wish we could say with truth that the new work [New
Statehouse] has far enough advanced to admit of taking down that hideous board
fence, hut that is a happiness we do not expect to enjoy for some j-ears to come.
Stdte Journal, November 8, 1855 :
Deshler's large and commodious Hall on the corner of High and Town Streets
was brilliantly illuminated last evening and the doors were thrown open for the
inspection of the public. The room is one hundred feet long by forty feet wide
and will seat comfortably seven hundred persons.
Ohio Statesman, March 17, 1859 :
Eents have become remarkably high in this city during the current season —
higher than they have been within the memory of the oldest inhabitant.
Ohio Statesman. July 9, 1859 :
The old frame building on the corner of High and Friend streets, known as
the Eagle Hotel is soon to be torn down and its place to be occupied by a spacious
threestory brick by the proprietors, Messrs. Kannemacher & Rcg].
Ohio Statesman, July 28, 1859 :
More fine new buildings are going up than during any former year. A lieau-
tiful residence for Mr. W. G. Deshler is beinir crcii, d',,)! tl'ic corn.r' of I'-icntd and
Third streets. It is thought that this will be <mic oI the ni<:st elegant and cdniiiletc
dwelling houses in the city. The architect is Mi'. Sehlapii, and the house is being
build by Mr. Vosswinkle.
We iiave thus traced in general outline the current of im])rovement down to
IStiO. The financial stress of 1857 arrested it briefly, but the Civil War rather
stimulated than retarded it. Let us now recapilnlato bi'iefly the events hitherto
untouched, antecedent to that era.
In August, 1851, Narcisco Lopez, a native Venezuelan, sailed from New
Orleans with five hundred filibusters and landed in Cuba for the purpose of incit-
ing a revolt among the people of that island against the Spanish yoke. His expe-
dition failed, many of his men were captured, and fifty of those taken were shot.
Cuban independence being ardently desired by a large portion of ihe American
people, this massacre was deejjiy deplored. In accordance with this po])ular feel-
ing a meeting of citizens of Columbus was held at the City Hall, August '1?,, 1851,
to express sympathy for the Cuban revolutionists and "deprecation of the [then]
recent inhuman butchery of fifty American citizens without even the formalities
of a coui't martial." Charles Breyfogle was chairman of this meeting and R. H.
Thompson seeretaiy. Eemarks were made by Joseph SuUivant and S. Medary.
General Worthington also addressed the meeting and favored the annexation of
Cuba to the United States. The assembly adopted resolutions expressive of its
sentiments and closed with "three cheers for Cuban independence."
On June 12, 1852, a public meeting was held at the City Hall (o express
sympathy for the Irish revolutionist, Thomas Fi-ancis Meagher, who had just
escaped to the United States from the penal colony in Tasmania, to which, after
Current Events in the Forties and Fifties. (11
havinj:,^ beeu sentenced to death, he had been exiled for life. John CTeary jH-esided
at this meeting, wiiich is said to have been large and enthusiastic. Addresses
were delivered by Samuel Medary, William Dennison and John Cradlebangh, and
resolutions were adopted denouncing Meagher's expatriation. At a subsequent
meeting, held June 18, 1852, Eli F. Jennings, chairman, a committee of twentyfive
was appointed, with Colonel John Noble at its head, to invite Meagher to the city.
This meeting was addressed by William Dennison, William F. Wheeler, E. Butler
and Heni-y D. Motter.
The first Siiengerfest held in Columbus took place June fifth to seventh, 1852,
and will be described in its proper connection.
On July 7, in the same j-ear the honors of the city were jiaid to the remains
of the Kentucky statesman, Heniy Cliiy, whose death had occurred in Washing-
ton City on the twentyninth of June. A printed placard, an original copy of
which has been submitted to the inspection of the writer by Mr. John N. Champion,
announced the ceremonies of the occasion as follows :
REMAINS OF Mil. CLAY.
The remains of Henry Clay will reach Columlnis on the Express Train this
afternoon (Wednesday, July 7,) at 7i ciClcK'k and will be received at the Station
and escorted to the Masonic Hall, where the}* will remain until morning. Train
left Cleveland at 1^ o'clock.
In order to pay the repects due lo the remains of Mr. Clay, a procession will
format 6J o'clock on High Street, the right resting on State Street, as follows :
1. Committee of arrangements in carriages. 2. City Council in carriages.
3. Firemen. 4. Captain Schneider's Morgan Volunteers. 5. Citizens in car-
riages.
The procession will ])roceed to the Railway Station and on the arrival of the
cars the remains will be received by William Dennison, Jr., Esq., on behalf of the
city, and will then be transferred to the Hearse. The procession will form as
follows :
1. Firemen. 2. Volunteers —Hearse —Volunteers. 3. Committee of arrange-
ments of the City of Columbus as pallbearers. 4. Committee of U. S. Senate in
carriages. 5. Committees from Kentucky and Cincinnati in carriages. 6. Com-
mittees from other towns and cities in carriages. 7. City Council of Columbus in
carriages. 8. Citizens in carriages.
The procession will move to the Masonic Hall where the remains of Mr. Clay
will be placed.
The Military and P'iremen will parade at the Old Council Chamber at G^
o'clock. All who apjjear in the 2)rocession are requested to wear appropriate
badges of mourning. It is requested that all business houses be closed at six
o'clock. The City Marshal will have charge of an efficient police force to preserve
order. Captain Schneider will detail a Guard of Honor to attend the remains of
Mr. Clay during the night.
The procession will be under charge of Alex E. Glenn as Chief Marshal and
F. K. Hulburd and J. P. Bruck as assistants.
The bells of the City will commence tolling at six o'clock. The citizens will
meet at Neil's New Hall at Syi p. m., when appropriate resolutions will '
and addresses delivered.
By order of the Committee of Arrangements.
Wednesday, July 7th, 1852.
62 History of the Citt of Columbus.
Draperies of crape were borne ujDon the flags and vehicles in the procession,
during the movement of which minuteguns were fired. At the deposit of the
remains brief addresses were delivered by Governor Jones, of Tennessee, and
William Dennison, of Columbus. The chairman of the evening meeting was
Joseph Ridgway, and the secretary C. T. Solis. An invocation was offered by
Eev. Doctor James Hoge, resolutions reported by R. P. L. Baber were adopted,
and orations were pronounced by William Dennison and Aaron F. Perry.
The fierce prejudices excited by the socalled Know Nothing movement in the
politics of 1855 produced in Columbus, as in many other places, some serious dis-
turbances. On May 29 the German Turnverein, numbering about forty members,
paraded through the streets and marched to its appointed rendezvous about two
miles below the city for the j^urpose of holding a picnic. During the parade the
society's colorbearer carried a red silk flag bordered with black and inscribed with
mottoes in j-ellow Gei-raan letters. In the course of the day, while the Turners
were enjoying their festivities in the woods, a rumor was circulated that this
banner was none other than the "Red Republican flag of Germany, " and that it
was inscribed with sentiments hostile to American institutions. Fired by this
suggestion, some misguided disciples of the partisan Americanism then prevailing
met the returning Turners in the evening at the canal bridge, near which the
corporation line was then drawn, on Friend Street, and demanded that the flag be
lowered, declaring that no such emblem should be carried through the city. The
demand being refused, one of the assailing party undertook to wrest the banner
from its custodian, and a scuffle ensued, during which the flag was torn and several
persons were considerably though not seriously hurt. "The assault," said one
account, "was commenced by throwing stones into the procession, followed by a
demand for the flag. " At the beginning of the affray, continues this account,
" the musicians and boys in the procession fled and were followed soon after by
the Turners. The rowdies pursued to Front Street, still throwing stones. A
body of young loafers joined in pursuit and were hissed and hallooed on by older
men."' In the course of the evening further disturbances, consisting mostly of
stonethrowing. took place on South and Front Streets, and at the corner of High
and Mound. In these encounters some of the Germans are said to have been
severely beaten. On May 31 a flag similar to that of the Turnverein was raised
on the dwelling of Mr. Zehnackcr, but such was the excited condition of public
feeling that the police requested the owner of the emblem to remove it, which he
did.
The flag which was the ostensible cause of these disorders was wholly inoffen-
sive and under ordinary circumstances would scarcely have attracted serious
attention, much less provoked assault. Three German young ladies — Misses
Wendell, Schneider and Zimmerman — had bought the silk of which it was com-
posed with money subscribed by citizens of the town, had made the banner with
tlicir own hands, and had jjresented it to the Turners. On one side it bore the
motto : Frisch, Frohlich uiul Fn-i (Blithe, Merry and Free) ; on the other side were
the words: Durch Uebvnij ziir Krtift ; (lurch Forschuivj ~ur Frkcnntniss. Bnhnfrei;
(Through exercise, strength; thr(mgli investigation, knowledge. Freedom.)
Current Ev^ents in the Forties and Fifties. a?,
The society had intended to carry also a United States tiag in its parudc, luit the
committee appointed to procure one had not been successful '
While these events were taking place, the Miinnorchor Society of Columbus
was absent in attendance upon a musical festival in Cleveland. The singers were
expected to return during the evening of May 31, and rumors were current that
they would be assaulted and their banner wrestled from them. A large crowd
collected to meet them at the railway station, and a detachment of guards from
the Penitentiary was present for their protection. When the members of the
society alighted from their train, they assembled in the street, unfurled the " Stars
and Stripes," and marched unmolested to their headquarters.
Thus the troubles were quieted for the time being, but a smouldering feeling
remained which caused them to break out afrcsli on another occasion with still
more deplorable results.
On July 4, 1855, at about 6: 30 p. m., a fire company of the South Ward, a
German Infantry Company and a society of Turners, all of whom had been hold-
ing a celebration of the anniversary, marched in pi'ocession through the city, fol-
lowing State Street across High to Front, then moving along Front to Town and
up Town to High, intending to turn down High Street to their places of rendez-
vous. The Turners, seventyeight in number, were in rear of the procession, at
the head of which they carried the American flag. Their society banner was also
borne by one of their number and is said to have been a subject of threats from
bystanders as the parade crossed High Street on State. No trouble occurred,
however, until the head of the column had turned down High Street from Town
and the Turners, yet on Town Street, were approaching the alley next west of
High, where, it was claimed, stones were thrown at them and they were insulted
by shouts, jeers and abusive epithets. There was much dispute as to individual
acts of violence, and the testimony subsequently taken as to the provocations
given was confused and somewhat contradictory, but in the prosecutions insti-
tuted the attorneys for the state admitted that the first assault was received, not
delivered, by the Turners. The Ohio State Journal, which ardently espoused the
socalled "American " side of the case, stated as to the beginning of the fracas:
At about half past six p. m., with two fine bands of music, they [the companies
abovenaraed] marched in procession through Front Street to Town. They then
passed up Town to High and down High toward the south end of the city. The
Turners were in the rear of the procession. As the rear of this companj- came up
Town Street, a boj' apparently about fifteen years old, was seen having a quarrel
with one of the Turners. He threw a stone and hit the one with whom he
appeared to have the dispute. One of the company near him stepped out and
threw a stone at tiio boy, who then followed up street to the rear of the United
States Hotel, vvhere he picked up another stone and appeared to be about to throw
it, when Mr. Simonton, the landlord of the United States, seized him and took the
stone from his hands. At this time, John White, who was standing in a door
opposite, knowing tht; hoy, and fearing that he might get into difficulty, passed
over the stri'ct, inol; him from Simonton and forcibly carried him across the
street. When ncai-lv- (iii the south side he was attacked by the Turners, and
stones were hurled ;it him and the boy. By some signal or cry the portion of the
Turners who had passed around the corner and into High Street halted, and the
64 History of the City of CoLUMBtTs.
most of them broke ranks and rushed back to Town Street. They seized the
stones, of which there was an abundance on that street, and commenced throwing
them towards the United States Hotel and the persons who happened to be on the
pavement near it. Four windows of the hotel were broken, a portion of them in
the second story, which were filled with ladies who had been called to them by
the fine music and the procession. Exasperated by this attack, a few persons who
iiappened to be near seized stones to repel them, when the Turners rushed up
Town and High in a confused mass. The people on the pavement, seeing stones
flying rather too thick and too near to be comfortable, fled in all directions to
places of safety. After the Turners reached High Street they drew their revol-
vers and commenced firing on those around them. Several shots in rapid succes-
sion Ibllowed, while the stones continued to fiy through the air. Foster, the
unfortunate young man who was shot, was on the east side of High. There are
different reports as to his acts. It is positively asserted that he had his pocket-
book out to pay some one a sum of money, while others assert that he had thrown
stones. Several of our citizens saw the man who took deliberate aim and shot
him. We understand he is identified, and we hope this is the case. The ball pene-
trated the right shoulder, and passed through the lungs. He fell, but soon raised
himself up and staggered to the corner of Hughes & Beebe's shop, a few feet from
where he was shot. He was then taken to Cook's drugstore, where he was
examined by the doctors. It was soon evident that the wound was fatal, and he
died about half an hour after. . . . The firemen and military company hailed
after the Turners ran back, but did not leave their ranks, or in any way jiartake
in the affair. When the firing ceased they passed on down the street, but we think
the Turners did not again form in the procession. The whole affair did not occu]iy
probably three minutes. The conijianies proceeded to the South end of the city
and dispersed.
The Ohio Statesman's account ran thus :
As the procession passed along Town Street it was greeted with all sorts of
insulting shouts, jeers and abuse by various crowds gathered at the corners. As
they marched along High Street the noise was in no degree diminished, the crowd
in town being unusually large, and no little aid being furnished to swell the disposi-
tion to riot, doubtless by persons who did not belong to the city. The chief act in
the riot occurred near the United States Hotel. There is no end to the variety of
statements in relation to this portion of the affair, the main point on which the
different versions turn being, who committed at this particular scene the first act
of violence, the Germans or the Know Nothings. Up to this moment there is no
dispute that the procession was peaceable and perfectly orderly and that repeated
manifestations of a hostile disposition had been made against those composing it as
they proceeded along Front and crossed other streets. We have heard direct
statements that the first pistolshot came from the vacant space in front of the
basement of the United States and was fired at the Turners, who had already been
assaulted with stones and the firing of pistols, in the midst of which young Foster
was shot and killed. . . . After this engagement at the United States, the princi-
pal excitement of the evening consisted in the arrests of Germans suspected of
having been engaged in the affair. Some nineteen, many who were undoubtedly
innocent, were taken and lodged in jail. A large crowd joined in this pursuit,
some flourishing and in some instances hurling boulders, swearing, cursing and
making night hideous with yells and shouts, calling on the officers to hang up to
the lampposts and telegraph poles the Germans as fast as they were brought up to
the jail, or as they were marched along the streets.
On July 5 the nineteen men arrested issued from the County Jail an address
to the people in which they denied that, as charged, they had voted " for the prin-
"<^''Bu,^lP^,Oo.Gi,n'.
'^lm<^£A^My^
See pages 323 and 844.
Current Events in the Forties and Fifties. 65
ciples expressed in the Nebraska Bill ;'' affirmed that every member of their asso-
ciation " who was naturalized and entitled to vote had voted the Republican
ticket;" and concluded with these declarations:
On the day of that most glorious of human achievements recorded on the
pages of history, the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, our associa-
tion showed their love and admiration for the illustrious Fathers of this great
Re|Hil)lic and the happy result of their endeavors, by a procession and several
speeches, both liberal and republican. On our return from Stewart's Grove, while
marching through the streets of our city, we were assailed in front of the United
States Hotel; rocks were thrown and pistols fired at us; and in the evening the
policemen took upon themselves the responsibility to arrest and imprison us, the
undei'signed, without showing warrants or any proper authority. They broke into
houses and took some of us out of our bods; and others walking peaceably along
were seized in the street. . . .
Henry Foster, the young man who was fatally shot during the melee, fell
between the northeast and northwest corners of Town and High streets. His
remains were attended to the grave on July 5 by the Fame Fire Company, of
which he was a member. Besides his fatal wound in the chest, a shot pierced his
left arm. The Coroner's Jury' returned a verdict that he was killed by a pistol-
shot fired by Gottlieb J\Iayer, but on further investigation the evidence failed to
identify Mayer as the person who had discharged the fatal shot, and on July 24
he was discharged. The arrested Turners employed Swaj^ne & Baber, Warden
& Rankin, and Galloway & Matthews as their attorneys, and were all discharged
unconditionally except six who were each held on five hundred dollars bail.' This
practically ended the judicial proceedings in the affair. The testimony, of which a
brief synopsis is given in the note.s appended to this chapter", showed that there had
been much violence on both sides, and proved to a reasonable certainty that the
Turners had been assailed in the first instance and without provocation. The
trouble clearly had its beginning with the assault made on the Turnverein at the
Friend Street Bridge on May 29. After that affair the Turners seem to have
thought they were justified in arming themselves for future emergencies, and it
needed only the excitement and bewilderment of another street attack to evoke
the use of their weapons. Many shots were fired, and the front of the United
States Hotel and of Doctor Par.sons's house bore numerous marks of the bullets
discharged. The deplorable affair was an impressive illustration, less bloody and
disgraceful than many other cities furnished during that stormy period, of the
explosive and destructive quality of race prejudice, and of its disturbing character
when nurtured and inflamed for jjartisan purposes.
On February 16, 1857, Elisha Kent Kane, celebrated as an explorer of the
arctic regions, died in Havana, aged thirtyseven. A son of Judge John K. Kane,
of Philadelphia, a physician by profession and an accomplished naturalist, he had
led the expedition of 1853-5, dispatched by Henry Grinnel and George Peabody
in search of Sir John Franklin. In the course of the explorations of that expedi-
tion the circumpolar open sea was discovered.
About noon on Friday, March 6, 1855, information reached Columbus from
Cincinnati that Doctor Kane's remains would rest in the city during the follow^
5*
66 History of the City op Coluaibus.
ing Sunday, and would arrive, en route to Philadelphia, during the night of the
seventh. The General Assembly, then in session, immediately appointed a joint
committee to cooperate on its behalf in the arrangement of jiropor ceremonial
tributes of respect to the distinguished dead. During the ensuing ovtning a
meeting of citizens was held at the Neil House, and the following named jiorsons
were appointed to act on behalf of the people o-f Columbus in receiving the
remains and earing for the same while in the eit}', Noah H. Swayne, Joseph
Snllivant, S. W. Andrews, William Dennison, Lucian Butties, William Schouler,
"William T. Martin, J. H. Geiger, Richard Nevins an<l N. Gay. The Ma.sonic
Grand Lodge of Ohio, convened in special communication, also appointed a com-
mittee to take part in the arrangements and ceremonies of the occasion. At a
joint meeting of these committees held the same evening, two members of each
one were delegated to intercept the funeral cortege at Xenia and bear it company
from thence to Columbus, and to Wheeling. The State Pencibles, Ca|)tain J. O.
Reame}-, volunteered their services, which were accepted. The following pro-
gramme was arranged :
1. A committee representing each of the participating bodies to meet the
remains at Xenia, and accompany them to Columbus 2. The church bolls to be
tolled, on arrival of the body until it should be deposited at its temporary resting-
place. 3. The body to be received at the railway station by the committees, and
escorted by the State Fencibles to the Senate Chamber, there to remain under
guard of the Fencibles until Monday morning. 4. Divine service to be held at
the Senate Chamber on Sunday, at eleven a. m. 5. At 8 a. m. on Monday the
General Assembly and various participating bodies to assemble at the Statehoase
and escort the remains to the railway station in time for the ten A. M. train of the
Central Ohio to the East, a committee of six from the medical profession, and
one of like number from the Masonic Fraternity to act as pallbearers. Lucian
Buttles was appointed Chief Marshal of the escort, and Richard Nevins, Henry
M. Neil and Walter C. Brown his assistants. The pallbearers appointed were
Doctors W. M. Awl, R. Thompson, S. Parsons, R. Patterson, S. M. Smith and
John Dawson on the part of the physicians; and "W. B. Hubbard, W. B. Thrall,
N. H. Swayne, Gustavus Swan, L. Goodalo and D. T. Woodbury on the part of the
Masons.
The escort for the de]>arture was arranged in the following order: 1. Chief
Marshal and Assistants. 2. St;ite Fencibles, Captain J. O. Reamey. 3. Colum-
bus Cadets, Captain Tyler. 4. Hearse and Pallbearers, with Guard of Honor.
5. Relatives of the Deceased. 6. The ReverentI Clergy. 7. Masonic Frater-
nity. 8. Governor of Ohio. 9. State Officers. 10. General Assembly. 11.
Mayor, City Council, Judges and City Officers. 12. Medical Profeission. 13.
Citizens. The bells to be tolled until the train leaves.
The car in which the remains were brought from Cincinnati was suitably
dresseil with mourning draperies and was accompanied by Colonel Kane,
Robert P. Kane and Joseph R. Kane, brothers of the deceased, and by Lieutenant
William Morton, who was one of the companions of his arctic voyages. The train
to whicli this car was attached arrived about one o'clock A. M. on Sunday morning,
Current Events in the Forties and Fifties. 67
and was awaited at the station by four hundred people. The night was clear, and
the moon shed her pensive rays upon the procession as it moved up High Street
to the beat of muffled drums and the cadence of a slow march played by
Goodman's Band. The bells of the churches were tolled meanwhile, and the side-
walks along the route were crowded with silent observers. At the Senate
Chamber, the coffin was deposited on a catafalque in front of the President's
desk, and after it had been covered with a black clolh a brief but eloquent address
was delivered on behalf of the Cincinnati committee by Hon. Charles Anderson.
Hon. William Dennison responded accepting cu.stody of the remains in behalf of
the Columbus committees, whereupon a guard of honor detailed from the Fencibles
under Lieutenant J. K. Jones took charge of the body for the night.
The religious services in the Senate Chamber at eleven a. m. on Sunday were
attended by as many persons as the apartment would hold. The services were
opened with a touching prayer by Rev. J. iU. Steele, of the Congregational Church,
followed hy music from the choir of that church ; a discourse by Rev. Dr. Hoge,
of the First Presbyterian Church ; an anthem sung by the choir; and concluding
collects and benediction by Rev La Fourrette, of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
From two until five o'clock p. m. the Senate Chamber was open to all citizens who
wished to signify by visitation their respect for the dead. Thousands ofall classes
availed themselves of this opportunity.
At nine o'clock on Monday morning the coffin was taken from the Capitol
and placed upon a hearse drawn by six gray horses, each led by an attendant
dressed in black and wearing a white scarf. The escorting procession was then
formed and moved from the Capitol Square to the Railway Station in the order
arranged. Although the weather was inclement, the pageant was very imposing,
and was witnessed by a large crowd of people. " We have never witnessed more
deep personal feeling," says a contemporary account, " than has been exhibited on
this occasion. . . . It appeared as if grief were seated in every man's heart. There
was no noise, no attempt at gaudy display. . . . The military under Captain
Reamey deserve especial notice. They did their duty with precision, and with-
out ostentation. The Highschool Cadets under Captain Tyler performed what
they had to do with like good taste. The Independent Hook and Ladder Com-
pany closed up the procession with full ranks and with order. . . . The Masonic
fraternity turned out in large numbers.''"
No committee having been appointed to receive the remains at Wheeling, the
Columbus Committee accompanied them to Baltimore, where they were delivered,
with appropriate remarks, to a committee of that city by Doctor S. M. Smith.
On the morning of June 13, 1857, the people of Columbus, and of the entire
State, were startled by the following announcement :
We are advised that W. H. Gibson has resigned his office as Treasurer of
State, and that the Governor has appointed A. P. Stone of this city to fill the
vacancy. We are authorized to state that a deficit of 1550,000 has been found to
exist in the Treasury, which deficit is stated by Mr. Gibson to have existed when
he came into the office, and to have been caused by the defalcation of the Ibrmer
Treasurer, John G. Breslin. The Governor [Chase] has appointed William Den-
nison, Jr., of this city, under the act of last winter, to make, in conjunction with
6S HiSTORT OF THE CiTV OF CoMIMBtTS.
the Auditor, or one of his clerks, a full examination into the condition of the
Treasury. The July interest, notwithstanding this deficiency, will be paid."
The indignation produced by the discovery of this fraud wa.s so great that a
public meeting to give it expression was held during tiie evening of June 18 in
front of tiie City Bank at the corner of High and State streets. Doctor R. N. Barr
presided at this meeting, and W. T. Bascom, James H. Stauring, Henry Miller,
W. T. Day, Willi:im Miller and C. Breyfogle were appointed to draw appropriate
resolutions, which were reported atid adopted. The meeting was aildrcssod by
R. N. Barr, H. B. Carrington, S. S. Cox, William Dennis.m, William Trevit't,
W. T. Bascom, Henry Miller and Joseph H. Geiger. The speakers coinicniiKMl
with great severity the gro.ss outrage which had been committed uptm the taxjiaj'-
ers of the State and admonished them to vote in future for honest and capable
men, irrespective of party attachments. The resolutions adopted demanded inves-
tigation and expressed satisfaction that the credit of the State had not been
ruined.
Breslin and Gibson, the one a Democrat and the other a Republican in pai-ty
politics, were brothersinlaw and fellowtownsmen, both resident at Tiffin. The fol-
lowing additional particulars as to the discovery of the fraud which the one bad
committed and the other concealed are taken from the Oliio State Journal of June
16, 1857 :
The interest on the state debt which falls due on the first of July had to be
provided for and the State Auditor, Mr. Wright, had an interview on Wednesday
with Mr. Gibson in relation to it. Then it was that Mr. Gibson first disclosed the
existence of the deficit in the Treasury. Mr. Gibson stated to Mr. Wright that
when he came into office he found Mr. Breslin, his predecessor in the Treasury
office, to be a large defaulter, and that he was induced by representations made to
him by Breslin to the effect that if nothing was said in regard to the default, and
if time was given him, that the whole deficit would be made up, and that the
State would not lose anything by his operations with the State funds. In an evil
hour Mr. Gibson agreed to the proposition made to him by Mr. Breslin, and from
that time until the present he had been shouldering this vast load of debt. The
whole amount of deficit in the Treasur3-, exclusive of the sum of $225,819.30 long
since made public at the time Mr. Gibson entered upon his duties, was about
§550,000. Mr. Gibson further stated that not one dollar of the public funds had
been taken bj' him or used illegally by him since he had been in office, and that
the entire default was the work of Mr. Breslin.
The Auditor of State, in his report for 1856, says : ''The books of this office
show, on the fifteenth day of November, 1856, a balance in the Treasury of
§579,517.57 ; of this sum, I am informed by the Treasurer of State, there is §225,-
819.30 whieli has not been paid over into his hands." This amount was deposited
in sums varying in amountas follows:
In the Commercial Bank of Toledo §26,271 23
W. W. Cones & Co., Cincinnati, 47,768.00
City Bank of Cincinnati, 79,811.95
With Daniel Beckel, Dayton, 50,785.48
Whicli, with the further sum o( 21,182.64
charged and retained by the late Treasurer as amount paid b}' him for exchange
duriiig four years of his administration, make up the aggregate named above.
Not any of this money, we believe, has ever been received into the Treasury.
How much of it can be recovered from the depositors, or from Mr. Breslin, is
Current Events in the Forties and Fifties. (j9
wholly uiieertaiii. A large projiortion of it is lost, witliout doubt. The whole
amount of iIk' deficit under Mr. Breslin's administration is about 6775,000.
On till' same day, after making the disclosure, Mr. Gibson left Columbus for
Tiffin, from whence he did not return till late on Friday night. In the meantime
and at the earliest possible moment, Mr. Wright comraunicatod the state of affairs
to the Governor. A dispatch was sent to the Attorney-General at Cincinnati
requiring his presence, and earl}- on Saturday morning the Governor and Fund
Commissioners had an interview with Mr. Gibson, the result of which was his
resignation in the afternoon. In the meantime the kej's of the safes had been
placed by Mr. Gibson in the hands of the Governor, who retained them until he
handed tln'in over to Colonel Stone, his successor, who was appointed immediately
after the i\v-~ii;iiati(in, and proceeded at once to obtain the necessary sureties on
his liond i-equii'ed h}' law to be given in the sum of $250,000, with not less than
six sureties. This, of course, with the execution of the bond, with the necessary
certificates of sufficiency . . . was the work of some time. The Governor did not
leave Ids office on Saturday evening until all was accomplished — the bond given,
the oath taken, and the new Treasurer in his office.
This morning (Monday) Mr. Stone, on receiving the keys of the safes from
the Governor, invited Mr.Dennison and Mr. Sparrow, late postmaster of Columbus,
to be iireseiit at the ojiening of them and to assist him in taking an inventoiy of
everything found in the Treasury. Mr. Dennison has also been appointed by the
Governor, under the act of last winter, to make in conjunction with the Auditor
of State or one of his clerks the examination of the Treasury required by that act
to be made once in three months. Mr. [Williani D.] Morgan, late Auditor of
State, was invited by the Governor to act with Mr. Dennison in making this
examination, but, being obliged by his engagements to decline, recommended the
appointment of W. S. V. Prentiss'- who, we understand, has consented to act.
These we believe are all the facts that are j'et fully known. Mr. Breslin is
absent from the city on a visit to Nebraska. He was expected home on Saturday
evening but did not come. Mr. Gibson left the cit}- on Saturday night for his
home in Tiffin, but will be here again tomorrow.
In the course of a political address delivered at Cincinnati, August 20, 1857,
Governor Chase, after reviewing the antecedent history of the defalcation, made
this statement :
When I discovered the deficit, Mr. Gibson was absent from Columbus. It was
eleven o'clock at night when he returned. I had an interview with him imme-
diately. I demanded that he should resign. He didn't want to resign. 1
insisted again and he reiterated his disinclination for reasons that cannot be
considered culpable. But the keys of the Treasury were put in my hands and
they did not leave n;y possession until he did resign. I then appointed an officer
in whose integrity I have entire confidence and who demands and receives the
surest po.ssible security from every depository in the State.
On June 28, Judge James L. Bates, of the Franklin County Common Pleas,
called the attention of the Grand Jury to the Breslin defalcation, as a matter de-
manding its attention and report. Accordingly, on July 18, 1857, the jury brought
in bills of indictment against John G. Breslin and William H. Gibson, late Treas-
urers of State, for embezzlement. Mr. Gibson's attorneys moved that he be ad-
mitted to bail, claiming that ho was not guilty and that the charge of embezzle-
ment, so far as it applied to him, was merely technical. Thereupon the Court
fixed the amount of bail on the indictment for embezzlement of bonds at $10,000,
and on the other indictment at $100,000, the amount alleged to have been enihez-
70 History of the City op Columbus.
zled. Mr. Gibson gave as his sureties Robert G. Pennington, Abel Hawson and
John D. Loomis, each of whom swore that he was worth at least forty thousand
dollars. Those sureties acknowledged themselves as bail for Mr. Gibson's appear-
ance on the first day of the next term of court, to be held in the ensuing October.
In March, 1858, Judge Bates, after argumemt, reduced the amount of bail required
from $110,000 to $20,000, and accepted Eobert G. Pennington, of Tiffin, and Pvich-
ard Nevins, of Columbus, as sureties. At a subsequent term of the court both Bres-
lin and Gibson were found guilty, but Gibson's attorneys moved for a new trial
which was granted. The case was never brought to a final hearing. Mr. Gibson
served his country brave!}' in the Civil War which soon followed, and whatever
wrong he may have committed in the Breslin matter seems now to have been fully
condoned by the people of Ohio.
In August, 1857, a report upon the defalcation was made by a commission
appointed b}' Governor Chase for its investigation. The commissioners were
Thomas Sparrow, of Columbus, and Francis M. Wright, Auditor of State. The
report was written hy Mr. Sparrow, a member of the Democratic party, and was
regarded as a courageous and able document. The amount of defalcation found by
the commissioners was $574,112.96. The default, the report stated, had occurred
during Breslin's term and had extended over a course of years. Breslin took
charge of the Treasury in 1852. Gibson declared that he received from his prede-
cessor but $303,865.34. He was one of Breslin's sureties, and to have exposed him
would have been his financial ruin. The report concludes: " It is our opinion
that John G. Breslin abstracted the money from the Treasury, and that William
H. Gibson, by concealing the defalcation and denying its existence, has disregarded
truth and his sworn official duty. Whatever may be their respective legal liabili-
ties, wo arc not able to discover any diiference in the moral character of their ac-
tions."
Still, there was a difference, and time has made it iihiiiiei' than it was or
could have been during the excitement and passion which followed the discovery
of the fraud. Blame as well as praise should be awarded in due proportion, and
History- should neither censure nor exculpate indiscriminately.
Further investigation of the defalcation was made and further proceedings in
regard to it were had, but these belong rather to the liistory of the State than to
that of the Capital.
1. Ohio Stale Jount'd, May 17 , 1S4'J.
2. Columbus, Ohio: Its History, Resource.-! and Progress ; by Jacob H. Studer. 1873.
3. Oliio Slate Journal.
4. Ibid.
5. Ohio Statesman.
e. Ohio Slate Journal.
7. Tin: jurymen were George W. Maris, Marrismi Claiisin, .Tiihii .Tones, Ebenezer Mc-
Dowell, Luther Hillery and Augustus Phitt.
S. The trial took place before Justice William P'ield.
,^
Current Events in the Forties and Fifties. 71
9. In the investigation before Justice Field, M. M. Corderey, a witness for the State,
said: "I thought him [Foster] imprudent in running toward the procession and tlirowing
stones." Kitchley, another witness, testified that he saw Foster throw two stones ; was near
him. Bernhard Steinlein testified tliat Foster threw one stone at him. George Fisher
stated that Foster stood at the corner of the Deshler Building ; that he threw a stone and
knocked a man down, and that he had another stone in his hand when he fell. Daniel
Wendell declared that he saw Foster throw stones at the Turners ; that he was throwing
them just before he fell. Henry Bossnagel saw the man who was shot throwing stones ; saw
him throw three or four ; said he had a big stone in his hand when he was shot. Francis
Birch said the fight lasted five minutes; saw Foster throw stones; about four minutes before
Fester fell, saw the shooting out of the United States Hotel windows. Charles Miller
received a stone in the forehead, and was disabled fourteen days. John M. Walcutt saw
" lots of stones " thrown at the Turners. Mr. Simonton, landlord of the United States Hotel,
thought no shots were fired from his building; did not see any ; saw several boys throwing
stones at the Turners; stopped one of them, named Crawford. Jacob Wei Iner saw smoke
from the hotel windows. Doctor Rasjfill examined the wound on Farnuth's forehead ; it
was made by a small bullet or a big shot.
10. Ohio Slate Journal.
11. Ibid.
12. Mr. Prentiss was a secret agent of the United States.
CHAPTER Vll,
CITIZEN" MILITARY BEFORE 1860.
As we have now approached the outbreak of the great war for the Union, the
time is appropriate for a retrospect of the militarj- associations which liad prior to
that event been identified with the historj' of the capital. The first two of these
associations of which we have any record were the Franlvlinton Eiflemen and
Franklin Dragoons, which were volunteer militia companies developed by the
war of 1812 and were maintained many years after that episode had passed.
Mr. Joseph SuUivant says of them;
These companies were the wonder, the pride and glory of my eai-l_y boyhood.
I had the most unbounded faith in their prowess, which I had frequcniiv seen
tested in sham battles; and I knew that on parade days they consumed prodigious
quantities of tobacco and whisky, exploits only then possible to hardy men.
When the Grand Duke of Saxe Weimar visited thi^ country he passed through
Columbus, staying all night. Clinton Work, John Overdier, Israel Crosby, myself
and other boys were very anxious that this representative of the crowned heads
of Europe should be duly impressed with the power and greatness of our country,
and especially with the martial bearing of our people; in fact, we rather wished
to intimidate him and prove that it would be exceedingly dangerous for any
European nation to meddle with us. For this purpose we coTicluded the verj-
best thing was to give him a sight of the Franklinton Riflemen, whose uniform
was quite showy; white breeches and a yellow cotton-cloth huntingshirt with
white fringe; a leather belt around the waist, carrying a huntingknife in a black
scabbard in front, and in many instances a tomahawk behind. The plume in the
hat was tall but rather stiff, being composed of white chicken-feathers tied on
around a slick. Each man carried an old fashioned rifle with shot pouch and
powderhorn. We tried very hard to get a parade, even offering to help pay for
an extra drum and fife and furnish free whisk}-, but the time was too short, and
greatly to our regret the Grand Duke left without witnessing the martial display
intended to impress him. Our patriotic wish will be better' appreciated when it
is remembered the Duke was almost fresh from the great battlefields of Europe,
where he himself had been a grand commander in the vast army which the allied
sovereigns had put in motion to crush the Pir.st Napoleon. However, even now I
have little doubt if the Duke had been fortunate enough to have got a sight of
the Franklin iliflemen, he u-ould have been astonished.
The services of the Franklin Dragoons in the War of 1812, and on special
occasions of later date, including the visit of President Monroe, have already been
referred to. The comjjany was originally organized under Captain Joseph Vance,
who assisted director Wright in surveying the first plat of Columbus, and
[72]
Citizen Military Before 18(i0. 73
maintained its primary organization until some time in the early thirties. Its
successive commanders were Joseph Vance, Abram I. McDowell, Eobert Brother-
tou, P. H. Olmsted, Joseph McElvain and David Taylor. "Captain Vance," says
Martini, "was a fine military officer and was in the service, in different grades of
office, during the greater part of the war. He was amongst the early settlers of
the county, married in Franklintou in 1805, and remained a resident of the
county the balance of his life. . . . He died in 1824."
Captain McDowell, says the same historian, was a man of " portly and com-
manding appearance." He subsequetly acquired the rank and title of colonel, as
did also his successors, Brotherton, McElvain and Olmsted. All these men were
early settlers and prominent citizen,?. Jabob Keab was First Lieutenant of the
Dragoons in 1814, as we learn from his official order printed in the Freeman's
Chronicle summoning the company to appear for parade on the public square in
Franklinton, " armed and equipped a.s the law directs." When the companj- left
Franklinton for the northern frontier in 1813, it was led by Lieutenant Grate. In
August of that year we hear of it in the field as an escort to General Harrison.
A company called the Franklin Dragoons, organized in pursuance of the militia
law of 1821, has been commonly regarded as a lineal successor of its Franklinton
namesake. P. H. Olmsted is mentioned in connection with it as its " Lieutenant
Commanding." S. Shannon was its Orderly Sergeant. In April, 1826, a notice
was published summoning the Franklin Dragoons to parade in front of C. Heyl's
Tavern, in Columbus, and probably an order issued by Captain David Taylor,
August 27, 1830, calling the " First Company, Fii-st Squadron, Second Brigade,
Seventh Division, Ohio Militia," to parade, refers to the horsemen of the same
organization.
A stringent militia law passed January 29, 1821, seems to liave infused the
waning military spirit of the State with fresh activity. The whole body of the
militia, then numbering about eightyfive thousand men, was reorganized by this
law and required to hold frequent " musters." On March 6, 1821, the officers of
the "Second Brigade, Seventh Division" met in Franklinton at the house of
Brigaier-General Joseph Foos, commanding the brigade, to choose field officers for
the " Second Regiment." The choice of the meeting fell upon John McElvain for
Colonel,- Abram J. McDciwull for Lieutenant-Colonel and Griffith Thomas for
Major. The ninth comiiany of this regiment, led by Captain John Warner, is pro-
bably identical with one known at the time as the Columbus Light Intantry. On
February 25, 1822, Colonel McElvain issued from Franklinton the following
order :
The commissioned officers of the Second Reginent, Second Brigade, Seventh
Division, Ohio Militia, will meet at the tavern of Jeremiah Armstrong in Colum-
bus on the second Saturday of March next, by ten o'clock a. m., for the purpose
of altering company bounds, create now companies if necessary, and such otlioi-
business as may come before them.
In the Gazette of May 24, 1821, appeared the following notice signed by Cap-
tain Eli C. King:
The Columbus Artillery are ordered to ])arade iu front of Ihe Stalch(iu.se in
Columbus, on Saturday, the twuntysixth instant, preci.sely at one o'clock v. m., in
74 History of the City of Columbus.
complete uniform. Every member failing to attend will be fined to the exteut of
the law. Fair warning.
This seems to have been one of the earlier and more important of the Colum-
bus companies organized under the law of 1S21. We bear of it again in 1826,
1827 and 1828. Its leader during the latter year was Captain N. E. Harrington.
Its usual place of rendezvous for parade was the open street " in front of the
Statehouse."
The militia musters sometimes took place on the Mound, but most frequently
they were held on the common or shecppasture, as it was called, comprising the
space between Main and Eich streets, a short distance east of High. The Dra-
goons paraded on the open ground of the Prison Hill, extending from the present
State Arsenal west. Sometimes the local (irganizations assembled for drill at
Worthington. An annual mu.ster of tlic niiliiia hy eiini]>aiiics ((.ok jilace on the
first Friday in April. Some of the men carried h()o])poles, some canes, and some
cornstalks. A Worthington physcian, habitually added to the drollery of the occa-
sion by carrying a curved scimiter. Between and after the arduous labors of the
drill, the Sons of Mars refreshed themselves on gingerbread and spruce beer, with
occasional alcoholic variations.
The following militia story of the War of 1812 was narrated in a communica-
tion to Colonel P. H. Olmsted, Secretary of the Franklin Countj^ Pioneer Associa-
tion : '
A military company organized at Norton, Delaware Count}-, by Captain
Drake, encamped at Norton, and when expecting to march on the following day
for the northern frontier. Captain Drake, to try the quality of his men, passed out-
side the setinels, discharged his musket and shouted " Indians 1 " The men sprang
to their feet and ran in all directions, and some say "left the Captain alone in his
glory." The panic was rapidly disseminated and grow in its flight. When the
tidings reached Worthington, with all its repetition and exaggeration, it was hard-
ly su]iposcd there was a white man, woman or child left living between Norton
and Worthington, or a cabin that was not already smouldering. The women and
children were hurriedly collected into the Griswold House. The men and large
boys not gone to the army were armed with pitchforks and clubs, and awaited the
onset of the " Indians."
The incidents connected with this alarm must have been witnessed to be appre-
ciated. In the house some were praying, some arguing, some lainting in moment-
ary expectation of savage onslaught. Soon after this a similar but loss tragic
alarm came from Scioto, when the college building was banieaded as a place of
refuge in extreme need, but was never brought into use for the purposes con-
tem].laled.
One of the notable pleasantries incidental to the early militia arose from the
appointment of an ambitious young member of the Columbus bar as Quartermaster-
General on the Governor's staff. This event happened in 1821, and was celebrated
by the young warrior, says the writer's informant, "by having a heavy pair of
brass stirruj)s cast by Hiram Piatt and fitted to his saddle." In the exuberance
of the moment the possessor of the stirrups and of the distinction of being quar-
termaster to the militia, borrowed a gray chai-ger belonging to another high officer
of state,^ and took a ride on High Street in all the bravery of his stirrups and reg-
imentals. Halting in front of the residence of James B. Gardiner, he summoned
Citizen Military Before 18G0. 75
forth that noted village satirist, and challenged him to write Nonie verses com-
memorative of the occasion. Gardiner was only too happy to comi)ly with tlio
request, and wrote iiistanter :
When late I mounted Brown's old gray,
1 thought it was a muster day,
I heard so many voices bray —
" What stirrups! "
Sensations lofty filled my heart,
I thought I was a Bonaparte ;
But what composed my shining part?
My stirrups !
Delusive spell, cried I, alas !
If all I boast be made of brass,
I'm surely worse than Balaam's ass,
With stirrups !
A company calling itself the Columbus Guards, of which Joseph Sullivant was
orderly sergeant, flourished in 1827, and in 1830 we hear of the Franklin Eifle
Company, Captain S. Deardurff. Among the frequent militia announcements
which appear in the newspapers of the early thirties is found that of the election
of George H. Griswold, of the Second Eegiment, as Brigadier-General of the
Third Brigade, Sixteenth Division. This event took place in July, 1831. On De-
cember 17, 1832, a convention of officers of the Ohio Militia met at Columbus
and organized by electing Samuel Mason, of Clark, as president, and William J.
Eeese, of Fairfield, and Dwight Jarvis, of Stark, as secretaries. An address was
delivered by Major William Allen and a committee was appointed to suggest
amendments to the militia laws. The principal improvements proposed by this
committee were the following: 1. More effectual training of officers, the officer
muster to continue three days, and tents therefor to be provided by the State.
2. Increase of fines and simplification in their collection, all delinquent commis-
sioned officers to be fined by a brigade court. 3. Encouragement of independent
companies. 4. Improvement in martial music. 5. Rejieal of the exemption of all
ablebodied males over thirtyfive years of age, and enrollment of all between the
ages of oighteer] and fortyfive who were eligible for military service.
On July 20, 1833, "a respectable number of officers " who served in the War
of 1812 convened at Columbus and apj)ointed David Gwynne chairman and Wil-
liam Doherty secretary. This meeting memorialized Congress for a grant of land
to the officers who had taken part in the war," in consideration of their services
and sacrifices."
During 1834, 1835 and 1836 popular interest in militia organizalion gra<lually
subsided until it became almost extinct, and musters ceased to be held. Such was
the state of military feeling when the following brigade order, signed by G. 11.
Griswold, commanding the Second Brigade, Seventh Division, Ohio Militia, was
issued August 12, 1837, at Worthington :
Lyne Starling, Junior, Edmund Shaw, John M. Kerr ami ('. W. Kasson are
hereby ordered and required to raise by voluntary enrollment a company of ('avulnj
76 History of the City of Columbus.
from the Brigade under my command. Thej' will proceed without delay to the
performance of that service and make report as soon as completed.
Another order of even date authorized the same men to organize a company
of light infantry and announced: " Persons wishing to join either of the above
companies can call upon either of the gentlemen named in the orders. A meeting
will be held at the Council Chamber on Frida}' evening nest, at the ringing of the
bell." On September 4, 1837, appeared this additional notice, .signed by Uriah La-
throp, " Acting Orderly Sergeant : "
The Light Infantry Company of the Second Brigade will meet Tomorrow
Evening ... at the room over J. B. Cristas Store, Exchange Buildings.
Such was the beginning of the Columbus Guards, one of the finest and most
widely known military companies ever organized in Columbus. ° The Cincinnati
Grays and the Cleveland Grays, two companies of much the same quality, had their
origin about the same time. The uniforms of the Guards were bought in
Philadelphia by Lieutenant Kerr, who claims that they were " handsomer than
any now worn." They cost one hundred dollars per man. The plumes cost
three, the knapsacks eight and the caps eight dollars apiece. The first ofiicers of
the company were : Captain, Joseph Sullivant; First Lieutenant, John M. Kerr;
Second Lieutenant, Elijah Backus; Orderly Sergeant, M. C. Lilley. Charles
Webb, a noted actor at the Old Columbus Theatre, vvas an honorary member.
Mr. Kerr recites from memory the following roll of the company exclusive of the
officers above mentioned :
E. Shaw, H. Z. Mills, H. Broderiek, William Broderick, Matthias Martin,
William Martin, John Harvey, Burton BoJinc, James Johns, William Johns,
William Adams, J. Townley, fl. W. Boalt, A. M. Cutshaw, W. David, E. David,
E. Hill, Theodore L. Shields, Vance McElvain, Samuel McBlvain, George Walcutt,
Cj'rus Sells, D. Brooks, J. Neereamer, L. Donaldson, William Sandlord, S. Justice,
R. E. Neil, H. Armstrong, J. Heavy, G. W. Cushman, A. Mitchell, H. Mitchell,
Thomas Mitchell, O. Backus, Lafayette Backus, E. DeLasbmutt, P. Cool, F.
McCoriiiick, Uriah Lathrop, Charles Hodgkins, P. Ackerman, William Pairland,
L Bullet, James Jones, E. Olmsted, A. Olmsted, Charles Olmsted, William
Boswell, Charles Webb, James W. McCoy, James Markland, and E. Hall.
First of the numerous ceremonious occasions in which the Guards participated
was the celebration of the Fourth of July at Lancaster in 1838. The trip from
Columbus was made on the canalboat Post Boy chartered for the occa.sion. The
Lancaster Eagla gave the following testimony as to the handsome manner in
which the visitors were received and dei^orted themselves:
This fine company [Columbus Guard.s] under Captain [Joseph] Sullivant,
visited our town on the fourth instant, and joined in the festivities of the day.
They were received at the Eeservoir by the Lancaster Blues, Captain Creed, and
the Guards, Captain Myers, and escorted to their quarters at the Phoenix Hotel.
They were here addressed by Captain Creed in a neat and pertinent speech, to
which Captain Sullivant replied in an appropriate manner. They made a very
fine appearance, and their militai-y bearing, excellent discipline and fine soldierly
deportment attracted the attention and won the admiration of our citizens. They
were acconiiianicd by an excellent l)and of music, which aiided much to their
Citizen Military Hkfcimk isco. 77
appearance. In tlie evening the Guards with a iiuimIk r of citizens, were liospit-
ably entertained at the residence of Major Reese.
The Lancaster companies made a return visit (o (Jdiumbus, as ti.e guests ol'
the Guards on the next ensuing Fourth of July, in 1839. In October, 1838, the
Guards, under Ca])tain Suiiivant visited Springfield, and elicited high encomiums
from the press of that budding city. The Piniucr said : " We cannot say that we
ever witnessed a parade the order and lie;iuly of which afforded us so much real
enjoyment and satisfaction." In February, is.'il), we find Captain W. P. Sander-
son in command of the companj- in lieu of Cajitain Suiiivant, who had retired.
The Olilo Hidti'sman, of December 22, 1840, spoke in high praise of the appearance,
training and discipline of the Guards and added : "There is butone thing to which
anyone could take exception : The company is too small." To encourage the
company, which was in need of pecuniary help, the managers of the Columbus
Theatre generouslj- gave it a benefit, which took place on February 24, 1841.
Messrs. Wallack and Duff, actors, volunteered for the occasion and drew a crowded
house. The Iktyfon HcmhJ of February 27, 1841 — Colonel King, Editor — con-
tained the following: "The Guards and two splendid artillery companies compose
the military of Columbus. The artillery corps are composed entirely of Germans,
and present a magnificent and soldierlike appearance." The Guards, continued
the IZismW, " ai-e but a short remove from the very perfection of military discip-
line."
In the early days of July, 1841, a general encampment of the independent
volunteer companies of the West was held on grounds bearing the name of Oak-
land, in the immediate vicinity of Louisville, Kentucky. Under Captain W. F.
Sanderson, the Columbus Guards set out for this encampment on June 26.' Their
arrival at Cincinnati, where, by invitation, they were the guests of Colonel John
Noble, at the Dennison House, was thus announced by the Enquirer: "The
Columbus Guards, Captain Sanderson, reached Cincinnati this morning [Monday,
June 28, 1841], on their way to the encampment at Louisville, on the steamer
Tremont. . . . Their appearance was magnificent." Journeying by water —
steamer Ohio Valley — from Cincinnati to Louisville, the Guards were received by
the Louisville Legion and by them entertained, until the encampment was ready,
at the Louisville Hotel. The famous editor, George D. Prentice, observed their
marchpast from his balcon\ and eulogized their appearance in nearly a column of
his paper. The Guards bore away the first honors of the encampment, and upon
their return to Cincinnati, joined, by invitation, in the escort of the remains of
President Harrison, then recently deceased, to North Bend. One of their first
acts, after returning to Columbus, was the adoption of resolutions expressing their
acknowledgments of the generous hospitalities they had received.
This excursion seems to have been the climax in the career of the Guards.
In September, 1841, their commander. Captain Winslow F. Sanderson, was elected
Brigadier-General of the Second Brigade, Seventh Division, of the Ohio militia,
vice General James C. Reynolds, resigned. After this event, the company seems
to have gone into a decline. On January 14, 1842, a few of its members met, in
its behalf, at the Engine House and resolved to disband. At this meeting Captain
78 History of the City of Columbus.
Stockton presided and a eoraniittee was appointed to solicit names to the new roll.
An anonymous newspaper card ijublished in the following Maj- stated that the
Guards had won more renown than any other independent military' companj' in
the West, and deplored the fact that it had nevertheless been reduced to about
twenty members. In July, 1842, it seems to have been rehabilitated, as we read
that on the seventh ot that month it held a very fine parade under its leader.
Captain Stockton, and after the military exercises of that occasion sat down to a
dinner at the City House, where toasts were drank and speeches made. On
August 29, 184.3, the following paper, drawn by Matthew J. Gilbert, a prominent
attornej-, was circulated for signatures:
Whfereas, the young gentlemen who formerly composed the brilliant military
company st3'led the Columbus Guards (now numbering about forty), are desirous
of reviving said company and restoring it to its former splendor and distinction ;
we, the undersigned, willing to give countenance to this praiseworthy undertak-
ing, and wishing to see this company established upon a permanent basis, do
hereby promise to pay in aid of this enterprise to the said company, or their author-
ized agent, on or before the first day of October next, the several sums placed
opposite our names.
Doubtless as a result of this effort a meeting which took place November 14,
1843, was held, at which the following officers of tlie companj- were elected :
Captain, W. F. Sander.son;' First Lieutenant, John M. Kerr; Second Lieutenant,
A. L. Olmsted; Ensign, E. Hall; Commissary, H. Z. Mills. On February 9, 1844,
the Guards performed service under requisition of the Sheriff of Franklin County
at the execution of William Clark for the murder of Cyrus Sells, one of their num-
ber, who was a guard at the Penitentiary. Esther Foster, a negro woman, was
executed at the same time. A more particular account of these events will be
given in the history of the Ohio Penitentiary. After this episode the Columbus
Guards again dropped out of sight until reorganized early in 1846 as the Mont-
gomery Guards, Captain J. T. Mickum.*
Early in January, 1839, a State Military Convention was held at the Court-
house in Columbus, and was fairly attended. General Samuel Stokely, of Jeffer-
son County, was chosen to preside, with Generals Goddard, of Muskingum, and
Eeynolds, of Franklin, Colonel Medill, of Fairfield, Major Chase, of Lucas, and
Captain Brady, of Tuscarawas, as Vice Presidents. Captains Edward H. Gumming,
of Clark, and Joseph SuUivant, of Franklin, were chosen Secretaries. Generals
James Eeynolds, of Franklin, William Eeese, of Fairfield, Worthington, of Eoss,
Watkins, of Muskingum, and Jacob Medary, of Franklin, were appointed to pre-
pare a plan for reorganization of the militia. The report of this committee
expressed satisfaction that the suggestions of the preceding convention had been
enacted into law; estimated the existing strength of the Ohio militia at about
two hundred thousand men, and recommended: 1, That officer musters should
continue four days in tents ; 2, that volunteer companies, not more than four in
number and each comprising not over forty, rank and file, should be selected by
each brigade commander to meet and drill with the officers; 3, that officers
should be daily selected, without regard to rank, by the brigadier-general for the
instruction of the battalions so formed; 4, that tents should be provided by the
Citizen Military Before I.SOO. 79
State, one for each six men, and one marquee to eac-li regiment, tlie wliole to be
under tlie superintendence of the brigade quartermaster ; 5, tlnit an arsenal
should be provided at the couiityseat of eacli county, in which arms and camp
eqni)iago minht be stored ; li, dial :ill militia trainings should be di8j)ensed wilii
except comiiany, battalion and ni;iiiMiital parades of uniformed troops ; 7, that
the General Assembly should ullcr siicli rurtlu'r in<lucenu'nts lo ihe niaintonance
of volunteer organi/at ions as ini^lil seem |ii-(i|i(i\
A burlesque company called the" KartlKiuaNcs," intiMided as a. caricalm'c of tlie
militia, obtained mention during the summer of 1.S39. These mock soldiers were
also called the " Fantastieals." During the same year the Executive Horse Guards
are mentioned; also the Ai-chers, which was the title adopted by a company of
boys, " all dressed in flaunting tartans," an<l armed with lances. The Captain fif
the Archers was Master fjutham.
The great political meeting known as the Harrison State Convention, which
was held in Cohiinbus February 22, 1^40, was attended bj' the following independ-
ent military companies, which took part in the parade: Zanesville Guards, Cap-
tain Diiltj'; uniform, "blue coatee and pantaloons, sugarloaf cap, white plume
tipped with blue." Putnam Grays, Captain Hatch; gray uniform, trimmed with
black. Warren Greens, a rifle company of Zanesville, Captain Hazlett; uniform,
" a green frock and pantaloons faced with black silk velvet and trimmed with yel-
low." Jefferson Guards, Captain Hare ; uniform, blue coats and pantaloons. The
Greens, together with the Guards and Grays, formed one battalion under Colonel
Curtis, and were accompanied by Brigadier-General Watkins and Staff.
The visiting companies were escorted into town by the Columbus Guards,
Captain H. Z. Mills; the Buckeye Eangers, Captain J. T. Blain, and the German
Guards, Captain Frankenberg, all Columbus comjjanies, and all under Major Sand-
erson,who was accompanied by the field and staff officers of the Columbus Brigade.
On the same occasion the German Artillery Company, Captain Frankenberg, was
presented by lady friends with a beautiful flag. The presentation address was
spoken by Miss Bethje.
Governor Shannon's message of December 8, 1840, contained this passage : " It
is admitted by all that our present militia system is greatly defective and has en-
tirely failed to secure the great object in view — a well organized militiii." So lan-
guid had the interest in military organization become that an attempt to hold a
State convention of militia officers at Columbus in December, 1841, had to be aband-
oned. Efforts to bring the state militia together in a grand encampment at Col-
umbus in July, 1842, were equally unsuccessful. In announcing the indefinite
postponement of this encampment the committee of arrangements stated that all
military ardor and enthusiasm had given place to the "general doubt and depres-
sion " pervading the public mind. Nevertheless, the German citizens of Columbus
maintained two fine artillery comjianies, Captains Frankenberg and Jacobs, and
the reorganization of the Guards was attempted. On Januar3- 8, 1844, a detach-
ment of Dayton volunteer artillery under Captain King, visited Columbus, bring-
ing a single brass ficldpiece, and was received with "the highest military honors "
by the three companies — Guards and German Artillery — then existing at the capi-
80 History of the City of Columbds.
tal. Tlie visitors were met at the foot of Broad Street and escorted to tlie residence
of General Sanderson. At their departure they were accompanied by the local
companies " to the west end of the bridge," and were honored with an artillery
salute, " which was returned, gun for gun." It is significant of the spirit of the
times that the visiting detachment was criticised because a portion of its " driving
cauuonoers " were colored men.
In 1843 Heman A. Moore, of ( 'olunibus, was appointed Adjutant-General of the
Ohio Militia by Governor Shannon, and in 1845 Thomas W. H. Mosley, another
citizen of the capital, was appointed to that office by Governor Bartley. Military
balls and festivals by the German Artillery are mentioned in 1845, and daring the
same year a Military Hall in the Exchange Buildings on West Broad Street is
spoken of The Montgomery Guards held a " fair and supper " at their armory
" over P. Hayden's store," February 3, 1846. The ofScers of the Guards at that
time were: Captain, Charles Stanbery ; First Lieutenant, George B. Walcutt;
Second Lieutenant, W. R. Kent; Ensign, J. Armitagc ; Orderly Sergeant, J. T.
Miekum ; Conmiis^arj-, L. Backus. A parade of the Guards, accompanied by tlie
German ArtiUerj' and " their beautiful brass fieldpiece," on April 6, 1846, is men-
tioned.
On May 18, 1846, at which time war with Mexico had just been practically
declared, the " First German Artillery" held a meeting and resolved :
That no member of this company can lawfully leave it until he has served
five years.
That persons desirous of becoming members of this company can be fur-
nished uniforms upon one year's credit by giving security for the payment thereof
That this company is in readiness to go and serve in defense of their country
at any time they may be called upon for that purpose.
Enlistments in the company were at the same time solicited, and several
recruits were obtained.
Early in June, 1846, a new rifle company called the Columbus Grays was
organized, with nearly one hundred men on its roll. Its first officers were:
Captain, J. W. Milligan ; First Lieutenant, I. G. Dryer; Second Lieutenant,
A. P. Stone; Ensign, James Milligan. The company was formed in expectation
that its services would be accepted in the war with Mexico, and announced its
readiness to serve in any contingency that might arise. The presentation of
swords to expectant heroes of the pending conflict was at this time a frequent cere-
mony. Among the officers thus complimented were Captain George E. Walcutt,
Lieutenant J. T. Mickura, Lieutenant D. H. Mooney, of the Guards, and Lieuten-
ant Markland of the Cadets. Captain George W. Morgan, of Mount Vernon, was
presented with a beautiful sash by Columbus ladies represented by Miss Medary.
Copies of the Scriptures were distributed by the Bible Society among the depart-
ing volunteers.
A revival of military interest in 1849 resulted in the organization of the
Columbus Light Guards, Captain Walcutt, and a company known as the Columbus
Light Artillery, of which the officers were as follows: Captain, James A. Markland;
First Lieutenant, Frank K. Hulburd ; Second Lieutenants, M. C. Lilley and
E. B. Headley ; Ensign, A, L. Martin.
/^-^^^^^^^ . ^4:^^^:^.
^/?>^'^^'f • /<N-7.6<i
Citizen Military Before 1860. 81
On July 4, 1850, about fifty surviving volunteers of the Mexican War held a
reunion at Stewart's Grove, whither they marched in procession, accompanied by
the fire department. At the grove the veterans and their friends listened to an
oration by Captain George E. Pugh, and partook of a dinner at which numerous
toasts were proposed and responded to.
The German Grenadiers, Captain Snyder, are mentioned in 1851, and the
City Guards, alias Morgan Volunteers, Captain Schneider, in 1852. In celebration
of July 4, 1853, a parade was formed, comprising "Captain Schneider's infantry
company, the artillery company " and two or three fii-e companies.
On February 2, 1854, a " State Military Convention " of about sixty delegates
assembled at Neil's New Hall on High Street, to deliberate upon ways and means
for the organization of the state militia. Governor William Medill was ciiosen to
preside, and resolutions were ado])ted declaring that the time had arrived when
the General Assembly should " enact such a law as would encourage the org.iniza-
tion of uniformed citizens and provide for their soldierlike equipment and mainten-
ance;" that the citizens should be enrolled for military purposes; that active
military duty should devolve upon uniformed companies; that the Commander-in-
Chief should choose subordinates of military experience; and that a committee of
ten should be appointed to report a bill to carry out these suggestions. The mem-
bers of the committee selected in pursuance of these resolutions were: Major
D. Wood and General Ross, Cuyahoga; Captain R. F. Levering, Miami; General
G. S. Patterson, Erie; Colonel Denias Adams, Franklin; Colonel P. J. Sullivan
and Captain W. F. Lyons, Hamilton; General L. V. Bierce; Captain M. Schleich,
Fairfield ; and Captain J. R. Bond, Lucas. After thanks to the Columbus Grena-
diers and Artillery had been passed for the handsome manner in which these
organizations had entertained the delegates, the assembly adjourned to reconvene on
the first Tuesday in Pebruar}-, 1855. Among the delegates present on this
occasion were Captains J. B. Steedman of Lucas, Hazlitt of Muskingum, and
M C.Lilley, of Franklin.
Pursuant to adjournment of the year before, the State Military Convention
reassembled at the City Hall February 6, 1855, and organized by choosing General
Charles H. Sargent, of Hamilton County, as chairman, aud Alexander E. Glenn,
of Franklin County, as secretary. At this meeting resolutions were adopted recom-
mending the enactment of a law embracing the suggestions of the convention
of 1854.
In 1855 a new company which adopted the name of Columbus Guards was
organized with the following officers: Captain, M. C. Lilley ; First Lieutenant,
M. D. Lathrop; Second Lieutenant, James Milligan; Third Lieutenant, John
Winters; Fourth Lieutenant, George Merion ; Orderly Sergeant, J. F. Neereamer;
Ensign, C. C. Neereamer. These officers put themselves under the instruction of
Professor Mather, a graduate of the West Point Academy. The uniform adopted
comprised darkblue frock coats, "armyblue pants, with buff stripe," and plumed
caps similar to those of the Old Columbus Guards. The new Guards hoped to
achieve the renown of the old company of that name, but on April 12, 1856, we
read' :
S2 History of the City of Columbus.
Last fall two fine eoinjianios were about being organized in this city — the Slate
Fencibles and the Columbus Guards. The Femibles s\i(ceeded, uniformi'd them-
.selves, paraded, and at once took rank witli the liest (lis(i])lined companies of the
State. The Guards, after a vain struggle to maintain themselves, abandoned tiie
effort, dwindled away, and finally gave up the ghost.
Company B, First Regiment State Fencibles, here referred to, was originallj-
organized on July 4, 1855. Its first memhers were mostly identified with the
Franklin Fire and Neptune Hose companies. Its uniform and tactics were those
of the Utiited States Army. Being mustered into the Ohio militia, it was armed
by the State with "the latest improved bright barrelleil United Slates muskets."
The first parade of the Fencibles, then numbering about fortjfive, took place Jan-
uary 25, 1856, and elicited the following comments:'"
This fine military company made its first appearance on the streets yesterday
and created quite a sensation. The beauty of the uniform, the bright muskets
and the glittering bayonets, the perfection of the drill and measured tread of the
platoons as they moved onward like pieces of livjng machinery, the handsome and
generous countenances of the men, altogether combined, elicited admiration not
only from the crowd that couldn't tear itself away from the march, but frotn the
host of bright eyes gazing from the upper windows.
From this time until 1861 the parades, encampments and social festivals of the
company conspicuously animated the military life of the capital. Many of its
members, including its first captain, Henrj^ Z. Mills, had been connected with the
Old Columbus Guards. Captain Mills's successors in command, in the order of
mention, were Captains J. O. Reamej', James H. JSeil, Theodore Jones, Joseph
Riley and A. O. Mitchell. At the annual election held June 2, 1856, Captain
Mills voluntarilj- retired, and the following officers were chosen : Captain, J. 0.
Reamey; First Lieutenant, J. H. Neil; Second Lieutenant, Theodore Jones ; En-
sign, John Ijams.
On February 25, 1856, the Law Grays, of Baltimore, and the Continentals, of
Cumberland, Maryland, halted in Columbus on their homeward journey from Cin-
cinnati, where they had participated in a military celebration of Washington's
birthday anniversary. The visiting companies w^ere escorted about the city by
the Fencibles, and in the evening the Grays were entertained at the American
House by the hostess of that establishment, Mrs. Kelsey, a Baltimore lady. While
en route to the Cincinnati celebration the Grays and Light Artillery, of Cleveland,
also received the courtesies of the Fencibles. An armorj^ drill held by that com-
pany on the evening of April 29, 1856, was honored by the presence of Governor
Chase and staff.
On June 19, 1856, the Fencibles — spoken of at that time as " also the head
and front of the Fire Department" — beld at their armory a grand strawberry fes-
tival and ball at which the Cleveland Grays were their guests. The decorations of
the armorj-, interior and exterior, for this occasion excited much admiring wonder-
ment. A " TcTiiple of Mars," dressed with flags, banners and festoons, was erected
in the centre of the hall, the walls of which were embellished with " rosettes formed
with muskets, swords, dirks, and daggers." The advent of the guests of the occa-
sion is thus referred to ;"
Citizen Military Before 18G0. S3
The Cleveland Graj's [Captain Paddock], accompanied bj' their celebrated
brass band, arrived on the twelve o'clock train today [June 19] and were received
at the depot by the State Pencibles with all the military honors due to the occa-
sion. The beautiful uniform of the Grays, their great bearskin Cossack caps, and
above all their excellent discipline, excited the admiration of the crowd that had
assembled to witness their reception and as they marched [amid clouds of dust]
over the viUanous plankroad between the depot and the armory, it was conceded
by all that thej' were every way worthy of tlieir reputation. ... In the evening
the Pencibles accompanied their gentlemanly visitors to the festival, which was
already crowded with the fairest ladies of the land.
Probably this was the most notable military soiree held in Columbus up to
that time. The supper, at ten p. m., was served, it is said, to about twelve hundred
ladies and gentlemen. Governor Chase and statf graced the occasion with their
presence. Music for the promenade and dancing was furnished by Goodman's
Band.
On January 6, 1857, the Cleveland Grays participated in the ceremonies
incident to the formal occupation of the new Capitol, and were again the guests of
the Pencibles. On the twentythird of the same month the Pencibles attended the
anniversary ball of the Grays at Cleveland, and on Pebruary 22, same year, they
were presented with a flag at their armory by the ladies of Columbus. The
address of presentation was delivered by Hon. Allen G. Thurman, and was
responded to by Captain Reamey. Dancing followed. The part taken by the
company in the Kane obsequies in Pebruary of this year, has been elsewhere nar-.
rated. On July 25, 1857, the Pencibles joined the Guthrie Grays, of Cincinnati,
in an encampment at Middletown, Butler County. The officers of the company
at, that time were: Captain, James H.Neil; First Lieutenant, Theodore Jones;
Second Lieutenant, Robert Gobey ; Third Lieutenant, Edward Pitch. In Decem-
ber, 1857, the Pencibles meditated a resolution to disband, but postponed its adop-
tion thirty days in order that the people of Columbus might be appealed to for
pecuniary assistance. Either because the response to this appeal was satisfactory,
or for other reasons, the organization was continued, and in September, 1858, an
encampment was held at the County Pairgrounds, in which the following com-
panies took part: Pencibles, Captain Joseph H. Eiley (elected in July, 1858j ;
Columbus Vedettes, Captain Walcutt ; Dublin Invmcibles, Captain Olmsted.
About this time the Concert Hall of Mr. Neil, on High Street, was fitted up and
occupied by the Pencibles as an armory. It was thenceforward known as Armory
Hall. On January 1, 1859, the Pencibles elected the following officers: Pirst
Lieutenant, A. O. Mitchell ; Second Lieutenant, P. G. McCune; Third Lieutenant,
G. W. Earhart.
The Columbus Vedettes, Captain Tyler, were visited October 30, 1857, by the
Madison Guards, of London, Ohio. The Vedettes were originally boys of the
Highschool. Their ''second festival levee ' was held at the Columbian Hall
February 16, 1858 ; their "fourth annual festival" at the Concert Hall October
28,1858. In May, 1858, they elected the following officers: Pirst Lieutenant,
Henry Thrall; Second Lieutenant, A. Tuther ; Third Lieutenant, H. Geary;
Ensign, John Fisk. The Montgomery Guards, another new company with an old
S4 History of the City of Columbus.
name, gave a " benefit ball " on February 17, 1859, at Armory Hall. On the twen-
tyseeoud of the same month a salute was tired at (biybrcalc, ami a juinl |ia,i-aiic was
held by the Fencibles, Vedettes, and Ijani's Artillery. Tlu- Sleulien (iuards, Cap-
tain Ilaldy, was mustered into the Fifth Uen-iment, Chio Mililia, April (i, 1S511.
It was composed chiefly of Germanborn citizens.
A resolution of the General Assembly directini;- the Adjutant ( Jeneral of Ohio
to collect the war colors and trophies of the Ohio troops resulted in Ibe didivery
of the flag presented by ladies of Columbus to the Montgomery (1 nar Is ir\ the
Mexican War, and borne in that war by the Second Ohio Infantry. The icre-
monj- of depositing this flag in the custody of the State toolc place al tbe Capitcil,
March 23, 1859. At 4 p. m. on that date, under escort of tbe State l-'encib'.es, the
survi%'ors of the Second Regitnent carried the flag to the Capitol, win ■r(\ with due
ceremony, the original letters tendering and accepting the emblem wrw \\-m[ by
R. G. McLain, of Lockbourne, who was a survivor of the Guards, and bad taken
part in the reception of the colors at Camp Washington After the eorrespondiMice
bad been read, the "powder-grimed and ball-pierced relic," as it was deseribod,
was received by Adjutant-General Carrington.
During the earlier fifties the socalled " arms of the State" comprised a few
boxes of old flintlock muskets, some rusty pieces of artiller}', an assortment of
" Colt's dragoon revolvers," a lot of sabres and other military ironware, all kept, in
a state Of" admirable confusion," in an unfitiished twostory brick building at the
corner of Fifth Street and South Public Lane. In July, 1856, the serviceable por-
tion of these arms was removed by direction of Quartermaster General Glenn to
the armory of the State Fencibles. The General Assembly had prior to that time
steadfastly refused to appropriate money for the erection of a State arsenal. We
read, however, in June, 1859, that a contract for building such an arsenal had been
let to George Gibson, and that work upon it would begin as soon as a suitable
location for it could be selected.''
The military part of a parade held in celebration of the Fourth of July, 1859,
consisted of Captain Ijam's Light Artillery and a battalion of infantry under
Lieutenant Colonel H. Z. Mills. These organizations were then component parts
of the First Brigade, Thirteenth Division, Ohio Militia. The commander of the
brigade was Brigadier-General Lueian Buttles. The infantry battalion comprised
the following companies: A (Vedettes), Captain Walcutt ; B (Fencibles), Cap-
tain Riley; C, Captain Olmsted; D (Montgomery Guards), Captain Riches; E
(Steuben Guards), Captain Haldy.
In July, 1859, a society of survivors of the Mexican War was organized, with
thirtj' members. The first regular meeting of this organization was appointed for
January, 1860.
In September, 1859, the annual encampment of the First Brigade, Thirteenth
Divi-sion, Ohio Militia, was held at the Stale Fairgrounds on the Sullivant farm,
near Franklinlon. Tbe place of arms was named Camp Harrison. Most of the
companies were meagerly represented except the Vedettes, of Columbus, and the
Guards—Captain William Cloud --of Lancaster. The honors of this occasion were
borne off by the Vedettes, who were awarded a silver medal as the best drilled
Citizen Military Before 1860. 85
company present. The medal was won in set competition witli tlio Lancaster
Guards.
During the evening of November 11, 1859, an impromptu parade of the
Columbus companies was summoned by rocket signal fired from the cupola of the
Statehouse and the beating of a snare drum on the street. The companies a]ipeared
in line promptly, most of thein in from five to ten minutes.
On November 5, 1859, the Montgomery Guards elected the following officers:
Captain, Owen T. Turney ; Second Lieutenant, D. McAlister; Third Lieutenant,
P. Burns.
The Governor's Guards, a new company, made its advent soon after the
inauguration of Governor Dennison, in January, 1860. Its organization had been
in progress some months anterior to that time. An armory for its use was fitted
up in the Odeon Building, where a gi'and ball was given by the company February
22, 1860, on which date a jjarade was held in which the Governor's Guards
were escorted by the Vedettes. The Fencibles, Montgomery Guards and Artillery
also took part in the celebration of this anniversary. Before the opening of the
ball in the evening a silk flag was pi'esented to the Governor's Guards, in behalf of
ladj' donors, bj- Governor Dennison. The Guards wore a uniform of gray, and
goldtipped white plumes. They were of independent organization and self-
equipped. Tlieir officers were: Captain, Isaac H. Marrow; First Lieutenant,
H. M. Neil ; Second Lieutenant, 'William Lamb ; Third Lieutenant, Charles
E. Bradley.
An annual convention of the Ohio militia was held in December, 1859, at Cin-
cinnati. It adopted a memorial to the General Assembly asking for appropria-
tions to encourage militia organization. Speaking of the five Columbus companies
existing at that time, the Capital City Fact Siiid ;"
The companies are composed of men in early manhood, or in the prime of life,
who generally are not in circumstances to justify them in the loss of time in
attending the drills and parades of their respective companies. If to this loss of
time is added the expense of providing suitable uniforms and other ec|uipments, it
will become a heavy burden which no class of our citizens ought to be required to
bear in the jiublic service, alone and unaided. The old militia system having
become nearly or quite obsolete, reliance must henceforth be placed mainly upon
volunteer companies fur keeping alive the military spirit, and for maintaining an
efficient guard, prcp:ti-cd at all times, and on a moment's warning, to jjut down
tlomestic violence and rebellion, or to roi)ul foreign invasion upon the soil of
our commonwealth.
On Januai'y 10, 1860, one hundred survivors of the "War of 1812 met in state
convention at the Adjutant-General's office. Resolutions were adopted claiming
pensions of the same rate granted to the soldiers of the War of Independence.
Delegates to a convention of the sohliers of 1812, to be held in (!liieago the
ensuing June, were ajjpointed.
The remains of Colonel William A. Latham, who died at Houston, Te.-cas, during
the autumn of 1849, were brought to Columbus in April, 1860, and on the sixth of
that month wore interred with military honors at Green Lawn. The services of
Colonel Latham as commander of Columbus volunteers in the war with Mexico
86 History of the City ov Columbus.
liave been elsewhere narrated. Tlie ceremonies at the burial of his remains were
Ijartieipated in by the whole body of the citizen military of the capital, and also by
the Circleville Guards, Captain C. B. Mason." The remains were borne on an
artillery caisson.
On January 7, 1860, the Governor's Guards were armed by the State, and on
the twentysixth of the same month they took part, with the other local military
organizations, in the reception given to the legislatures of Tennessee and Kentucky,
then visiting Columbus. About this time Captain C. C. Waleutt resigned from the
command of the Vedettes and was succeeded by Lieutenant H. Thrall, who was
chosen to the captaincy. On the tenth of the ensuing September the Vedettes took
a conspicuous part in the great parade incidental to the dedication of the Perry
monument, at Cleveland. In November of the same year, the Steuben Guards,
Captain P. Haldy, were honored with a handsome banner thus inscribed : Pre-
sentee? by the Ladies of Columbus, November 22, 1860. Eeverse: In Unity is
Strength. Organized March 22, 1858. The presentation took place at Kaunemacher's
Hall, the ladies making it being Mary Hinderer, Elizabeth Herz and Barbara
Miller. Miss Hinderer pronounced a handsome address to the Guards which was
responded to by Captain Haldy. Dancing followed the ceremonies.
On February 13, 1861, Abraham Lincoln, Presidentelect, then en route to
Washington, visited the capital of Ohio. In the ceremonies of that occasion the
Columbus battalion bore a conspicuous and honorable part, the Vedettes serving as
the Guard of Honor to the Presidentelect. Washington's birthday anniversary
in the same month, was celebrated by the Fencibles, who held on this occasion
their last parade. The evening exercises included some striking tableaux, one of
which represented the ceremony of raising the National flag on Fort Sumter.
Before the company was aflPorded another opportunity for display or festivity it
was summoned to the stern duties of the field.
When the President's call for seventytive thousand volunteers reached
Columbus in the ensuing April, a member of the Fencibles, Corporal J. K. Jones,
instantly put down his name, and led the musterroll of the Ohio volunteers. He
was quickly followed by many of his company associates. Seventyfive of the
Fencibles entered the volunteer service, and of these fiftyseven became commis-
sioned oflScers. Ten served as noncommissioned officers, and eight as privates.
One of these volunteers, Mr. John N. Champion, wrote in 1867:
There were then in the city [at the outbreak of the rebellion] two inde-
pendent military companies; . . . also a battalion of state troops commanded by
Lieutenant-Colonel H. Z. Mills, and composed of the Steuben Guards, Montgomery
Guards, Columbus Vedettes and State Fencibles. . . . There also existed here a
battery of light artillery under charge of Captain John F. Ijams, afterwards com-
mander of a battalion in the Fifth Independent Cavalry, which did good service
in Kentucky and Tennessee. . . . Each of these companies was a basis for speedy
recruiting, and all were soon filled up to the war maximum. The Coldstream
Zouaves, under Captain Harding C. Geary, entered the Fortysixth O. V. I., and
the Steuben Guards, Captain William Snyder, entered the Thirteenth O. V. I.
The Montgomery Guards, under Captain Owen T. Turney, became Company G,
Tliird O. V. I., while companies A and B, of the same regiment, under Captains
Citizen Military Before 1860. 87
Wing and Lawson, were recruited largely from the Governor's Guards. The
Vedettes under Captain Henry R. Thrall, and the State Fencibles, under Captain
A. O. Mitchell recruited their ranks in two days' notice, at the first call to arms,
and entered the Second Ohio Infantry, which, with the First Ohio, was composed
entirely of old companies. . . . After Company B [the original Fencibles] had
left for the war, a second organization was foimed here, under the name of
Comjiany C, State Fencibles No. 2, using the armory and accoutrements of the
old company. Its officers were Captain, George C. Crum, First Lieutenant, James
N. Howie, anil Second Lieutenant B, A Fitch. This second company, with other
state troops, was ordered by the Governor, June 21, 1861, to do guard duty on
the Marietta Eailroad. ... It became Company A of the Eightyeighth O. V. I.,
and in June, 1862, went to Kentucky.
NOTES.
1. Sullivant Family Memorial.
2. In May, 1S22, Colonel McElvain was appointed by Governor Trimble to be Adjutant-
General of the Ohio Militia. T. C. Flournoy was, about the same time, appointed Quarter-
master-General.
3. Ohio State Journal, January 22, 1S67.
4. Henry Brown, Treasurer of State.
5. John M. Kerr, named in General Griswold's order, informs the writer that the very
first organization of the Guards took place in 1835. His company badge bears the legend:
1836. .Semper paratus. 1846.
6. At Cincinnati they were to be joined by the Grays and Washington Cadets of that
city, the Dayton Grays and the Troy Blues.
7. In April, 1843, General Sanderson was appointed Quartermaster-General of Ohio.
8. At the outbreak of the Mexican War in 1846, the Montgomery Guards enlisted in
the United States volunteer service, and were assigned to the Second Ohio Regiment. See
Chapter 111.
9. Ohio State Journal.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. A site was chosen on West Mound Street. The foundation for the building was liud
in July, 1860.
13. September 30, 1S59.
14. This company and the Lancaster Guards, Captain William Cloud, were attached to
the Columbus battalion.
CHAPTER Vll
I. IN WARTIME-1861.
Oil Saturday morning, Aj^ril 13, 1861, the people of the Capital and Slate of
Ohio were startled as never before by the following announcements telegraphed
the preceding evening from Charleston, South Carolina:
The ball is open. War is inaugurated. The batteries of Sullivan's Island,
Morris's Island and other points were opened on Fort Sumter at four o'clock this
morning. . . . Moultrie began the bombardment with two guns, to which Ander-
son replied with three shots from his barbette pieces, after which the batteries at
Mount Pleasant, Cumming's Point and the floating battery opened a brisk firing
of shot and shell. . . . The firing has continued all day without intermission.
Two of Fort Sumter's guns have been silenced and it is reported that a breach has
been made in the southeast wall.
The bombardment continued for thirtysix hours, at the end of which time the
walls of the fort were shattered, its combustible part was on fire, and its stores of
powder had to be ca.st into the sea. Further attempts at its defense being hopeless,
its commandant. Major Robert Anderson, capitulated on the thirteenth, and at
noon of Sunday, the fourteenth, saluted and hauled down the flag of the United
States and quitted the stronghold he had so gallantly defended. On that same
Sunday President Abraham Lincoln wrote with his own hand and gave to the tele-
graph a proclamation calling for seventyfive thousand state militia " to maintain
the honor, the integrit}' and the existence of our National Union."
The response to this call was instantaneous and splendid. In Ohio it was a
prodigious outburst of patriotic fervor. Before the firing on Sumter had ceased
twenty full companies had been tendered to the Governor for immediate service.
An executive proclamation of the fifteenth, appealing for enlistments, was anti-
cipated by the volunteers. Their enrollment began in Columbus before the Gov-
ernor's summons had yet gone to the state at large. Some of the members of the
Fencibles had enlisted, as we have seen, as soon as they knew of the President's
call ' During the evening of the fifteenth the Governor's Guards marched to the
Capitol and oflfored their services in a body. Recruiting began immediately at
their armory in the Deshler Hall. The other companies were equally prompt in
doing likewise, the Vedettes at their headquarters at Walcutt'sHall, the Fencibles
at the Armory Hall, and the Montgomery Guards at their rendezvous at the north-
west corner of High and Gay streets. The Steuben Guards, keeping abreast with
their comrades, very soon had sixtyfive men enrolled for the field.
LS8]
I. In Wartime— 1861. 89
Messages tendering individual or collective service were literally showered
upon the Executive Department from all parts of the State. The following
synopsis of a few of the current announcements will indicate the many and illus-
trate the sjjirit of the time : General W. H. Lytle, of Cincinnati, arrived on the
fifteenth and personally tendered to the Governor the services of his division.
Generals F3-ffe, of Urbana, and Schleich, of Lancaster, tendered their brigades.
W. E. Gilmore, of Chillicothe, telegraphed : " We can raise a hundred men. Shall
we go on and enroll them ? " The Springfield Zouaves offered themselves, forty in
number, armed and equipped. Captain Cliilds offered the services of Companj-
A, Light Artillery, Daj'ton. General Garrison, of Hamilton : "I hold my-
self in readiness for orders." Lebanon offered two companies. J. B. Steedman,
of Toledo, promised a full regiment within ten days. W. W. Laughlin, of Mans-
field, tendered his company of one hundred men for immediate orders. Canton
requested acceptance of two companies Captain G. B.Bailey, of Portsmouth, tele-
graphed : " Will leave for Cincinnati with company on first boat; thence by rail-
road." Senator J. D. Cox, of the General Assembly, offered his services. C. B.
Mason, Circleville: "We will be on hand tomorrow [April 19] at noon, seventy-
five strong." President Lorin Andrews, of Kcnj'on College, tendered a company.
Anticipating the war, he had already offered his personal services three months
previously and is said to have been the first citizen of Ohio so to do. M. G.
Mitchell, of Piqua, offered a company ready to march. R. F. Day, Plymouth ;
" We are ready." Pease's Dayton Company- left for Columbus April 17. James
Collier, of Steubenville, sixtytwo years old, had a company ready. J. C. Hazlitt,
of Zanesville, awaited orders with seventyfive men. Captain Fi'ank Sawyer, of
Norwalk, had forty men ready on the sixteenth. Captain Weaver, of Kenton,
announced a full company. J. E. Franklin awaited orders with his company at
Tiffin. Captain McCook telegraphed from Steubenville that his company was
ready to march. Durbin Ward's Company at Lebanon awaited orders. Captain
Bossman, of Hamilton, had a company ready. Captain P. D. Smith promised to
report with a company from Wellington April 17. Jacob Ammen awaited orders,
with a company, at Ripley, Brown County. Captain Hawkins, at Marysville, and
Captain Muse, at Zanesville, each had a company ready.
Columbus immediately- liocame a centre of extraordinary activity- and excite-
ment. Not only volunleers but contractors, officeseekers and adventurers of every
kind rushed from all dirrctinns to the capital. Every train brought its contingent
until the hotels, hoarding- houses and streets swarmed with strangers, and the
newspapers found it impossible to announce even a tithe of the arrivals. Mean-
while an intense eagerness for news from Washington and the South possessed
every mind. Sunday, the fourteenth, was a day of feverish anxiety and unrest.
Churchgoers as well as streetloungers gathered about the bullcliiilinards, und the
newspaper and telegi-aph offices were besieged for inlorinatior]. Siimtcr had
fallen ; so much was known, but what would be done? A tremendous crisis had
come: would the National Government be equal to it? The President's proclama-
tion published on Monday afforded positive relief. It gave a definite trend to tlie
course of events. A decisive policy was announced at last; the national authority
90 History of the City of Columbus.
was to be asserted. The time for palaver and coucessiou had passed ; the time for
action had come. The General Assembly, then in session, had been discussing the
the Corwin constitutional amendment, pledging noninterference with slavery ; the
subject was soon dropped forever.^ Governor Dennison's proclamation quickly
followed that of the President and was accompanied by orders of instruction from
the Adjutant General. The Governor also sent a message to the General Assem-
bly asking for an appropriation of $450,000 for the purchase of arms and equip-
ments for the volunteer militia. A bill appropriating $100,000 for war purposes
was alreadj' pending ; it immediately gave place to one appropriating a million.
On the eighteenth the General Assembly, nobly ignoring its partisan differences,
passed this milliondollar bill unanimously.
A palpable stimulus to this action was doubtless given by the rising tide of
popular feeling. In the principal towns and cities all over the State the people, in
almost complete disregard of partj' distinctions, were demanding, in great assem-
blies, the application of every resource for the preservation of the Union. Such a
meeting was held at the Armoiy Hall, in Columbus, on Wednesday evening, April
17. Hon. Joseph E. Swan was chosen to preside and Samuel Galloway, Judge
Eankin, L. J. Critchfield and S. M. Mills were appointed to report resolutions.
The meeting was addressed by prominent men of both the leading political
jjarties, including J. A. Garfield, R. B. Warden, Samuel Galloway, Joseph H.
Geiger and Judge Eankin. The resolutions adopted emphatically demanded the
suppression of the rebellion and ]iledged a loyal sujiport to all efforts in that
behalf
B}- the terms of the legislative war appropriation the Sinking Fund Commis-
sioners were authorized to borrow the money at six per cent, interest on certifi-
cates exempt from state taxation. Mr. D. W. Deshler, of the National Exchange
Bank of Columbus, offered the Governor what money he needed for present neces-
sities until the loan could bo placed, but no diiBculty was encountered in negotiat-
ing the certificates. Cincinnati took one quarter of the whole amount and Mr.
Deshler's bank 8100,000. Many applications were received for small amounts and
the entire loan was speedilj- negotiated.
The General Assembly had no sooner passed the milliondollar bill than the
organized bodies of volunteers began to pour into Columbus. The Lancaster
Guards arrived first, quickly followed by the Dayton Light Guards, the Cincinnati
Zouaves, and a score of others. The number of troops required of Ohiowas thir-
teen regiments; in the course of a very few days the Governor had more than
twice tliat number at his disposal. The embarrassments of the State authorities
caused by the redundancy of volunteers for Mexico were repeated, but on im-
menselj' greater scale. Although this emergency had been foreseen for months as
an inevitable event, it caught Ohio, as it did the Nation, wholly unjirepared. If the
absence of all ready resources and arrangements to meet it had been deliberately
studied it could not have been more complete. Militia organization and training
had become almost obsolete for want of legislative encouragement The very few
civilian bodies which had the hardihood to keep up the forms of soldierly practice
had done so, foi' the most i)art, unassisted and untliankcd. Some niouKiy harness,
1. In Wartime— 1861. ;il
oldfashioned muskets and rusty pieces of artillery constituted the resources of the
State Arsenal. Military science had been studied bj' scarcely anyone not a profes-
sional soldier, and the knowledge of tactics was limited mainly to the faney drill
for occasions of parade. The forms of military organization in vogue were ciiiefly
imperfect imitations of foreign methods. The Governor and his staff, like the
President and his cabinet, were almost wholly unversed in the practical business
of war.-' "The Adjutant-General,'' says Reid's Oliin in tin' War* "a per.son of con-
siderable and versatile ability, was an enthusiastic inilitiaman, but just then not
much of a soldier. He was withal so excitable, so volatile, so destitute of method
as to involve the affairs of his oflfice in confusion and to bewilder himself and those
about him with a fog of his own raising. He accepted companies without keeping
account of them ; telegraphed hither and thither for companies to come immediately
forward ; and soon had the town so full of troops that his associates could scarcely
subsist or quarter, and he could scarcely organize them; while, wlien he came to
reckon up, he found he had far outrun his limits and had on liand trdops tor nearci-
thirty than thirteen regiments. Then, when he attempted to lorTu his eomjjanies
into regimental organizations, ho met fresh troubles. Each one wanted to be Com-
pany A of a new regiment and Avas able to prove its right to the distinction. The
records of the office were t0(j imperfect to show in most cases definitely which had
been first accepted. Then Senators and Representatives must needs be called in to
defend the rights of their constituents and the Governor's room, in one end of
which the Adjutant-General transacted his business, was for weeks a scene of
aggravating confusion and dispute."'
When the volunteers began to arrive no provision had been made either to
feed or shelter them. Many came in civilian dress, some even wearing high silk
hats, and found no uniforms ready. Those who uniformed themselves had adopted
such styles as suited their fiincy, which manifested itself in many whimsical notions
as to military propriety. A red shirt with blue trousers and a felt hat constituted
the dress most common.
Summoned from Cincinnati, the Commissary-General, Mr. George D. Runyan,
found some hundreds of hungry men awaiting him, not knowing how they should
be fed much less wherewithal they should be clothed. Taking counsel with Gen-
eral Lucian Buttles, Mr. Eunyan concluded that to quarter these men at the
hotels was the best and only practicable thing that could be done. The men of one
company were arranged for at the Goodalc House at $1.25 each per day ; others
were distributed to different hotels and boarding houses at rates varying from
seventyfive cents ]icr day upwards. But this resource, expensive as it was, soon
found its limit. Of tents there were none. Grounds for a camp must therefore be
selected and barracks erected thereon as speedily as possible. Sheds were im-
mediately contracted for and within forty-eight hours thereafter were under roof
Some of them were arranged with long dining taldcs; others were ]ii(ivided with
bunks for sleeping.
Meanwhile troops continued to pour into the city and had to bo temporarily
lodged. For this purpose the Cai)itol, the Pulilie I5enev(jleiit Institutions, the
Starling Medical College and oven the Penitentiary were drawn u]>on. At night
92 History of the City of Columbus.
the terraces, rotunda and crypts of the Capitol were crowded with weary sleepers,
who thus first tasted, perhaps during the first night of absence from their homes,
the preliminary — but comparatively how significant !— hardships of the field. A
member of the State Senate thus describes one of these memorable scenes :
Going to my evening work as I crossed the rotunda I saw a company march-
ing in by the south door and another disposing itself for the night upon the mar-
ble pavement near the east entrance. As I passed on to the north hall I saw
another that had co.me a little earlier, holding a prayermeeting, tlie stone arches
echoing witii the excited supplications of some one wiio was borne out of himself
by the terrible pressure of events around him, while, mingling his pathetic and
beseeching tones as he prayed for his country, came the shrill notes of the fife and
the thundering din of the ubiquitous base drum from the company marching in on
the other side. In the Senate Chamber a company was quartered and the
Senators were supplying them with paper and pens with which the boys were
writing their farewells to mothers and sweethearts, whom they hardly dared hope
they should see again. A similar scene was going on in the Representatives' Hall,
another in the Supreme Court room. In the Executive OflBce sat the Governor,
the unwonted noises when the door was opened breaking in on the quiet, business-
like air of the room, he meanwhile dictating despatches, indicating answers to
others, receiving committees of citizens, giving directions to oflicers of companies
and regiments, accommodating himself to the wilful democracy of our institutions
which insists upon seeing the man in chief command and will not take hi.s answer
from a subordinate until, in the small hours of the night, the noise was hushed and
after a brief hour of eflFective, undisturbed work upon the matter of chief impor-
tance, he could leave the glare of his gaslighted oflSce and seek a few hours' rest,
only to renew his unceasing labors' on the morrow ^
Thus matters went for some days until the barracks were ready and arrange-
ment could be made for feeding the incoming thousands. In this emergency pro-
positions were made by C. P. L. Butler, Luther Donaldson and Theodore Corn-
stock, all Columbus men, to provision the soldiers at fifty cents each per day, and
the State, unable to do better at the time, closed a contract on these terms. By
this arrangement the embarrassments of the Commissary Department were
shifted to the contractors, who soon found themselves unable to feed the troops as
ftist as they came in. Time was required to perfect a system for serving so many,
but the hungry volunteers, fresh from the comfort of their homes and not jet
accustomed to discipline, were impatient of irregularities and delaj^s in the supply
of their food and sometimes confused matters by inconsiderate interference with
the arrangements for their benefit. While a few seized what they wanted many
wont hungry; breakfasts were postponed until noon and dinners until night; loud
complaints filled the air, and on one occasion over a tliousand men broke for the
hotels and restaurants of the city to supjily the cravings of their stomachs. At
this juncture additional contracts for commissary service were made; William G.
Dcshler and associates assumed part of the burden of provisioning the troops ;
sj'stematic supply and service were organized ; the cost of subsisting the men was
reduced onehaU',' and the complaints, so far as food was concerned, were gradually
quieted.
But the su])ply of camp equipage, arms and clothing was also beset with diffi-
culties. For the Iwcntythree regiments which had responded to the Governor's
I. In Wartime — 1S61. 08
call the State had but 2,707 imiskets ami 197 sabres. In this' emergency Judge-
Ad voeate-General Wokott was dispatched to New ^'cn-k to negotiate (or the ]iur-
chase of arms and tents, and Senator Garfield was appointed to confer with the
Governor of Illinois as to the transfer to Ohio of part of the war implements with
which that State luipjicned to be supplied. Garfield obtained five thousand mus-
kets and had them slii|i]>ed immediately to ('olumlius. Mr. Wolcott sent first a
large siippl_y of leiilpules wliirli arriviMJ by c.\-|ires-;. Tlicy werr uscfiil only as
harbingers of tents to (■ome ami as slinuilants to the biting humor of the
unsheltered and uiiarnuMi volunteers. IJut the Judge Advocate's mission was not
barren. Beside-; tlie pnles he had obtained five thousand muskets, with accoutre-
ments, and aii-aiigcd li,r the purchase of $100,000 worth of Enfield rifles in Eng-
land. He also obtained from the War Department pledges of arms for the Ohio
troops. Another of Governor Dennison's agents obtained from General Wool a
shipment of ten thousand muskets for immediate use.' In these and subsequent
arrangements for the equipment and sn]i])i}' of the Ohio volunteers the Governor
was materially assisted by Messrs. Noah II. Swayne, J. R. Swan and Aaron F.
Perry, all Columbus men, although Mr. Perry, was then a resident of Cincinnati
and Justice Swayne of Washington.
Several hasty clothing contracts were made. " Messrs. J. & II. Millei-, of Colum-
bus, were to furnish four thousand overcoats at $6Mb a]iiece ; Mack & Brothers and
J. H. Luken, of Cincinnati, English & Co., of Zancsville,and McDaniel, of Dayton,
were each to furnish one thousand uniforms (coals and trowsers only), at sixteen
dollars — onesixth to be delivered weekly. Mr. Robinson, of Cleveland, was to
furnish two thousand at the same rates. Stone & Estabrook were to furnish one
thousand flannel shirts at one dollar and a half apiece. Other prices were in pro-
portion, and on all it appeared that large profits were likely to accrue. "'
In the sudden and tremendous exigency which had been precipitated, it was
almost a matter of course that advantage would be taken of the necessities of the
public service. The proper economy would have been to prepai'e for t'le exigency
during the preceding months of its steady and obvious approach.
Immediately after the fall of Fort Sumter great apprehension began to be felt
for the safety of the National Capital. The earliest of the troops to be organized
were therefore demanded for its defense, and the Governor of Ohio was urged to
send forward the first regiments available!, with all possible dispatch. He protested
that he had no uniforms, arms or ammunition for the men, but to this came the
reply: "Send them on instantly and we will equip them here." Accordingly,
two regiments were hastily organized on the eighteenth from the companies at
Columbus; before dawn of the nineteenth they were on their way, by rail, to
Washington. As they had not yet chosen their field officers, Mr. George VV. McCook,
a prominent politician, was appointed to conduct them. An order of April 18,
from the Xdjutant-Genoral of Ohio announced their constituent campanies as fol-
lows :
First Regiment, Major E. A. Parrott commanding — Lancaster Guards,
Lafayette Guards (Dayton), Dayton Light Guards, Montgomery Guards, Cleveland
94 IIisTiiRY OF THE City op Cohtjibus.
Grays, Hibernian Guards (Cleveland), Portsmouth Guards, Zanesville Guards,
Mansfield Guards and Jackson Guards (Hamilton).
Second Begiment, Major Lewis Wilson, commanding — Rover Guards (Cincin-
nati), Columbus Vedettes, Columbus Fcncibles, Zouave Guards (Cincinnati),
Lafayette Guards, Springfield Zouaves, Pickaway Guards, Steubenville Guards,
Covington Blues (Miami County), and Baldwin Rifles (LTrbana).
On April 19 the Sixth Massacluif4etts Infantry, likewise (/( rof/^e to Washing-
ton, was mobbed in the streets of Baltimore. The President, in order to allaj' the
excitement in that city, directed that no more troops should be marched
through it if "in a military point of view, and without interruption or opposi-
tion," thej- could be marched around it. In consequence of this order and the
serious nature of the Baltimore disturbances the two unarmed Ohio regiments
were baited first at Harrisburg, then at Philadelphia. They were still in citizens'
dress, untrained, and very indifferently supplied with food. To rush troops in
such a condition to the front of conflict was little less than military madness. Its
only results were to betray weakness, stimulate rebellious activity and produce
complaint. But the state authorities, although severely blamed, had in this matter
simply executed the commands of the War Dejjartment, then directed by a man
very shrewd in politics but utter!}' destitute of military knowledge.
The departure of twenty companies for Washington reduced the number to
be provided for at Columbus, but not long; their places were almost immediately
filled. With swelling tide and constant clamor of druni and fife the volunteers
kept pouring in. As soon as the sheds at Camp Jackson were ready, they took
their course thither, and made themselves comfortable as best they could. For
the time being the camp was the designated rendezvous of all the troops north of
Hamilton County and south of the Western Reserve. It was soon crowded.
Lieutenant-Colonel H. Z. Mills was announced as its commandant, but on April 18,
was relieved at his own request. His immediate successor was Colonel E. A.
King. On April 22, the Ohio Statesman announced that there were already
troops enough in Camp Jackson to form a third regiment." By the twenty-
seventh Columbus alone had furnished seven companies, five of which were at the
camp; the other two — Vedettes and Fcncibles — had left for Washington. The
scenes in and about the camp at this time are thus sketched in the Ohio State
Journal :
The gates of the high picket fence are guarded bj' sentinels who keep back
the baffled and impatient crowd which surges to and fro from morning till night
and only gets now and then an ej'efull of the inside by looking through the pal-
ings. . . . Within, the scene is full of warlike interest. The white tents are
pitched in the plain in the centre of the park beneath the yet leafless trees —
peaceful above all that martial parade and clamor — and the young grass is crushed
and cut in a thousand furrows by the feet and wheels that have jjassed over it.
A large wooden building hastily erected near the tents adds nothing to the pic-
turesqueness of the scene but adds immensely to the comfort of the soldiers, for
it is full of" bunks," and is much better defense against the weather then canvas.
Wagons are continuallj' coming and going and the camp is strewn with strav?
from a stack brought thither for bedding.
I. In Wautime — 1S01. 95
The visitors admiUed lo llio ^nuirids are not many and are chiefly hidies.
Most of the men's faces j-qu eneciinitcr are lluise of the volunteers, wlio are splendid
looiiing fellows, and are for a greai pari IVrsli from the fields of the country. Tliey
are of all ages, from the man whose head is already gray to the boy on whose
cheeks the down has not obscured the bloom. All the faces are resolute and there
is fight in them ; some are gay, some are grave — as the temperament is, but all
are determined. Phvsieiallv Hie Iroop.s are of good size and in good condition ;
and having (ouragcan.! inu'scl,-, a week's drill will fit them f n- a<l ivc service. . . .
\ haslily improvised Imildiiig near the main entrance .In llie ]iai-k is set with
long tables a'ml siiKst.-uitial edibles. (Ireat cooking ranges roar with prepai-alion
ami the provisional i;-ovei-iimenl is marveloiisl \- cllieienl,. Tlie ollieers' ,iii;n-lers
are in the biiildin- lalely oeiMipied by ibe l;eep,>r ..I' the park and here all llie busi-
ness of the caniii is tran.sacted, Lbougli the headquarters arc, of course, al the Slate-
house."
The patriotic women of Columbus were no less zealous than their brothers,
sons and husbands in signifying their loyal support of the national eau.se. Prompt
to lead in this respect was the wife of the Governor, Mrs. Dennison, around whom
rallied a host of willing and earnest coadjutors. On Monday morning, April 22, a
meeting of ladies "interested in repairing clothes for the citizen soldiers" was
held in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church. The call for this meeting,
signed by Mrs. John S. Hall, Mrs. F. W. Hurtt and Mrs. S. A. Champion, solicited
" contributions of money, flannel, woolen socks, etc.," and concluded with this
ajjpeal ; " Mothers I wives! sisters ! let us do our part in our country's cause ! "
At the meeting thus summoned the first Soldiers' Aid Society in the city was
organized. Mrs. Governor Dennison was chosen President, Mrs. II. F. Norton
Treasurer, and Miss Pamela SuUivant Secretar3\ Working committees were
ajjpointed," after which the Society adjourned to reconvene the following after-
noon at the Ambos Hall, the use of which was generously tendered by its proprietor,
Peter Ambos. From this time forward the work of the society was active and
continuous. On May 10 a military hospital was established at Number 208 South
High Street, with Doctor E. N. Denig as visiting physician and Mrs. Rebecca A.S
Janney as matron. Up to July 15 this Hospital had contained 300 patients.
A board to examine applicants for commissions to serve the new regiments
in the departments of medicine and surgery was named about this time by the
Governor. Its members were, Doctors J. W. Hamilton of Columbus, L. M.
Whiting of Stark County, and J. W. Russell of Mount Vernon. Doctor Ball, of
Zanesville, was the surgeon in charge at Camp Jackson.
On May 24 the City Council appropriated $20,000 for the relief and mainten-
ance of the families of Columbus volunteers. A proposition from responsible
ladies of the city to attend to the proper distribution of this fund was at the same
time received.
On April 26 the following pledge numerously signed by the business men of
the city was published :
Owing to the exigency of our state and national affairs it becomes the duty of
the people of Columbus, in common with the citizens of the whole country to
prepare for war. Many of the young men engaged as clerks in this city have
responded to this call of duty. It is necessary that they should be drilled. We
96 History of the City op Columbcs.
therefore request all merchants of this cit}' to close their business houses at eight
o'clock P. M. For this purpose and to make this arrangement equal and fair, all
who sign this paper agree to do so."
Many eniploj-ers, including merchants, railway managers and others gave
assurances to their men that any of them who enlisted would be received back to
their positions on returning from the- field.
On April 2(1, Cam]i Jackson contained about 7,000 men ; on the twenty-
seventh this numbor rose to 7,826. The barracks on the grounds were crowded
to their utmost capacity, yet were far from being sufficient to shelter all the
troops which iiad arrived. The public halls and armories of the city, the legisla-
tive chambers, Supreme Court room, State Library room, rotunda and basement
of the Capitol and all the available apartments of the State asylums were brought
into use as sleeping apartments of the volunteers, and still the accommodations
were inadequate. In this predicament, with more troops on their hands than
they knew how to disjjose of, the Commissary and Quartermaster-General
became the .'<ubjccts of such bitter and general complaint that resolutions demand-
ing their removal were introduced in the General Assembly and were adopted in
the House by a vote of 61 to 24. A few days later a j'oi nt legislative committee to
which the complaints giving rise to these resolutions had been referred, reported
exculpating the Governor and justifying his arrangements as the best under the
circumstances, that could have been made. Meanwhile grounds had been leased
near Loveland, for a new rendezvous, to which General McClellan, then command-
ing the Western Department, gave the name of Camp Dennison." Fifteen com-
panies were transferred from Columbus to this camp April 29, still leaving 6,435
men in Camp Jackson. Tiiat the latter was still not an ideally comfortable place
of sojourn appears from the following newspaper statement of May 4 : " Yesterday
was a wet, cold disagreeable day and the mud on the campground was nearly
ankle deep.'"* The normal capacity of the camp at this time was adequate to the
^dgment of about six thousand men.
Up to April 26 the Adjutant-General had accepted 312 companies, 175 uncon-
ditionally and 137 subject to future requisition. Further acceptances were dis-
continued, others already made were recalled, and thirty companies accepted and
present for duty were, much to their disgust, disbanded. Of the patriotic zeal of
the volunteers, thus liberally indicated. Camp Jackson furnished the following
illustration narrated under date of May 2.
An affecting incident took place when Captain [John] Beattj-'s company from
Morrow Countj' was being mustered into service. Major Burbank, of the United
States Army, whose duty it is to examine each man, rejected a private who had
the misfortune to have lost an eye. He had been instrumental in getting up the
company and was a favorite among them. When he heard the stern decision of
the major he burst into tears. At this juncture the first lieutenant resigned his
office and the rt\jected man was voted lieutenant by acclamation.
Directly after the departure of the First and Second regiments for Washing-
ton, the organization of the remaining eleven required under the President's call
was begun. The companies assigned to the Third Ohio Infantry were: A and
I. In Wartime— 1S61. 97
B of the Governor's Guards, under Captains Marrow and Wing; the Montgomery
Guards, under Captain Turney ; "' Captain Vananda's comjiany, of Springfield ;
Captain Eossman's, of Hamilton; Captain Abbott's, of Zanesville; Captain
MeDougai's, of Newark; Captain Beatty's, of Morrow County, and Captain
Cope's, of Wellsville. Isaac H. Marrow, of Columbus, was chosen Colonel ; John
Beatty, of Cardington, Lieutenant-Colonel ; and J. W. Keifer, of Spi-ingficld,
Major. The five right companies of this regiment were transferred to Cain]) Dcn-
nison April 29, the I'emainder May 1.
The companies assigned to the Fourth Ohio Infantrj^ were : Those of Cap-'
tains Crawford and Powell, of Delaware ; two from Knox County, under Captains
Andrews and Banning; two from Hardin County, under Captains Weaver and
Cantwell ; two from Marion, under Captains Gilmer and Brown ; the Canton
Zouaves, under Captain Wallace, and the Given Guards under Captain McMillcn.
Lorin Andrews was chosen Colonel, James Cantwell Lieutenant-Colonel and
Jajnes H. Godman Major. This regiment was transferred to Camp Dennison May
2, and was there mustered into the llireemonths service on May 4 by Captain
Gordon Granger. On May 3 the Columbus companies were thus distributed :
Fencibles and Vedettes at Lancaster, Pennsylvania ; Governor's and Montgomery
Guards at Camp Dennison ; and the Steuben Guards and Captain C. C. Walcutt's
Company at Camp Jackson. By the commandant of that camp a night patrol
for the city and a guard for the State Arsenal wore detailed. Of the remaining
regiments of threemonths volunteers organized at Camp Jackson, the Eleventh,
Twelfth and Thirteenth were transferred on April 29, May 8 and May 9, respec-
tively, to Camp Dennison, and the Fifteenth on May 8 to Zanesville. The
Seventh Ohio Infantry, organized at Cleveland, halted at Jackson, en route to
Dennison, May 5. Ten regiments, additional to the thirteen originally called for,
having been authorized by the General Assembly for the State service, they were
mustered into that service and held ready for emergencies deemed to be possible
and destined soon to arrive.
An important departure for Columbus as a military rendezvous was thus an-
nounced May 28 : "Workmen were engaged j^esterday in taking down the bar-
racks for the purpose of removing [them] to a new camp to be organized four
miles west of the city. It is to be a regular camp. It will contain one hundred
acres. It is plowed, harrowed and rolled smooth and will make a good place, for
drilling purposes." " The camp thus referred to, comprising a total area of 160
acres, was under National — not State — control, and began to be occupied about
June 1. It bore the name of Camp Jackson until June 20, after which date it was
known as Camp Chase. By June 12 it was said to have "assumed the appearance
of a liberally sized town with great uniformity of houses, about 160 in number.""
Its officers at that time were: Commandant, Colonel E. A. King; Commissary,
E. A. Dennison ; Adjutant, Theodore Jones; Assistant Adjutant, Jonathan Nee-
reamer; Quartermaster, R. B. Champion ; Assistant Quartermaster, Mark Simon-
ton ; Post Hospital Nurse, Mrs. Elizabeth Eichards. On June 24 Colonel King
was succeeded in command by Colonel E. P. Scammon, who in turn, when called
to the field, gave place to Colonel E. P. Fyife. The surgeon of the camp was Doc-
9S History of the Citt of Columbus.
tor Norman Gay, and its Sutler, William Jamosoti, both of Columbus. Mr. Jame-
son was appointed in August to succeed Messrs. Carpenter, deposed. In December
a contract for provisioning the camp was awarded to Messrs. Zcttlor at S11.65 per
hundred rations.
Nearlj' contemporary with the change of location and general control of the
Columbus rendezvous other important arrangements were made which brought
great relief to the state authorities and commcn.surate benefit to the public serv-
ice. Governor Dennison had been fortunate in obtaining the assistance and
counsel of Charles Whittlesey and Lieutenants O. M. Poe, J. W. Sill and W. S.
Jlosccrans, all men of military education and all destined to win distinction in the
course of the war. Of equal and still more enduring benefit were the changes in
the executive staff by which, on July 1, C. P. Buckingham, of Mount Vernon,
became Adjutant-General, and George B. Wright, of Newark, Quartermaster-
General of the State. The good effects of these appointments were immediate and
farreaching."
A 'second proclamation by the President, calling for 42,000 volunteers for
three years, was issued on the third of May. The retention in an organized state
of pai't of the militia which had responded in excess of the thirteen regiments
required by the first call was therefore fortunate and favored execution of the
plans conceived by Governor Dennison for pushing an armj' of occupation into
Western Virginia. Accordingly the Twentythird, -fourth, -fifth and -sixth regi-
ments were at once organized for that service on the three years basis, and by the
middle of June we find all these regiments at Camp Chase. Other regiments of
antecedent numbers were more mature than these, and as fast as ready were sent
across the border. The Fourteenth, Colonel Steedman, arrived and was armed at
Columbus May 22, moved on the twentythird to Zanesville, and on the twenty-
seventh set out from thence for Parkersburg. The Fifteenth, Colonel Moses E.
Dickey, was organized at Camp Chase May 4, moved to Zanesville May 16, set
out for Grafton May 24, and arrived at the front in time to take part in General
Kelley's movement on Philippi. The Nineteenth, Colonel Samuel Beatty, an-ived
at Camp Chase from Cleveland May 28, was armed from the State Arsenal, and at
once set out for Bellair and Western Virginia. The Twentieth, Colonel Charles
Whittlesey, left CamjJ Chase for Camp Goddard, near Zanesville, May 17. The
Twentyfirst, Colonel Jesse S. Norton, from Cleveland, arrived and was armed at
Columbus May 23, and pushed on at once to Gallipolis. The Twentythird,
Colonel W. S. Hosecrans, was organized at Camp Chase June 12, and on July 25
was ordered to Clarksburg, Virginia, where it arrived two days later. The
Twenlyfourth, Colonel Jacob jimmen, was organized at Camp Chase, and from
thence set out for Western Virginia July 26. The Twentyfifth, Colonel James A.
Jones, organized at Camp Chase June 28, quitted Columbus for Western Virginia
June 29. The Twentysixth, Colonel Edward P. Fyfi'e, w-as organized at Camp
Chase and thence sot out for Western Virginia, July 30. The Third and Fourth
regiments passed Columbus from Camp Dennison to Virginia during the night of
June 21. The Seventh and Tenth regiments passed by on June 24, and the Sixth
on June 30, all bound eastward. On May 27 the First and Second regiments were
I. In Wartime— 1861. 99
at Washington, whither Mr. William A. Piatt, of Columbus, was dispatched by
the Governor as a special agent to inquire into their condition, and suppl3', if
possible, their immediate wants.
Of the minor militarj- events which took place in Cokuubus during these
memorable days it is not ensy to make anj' systematic classification. Perhaps
those which deserve mention may as well bo recorded in the order of their
occurrence.
Major Eobert Anderson, the defender of Fort Sumter, arrived at Columljus
from Pittsburgh, May 16, and received the attentions of many citizens during the
few minutes that his train halted. Governor Dennison accompanied him on his
westward journey as far as London, Ohio.
A secession flag, captured at Carrick s Ford bj- the Fourteenth Ohio Inl'anUy,
was received at Columbus July 6. It was 6 x 15 foot in size antl hurc red stripes
and a blue ground containing seven stars among which was coiled a large rattle-
snake skin stuffed with cotton.
Some serious instances of disorderly conduct by soldiers in camp and in the
city are mentioned. On May 18, a party of thirtythree broke guard at Camp
Jackson. An armed squad was sent in jjursuit and recaptured ten of the fugi-
tives. On June 30 some intoxicated men of the First Regiment destroyed a fruit
stand kept by a colored man at the corner of High and Gay streets and mobbed
the business place of C. A. Wagner. Two companies of Columbus volunteers
under Captains Crum and Parks were called out to suppress these disorders.
During the autumn of 1861 a good deal of unseemly conduct by soldiers in the
streets was complained of.
On July 24, Major-General Fremont visited Camp Chase in company with
Governor Dennison and " was received by nearly five thousand soldiers with tre-
mendous cheers and applause."'" He quitted the city on the same day for the
West.
Early in July a recruiting office for the Eighteenth United States Infantry
was opened by Colonel H. B. Carrington at the Broadway Hotel. Associated
with him in the enlistment and organization of volunteers for this regiment were
Lieutenant-Colonel Shepherd, Major Frederick Townsend, Majors Benton and
Underwood, Captain W. S. Thurston and others. By the end of July about two
hundred men were enrolled and a regimental rendezvous was established on the
farm of Mr. Beers about four miles north of the city, on the Worthington Plank-
road. In honor of the Adjutant-General of the Army" this rendezvous was
named Camp Thomas. The regiment, so far as organized, set out for Louisville,
Kentucky, on December 2, under Major Edmund Undei-wood, and was followed by
three additional companies during the ensuing February.
Early in September a rendezvous for the Portysixth Ohio, then being recruited
under Colonel Thomas Worthington and Lieutenant Colonel C. C. Walcutt, was
established near Worthington. It was at first called Camp Wade, afterwards
Camp Lyon. To a prisoners' camp organized during the same month was given
the name of Camp Carlisle.
Kill History or the Citv of Colump.tis.
Tlio rcluni of the tlircemouths volunteers began during the latter pari of
July. The Fourteenth Ohio Infantry, Colonel Steednian, arrived at Coluniluis
from Western Virginia on the twentyfourth of that month, bringing iHunermis
trophies from the battles of Carrick's Ford and Rich Mountain. The Colmnhns
companies, Vedettes and Pencibles (B and C of the Seeoinl liogimont), arrived
July 29, and were met at the railway station b3' a great crowd of assembled
friends. A fund had been raised by general subscription to pay the exjionscs of the
welcome and many substantial tokens of greeting were lironght for delivery to
the volunteers as soon as thej' should alight from the train. A grand evening
reception was given to the returned companies at the Theatre on Slate Street.
The Ohio State Journal of August, 1861, said :
For the past two days our city has been filled with bi-ave men who par-
ticipated at Bull Eun in by far the hardest fought battle ever fought upon this
continent. In the popular mind, addicted as the sympathies are to the martial
and heroic, these men find no little favor. . . . Each soklier is accredited with
the performance of deeds rivaling in daring the actions of ihe farfamed old Scan-
dinavian Seakings, and like ^neas, being permitted to relate his own story, he
chooses bis own embellishments and is listened to by the entranced crowds with
the most unwearied interest.
With the return of the threemonth's volunteers a new difficulty arose which
was very embarrassing to the State administration. Nine regiments which had
been mustered into the State service in excess of the requisition of the War Depart-
ment under the 75,000 call had never been mustered as United States troops
although their retention under arms had been an act of wise forethought and
their services in the rescue of Western Virginia, in pursuance of the plans of Gov-
ernor Dennison, had been invaluable. On the last day of July Camp Chase was
crowded with these men awaiting discharge and final payment, but, much to their
disappointment, they received no attentions whatever from the national author-
ities. Governor Dennison had obtained timely pledges from the War Department
that they should be mustered out and paid as United States volunteers, but for
some reason these pledges were not redeemed. A jiaymaster who arrived from
Washington refused to recognize them as national troops. They were therefore
sent home without pay except that for a single month's service which they had
received from the State. Of course this treatment of men who had performed
excellent service caused great dissatisfaction, and the State administration was
again most unjustly censured on account of delinquencies for which it was in no
wise responsible.
On July 18 the advance of McDowell's army from Washington was given the
following headline announcement in a Columbus paper :"
The March on Richmond Begun — Fairfax Courthouse invested by Federal
Troops — Manassas Junction to be avoided — 50,000 Federal Troops Moving — They
are to Cut their Way Through to Richmond — General Johnston in Full Retreat
— General Patterson in Close Pursuit.
On July 21 the Bull Run battle was fought, resulting in a disastrous defeat,
panic and flight of the national forces. The consternation caused by this calamity
I. In Wartime— ISUl. Kil
can hardly now be adequately conceived. The effects it produced iu Colunibus
are reflected in the following passages in the Ohio State Journal:
An immense, surging crowd assembled in front of our office. All expected
the enemy would soon be ours and the oppression and gloom of war gave way to
sunshine and joy. But at noon came dispatches announcing disaster, and a most
despondent gloom spread over their faces and a pall seemed to settle upon their
spirits. But in the evening a feeling of determination and revengeful resistance
was aroused such as words cannot describe. " I feel like going myself! " was the
exclamation of everj'one who spoke.
Until this time the popular impression, encouraged from Washington, had
been that the war would be brief Thousands of Ohio volunteers had been sent
back to their homes as we have seen, and ten regiments more than required by the
War Department had been retained in service by the Governor on his own re-
sponsibility. Mr. Seward had inferentially assured the people that the trouble
would be a matter of sixty days. Instead of being inspired to gird themselves
for a great struggle, the loj-al States had rather been admonished not to embarrass
the National Government with a redundancy of resources. The Bull Run disaster
quickij- dissipated these delusions. It made plain to the public mind that the act
of summoning 75,000 militia for the brief period of three months to suppress such
a conspiracy as had been organized was, as Mr. Greeley characterizes it, "a de-
plorable error.'" Just at the time when the nation needed an organized army for
pi'ompt and sustained action the term of enlistment of these threomonths men had
expired. Yet both government and people were fortunate in gaining, even
through disaster, some adequate knowledge of the gigantic task before them.
Congress, which was in extra session at the time the Bull Eun rout took place,
immediately passed bills authorizing the President to accept one million volun-
teers. Recruiting had already recommenced under the President's call of July 1
for 300,000 thrceyears men, and in the city of Columbus several new comjianies
both for field and home service were organized.
Among the companies having their origin in the city at or about this time
was a socalled Zouave corps, of which the officers were : Captain, H. Park ; First
Lieutenant, W. B. Hayden ; Second Lieutenant, H. C. Geary; Third Lieutenant,
Joseph Quinn ; Ensign, Joseph Mellen. These officers were elected May 25. The
company adopted the name of Coldstream Zouaves, and a uniform consisting of a
red cap, darkblue trousers and a blue jacket trimmed with red. The comi>any
formed part of what was known as the Home Guard, but in August offered its
services for the field and was assigned to the Fortysixth Ohio Infixntry. Its
armory was at the corner of High and Gay streets. In October a company called
the Coldstream Guards was organized with the following officers : Captain, H. C.
Geary; First Lieutenant, E. M. Upton; Second Lieutenant, Joseph Mellen.
Another Home Guard company, organized in the Fifth Ward, was known as the
Columbus Grays. Its Captain was Frederick Beck, its First Lieutenant, Jacob
Voglegesang, and its Second Lieutenant, Frederick Beck, Junior. Still another,
organized under Captain M. C. Lilley, was ordered to southern Ohio June 20, to
guard railway bridges. Its officers, besides Captain Lilley, were : First Lieuten-
102 History of the City op Columbus.
ant, James M.Stewart; Second Lieutenant, James M. Comly. The company re-
turned from its guard service July 24. A second company of the Vedettes was
organized under Captain Thomas Arnold, and a second company of the Fencibles
under Captain George C. Crum. A company of Highschool boys was organized as
the Columbus Cadets, Captain Theon Thrall ; uniform, scarlet cap and red trowsers.
We hear of the Goodale Zouaves, alias Goodale Guard, early in 1862. A company
was recruited by Captain C. C. Walcutt for the threemonths service, but after
ineffectual efforts to obtain a satisfactory assignment was disbanded. Captain
Walcutt was finally appointed an inspector with the rank of major on the staff of
Brigadier-General Charles W. Hill, in Western Virginia.
The first prisoner arrested and brought to Columbus for alleged participation
in the rebellion was a man said to have been detected in firing a bridge. He
arrived June 29, and was lodged in the Stationhouse. The first batch of seces-
sionist captives brought from the field was a party of twentythree, mostly
" wealthy and influential citizens of Virginia," who had been taken in the Kan-
awha Vallej- as hostages for Union men seized by the Confederates. They
arrived, under guard, July 5, and were lodged at Camp Chase, but were released
a few days later and returned via Chillicothe and Gallipolis to their homes. On
July 16 four arrivals at the camp from Virginia increased the number of captives
there to twelve. Twentyeight more, mostly officers, arrived from Virginia
August 17. Sixteen Confederate soldiers, captured near Cheat Mountain, were
brought in August 30. A squad of fifteen or twenty secessionists, taken in Louis
County, Virginia, and fourteen more captured in battle near Summerville, same
State, were added to the Camp Chase colony on September 16 and 18, respectively.
Fortythree from Kentucky and twelve taken near Cross Lanes, Virginia, arrived
" by special train from Cincinnati " October 27. Eight were brought in from the
Kanawha Valley November 6, and eleven from Cheat Mountain November 13.
The total number at the camp by this time was 278. On December 19 eight
more arrived from Romney. The Ohio Statesman of November 6 contained
this:
The following distinguished secesh prisoners have by order of General [O. M.]
Mitchell been sent from Camp Chase to Fort Lafayette — Colonel B. F. Stanton,
Isaac Nelson, Thomas Carten, E. S. Thomas and George Forrester. The rumor
is that the}' concocted well laid plans for an escape from Camp Chase.
Ohio State Journal, February 24 :
A large number of rebel prisoners taken at Bloomery Gap, in General Lander's
Division, were brought to "Camp Chase Hotel" Friday night. The squad
included one colonel, Robert J. Baldwin who was captured by General Lander
himself in the us.sault upon that place; six captains, nine lieutenants, five first
sergeants, six other sergeants, five corporals and nineteen privates. They were
brought there in charge of Major Armstrong, of the Fifth Ohio. Nine prisoners
captured near Fayetteville, Kentucky, by Colonel Scammon, of the Twentythird
Ohio, also arrived on Saturday last.
On October 12 Governor Dennison appealed to the county military commit-
tees, which had then been appointed throughout the State, for contributions of
1. In Wartime — 1801. loa
clothing and blankets for the Ohio troops then said to be exposed to great hardships
in the mountain regions of Western Virginia. The hardships, it was afterwards
known, were exaggerated, but the response to the appeal was prompt and liberal.
Within the course of a few weeks nearlj- eight thousand blankets, ten thousand
pairs of woolen socks and a proportionatequantitj'of other articles were forwarded
to Quartermaster-General Wright, at Columbus. The people of the capital con-
tributed their full share of these articles.
Pursuant to an order of September 27, by Adjutant-General Buckingham,
citizen mih'tary committees to cooperate in the enlistment and supply of the vol-
unteers \vt're appointed. On October 8 the committee for the Twelfth Congressional
District was thus announced : J. A. Wilcox, John P. Bruck, George Taylor, John
Graham, Moses Seymour and Amos Reese. The Franklin County committee,
appointed by that of the district, was as follows: J. H. Riley, James H. Smith,
C. N. Olds, Peter Ambos, L. W. Babbitt, of Plain Township; Doctor McLean, of
Lockbourne ; and Doctor J. B. Potter, of Canal Winchester. On October 8
Adjutant-General Buckingham announced that in the appointment of lieutenants
the count}- committees would, in future, be consulted. At a later date the com-
mittees were requested to nominate all the line officers of the new companies being
recruited within their respective districts.
In the earlier part of May a contract was awarded to S. E. Ogden for the
supply of rations to the troops at Camp Jackson at the rate of $14.50 per hundred;
one hundred rations to consist of 40 pounds of beef, 51 of pork, 112 of flour or
bread, ten of rice, six of Java coffee, twelve of sugar, one and a half of tallow
candles, four of soap, eight quarts of beans and four quarts of vinegar. Among
the contracts for army clothing awarded to Columbus men by Quartermaster-
General Wright were these: For blouses and cavalry overcoats to Smith &
Comstock ; tor shirts to Dwight Stone ; for drawers to J. & T. B. Miller.
Early in August a train of twenty-seven cars laden with artillery and ammu-
nition for General Fremont's army in Missouri passed Columbus, going west.
The delivery of these munitions being desired in the shortest possible time, they
were being forwarded from Pittsburgh by the Adams Express, which had charge
of the entire train and its freight. Four carloads of Enfield rifles consigned to
Fremont, passed the city August 30. They also were being forwarded by the
Adams Company. Forty cases of English rifles, consigned from Liverpool to
Governor Dennison, reached Columbus October 5. Thirtyseven cases more
arrived October 8, and on the same date the American Express brought one
hundred cases of smoothbore muskets which had been rifled by Miles Greenwood,
of Cincinnati.
One of the curious episodes of this year was the circulation ami general
belief of a report that Genei-al W. T. Sherman, commanding in Kentucky, was
insane. The Ohio Statesman of December 13 said :
The Cincinnati Commercial [with which paper the re])ort originated] states
that it has information which it cannot discredit that General W. T. Sherman,
late commander of the Kentucky Department, is insane. Symptoms which
incited notice during his administration in Kentucky have at length dcveiojicd
104 Hl.SlORY OF THE CiTY OF COLUMBUS.
into a decided type. This disarms all censure of his management and all criti-
cisms upon hisabilitj-, and excites 83'mpathy in their stead.
The Ohio State Journal thus commented:
When General Buell took command of that [Kentucky] Department, it is
now becoming evident that the whole situation was actually imperiled and the
army comparatively demoralized under the unfortunate management of General
Sherman. It consequentlj' devolved on General Buell to reorganize the whole
division. Delicacj" has doubtless prevented him from making anj- expose of affairs.
The sequel has abundantly proved that the annals of war have seldom
exhibited a more senseless and wicked abuse of the privileges of the press than
that which gave origin to this slander.
In summing up the results of Governor Dennison's administration in 1861,
Reid's Ohio in the War says:
In spite of difficulties and depression the Adjutant-General was able, at the
close of the j-ear, to report fortysix regiments of infantry, four of cavalry and
twelve batteries of artillery in the field, with twenlytwo more regiments of infan-
try and four of cavalry full or nearly full, and thirteen in process of organization.
In ail, the State had in the three-years service 8event3'seven thousand eight
hundred and fourtyfbur men, be.sides the twentytwo thousand three hundred and
eighty men furnished at the first call for three months.
NOTES.
1. The followin}; btatement as to the first enlistments, reported iu the Ohio Slate Journal
of August 16, 1891, from Mr. J. Kilbourn Jones, of the Fencibles, may be regarded as
authentic :
"As soon as the news of the Sumter affair was received, a number of us who were
anxious to become soldiers spent all our time about the armorv, waiting for the call. We
not only remained there all day but staid until late in the evening. Among the most
enthusiastic were H. A. Thatcher, A. O. Mitchell and myself. On Monday, the fifteenth,
the President's proclamation was officially received. Captain Riley, of the Fencibles, and
Captain Thrall of the Vedettes, were both present in the Governor's office at the time wait-
ing for orders to begin recruiting. When Governor Dennison received the President's call
for troops each captain started for his armory. The Vedettes's armory was on Town Street,
while ours was directly opposite the Statehouse, over what is now known as Andrew Dobbie's
drygoods store. The stairway was where the Western Union Telegraph Oflice is located.
At the head of the stairs, on the second floor, was a small room used as a business office for
the company. We were in the room, and when Captain Riley entered and told us the news
I was sitting with a blank already filled out in my hand. I immediately placed my signa-
ture to it and handed it to the captain. Mitchell and Thatcher did likewise, but I was first ;
ray name appears in that position on the musterroll. Mitchell's name appears third, under
that of Thatcher. J. M. Elliott, the photographer, who was. the first man of Vedettes to
enlist, once disputed the question of precedence with me, but I convinced him that it would
necessarily take longer to go from the Statehouse to the Vedettes's armory than it would to
ours."
2. The Senate passed the amendment on the eighteenth, but it was no more heard of.
Eight votes were recorded against it — those of Messrs. Buck, Cox, Garfield, Glass, Monroe
Morse, Parrish and Smith.
I. In Wartime— 18U1. 105
3. Reid's Ohio in the War says : " It thu« came about that when the bewildering mass
of military business was precipitated upon him [the Governor] on the fifteenth of April, he
met it with a staff in which it seemed as if the capacity of bad selection had been almost
exhausted. Some of them had no executive ability; some had no tact ; one was wholly
impractical ; they failed to command the confidence of the gathering volunteers, and at least
two of them were the butt of every joker and idle clerk about the Capitol."
4. Volume I, page 29.
5. The principal officers on Governer Dennison's staff at this time were Adjutant-
General, H. B. Carrington ; Quartermaster-General, D. L. Wood; Commissary General,
George W. Runyan. Pome months later the staff was reorganized as follows: Adjutant-
General, C. P. Buckingham ; Assistant Ajutant-General, Rodney Mason ; Quartermaster-
General, George B.Wright; Assistant Quartermaster-General, Anthony B.Bullock; Com-
missary-General, Columbus Delano; Judge- Advocate-General, C. P. Wolcott ; Surgeon-
General, W. L. McMillen ; Aides, Adolphus E. Jones, Martin Welker.
6. Ohio Slate Journal.
7. The report of the Commissary-General shows that Butler, Donaldson & Comstock
furnished 176,223 meals for $29,404.24, and Deshler & Co. 144,84R meals for $24,140.99.
8. Of the arms thus received, says the Quartermaster-General's report, " two thousand
only were firstclass percussion muskets, the remainder being old arms of various dates.'
The report continues : "During the months of May an<l June repeated calls were made by the
Governor ui)on the Ordnance Department, through General McClellan, and directly upon
the Secretary of War, for further supplies of arms and equipments, both for infantry and
cavalry, but none were received until October, when three thousand secondclass altered
muskets came to hand. ... In this emergency it was deemed advisable to try the ex-
periment of rifling and otherwise improving the smoothbore muskets. An arrangement was
made with Miles Greenwood, of Cincinnati, to execute the necessary alterations at a cost of
$1.2.5 for each musket. In addition he was to affix breech sights to one-twentieth of the
entire number at an additional cost of $1.75 each. The experiment was highly successful and
a large number otherwise unserviceable arms at this small cost made serviceable and effec-
tive weapons. ... Of the thirtythree smoothbore sixpounders under the control of the
Quartermaster-General at the beginning of the rebellion, twentyseven have been rebushed,
rebored and rifled at a cost of $1,3-50. . . As many of these guns were without caissons,
and as there were no traveling forges or battery wagons attached to our batteries, these, with
many other essentials to make them effective, had to be constructed. This work has been
mostly done in Columbus at the establishment of Hall, Ayres & Co. at Government cost price.
. . Favorable contracts were also made with John S. Hall, Peter Hayden and other
parties in the State for necessary supplies of artillery-harness, cavalry and infantry equip-
ments and accoutrements."
The report here quoted was made by General George B. Wright, Quartermaster-General,
who assumed his official duties on July 1, and discharged them with great efficiency. The
period covered by the report includes the greater part of the year 1861. Of the State Labora-
tory for the manufacture of fixed ammunition, which was established in the old carshops of
Kimball & Ridgway, in Franklinton, General Wright says : "At one period the number of
hands employed at the laboratory was 260, more than half of whom were girls and young
women." Up to the date of the report— December 15— the establishment had produced over
2,500,000 cartridges for small arms and artillery.
Of a notable contract for cannonballs for the use of a Cleveland battery hastily ordered
to Marietta to assist in the defense of the border, we have the following account in one of the
Columbus papers.- " The Columbus Machine Company received an order on Sunday, about
4 o'clock, for two tons of cannonballs from the State. The patterns had to be made and the
workmen gathered up, but notwithstanding all this, at 5 o'clock last evening they succeeded
in filling the order and delivering them at the depot. They were for si.xpounders, and were
106 History of the Citv of Columbus.
handed over to Colonel Harnett's artillery from Cleveland, which passed throui,'li here last
night to some point on the Ohio River."
0. Ohio in the War, Volume I, page 29.
Some days later contracts for three thousand overcoats were awarded to the following
Columbus contractors: O'Harra & Co., C. Breyfogle, B. E. Smith, Theodore Comstock, A.
A. Stewart and William Miller.
10. The following companies were announced as present in the camp at noon, April 23:
Captain Childs's, Dayton ; Captain McDougal's, Licking County ; Captain Marrow's, Colum-
bus; Captain Cummings's, Shelby ; Captain Harris's, Cincinnati ; Captain Walcutt's, Colum-
bus ; Captain Johnson's, Piqua; Captain Langston's, Covington; Captain Snyder's, Col-
umbus ; Captain Turney's, Columbus.
The arrivals of companies on April 22 and 23 were thus chronicled, each being entitled
by the name of its commanding officer: Rossman's, Hamilton; Vananda's, Springfield ;
Weaver's, Hardin County ; Wallace's, Belmont County ; Gilmore's, Chillicothe ; Andrews's,
Knox County ; Banning's, Knox County ; Drury's, Troy ; Coleman's, Troy ; Corwin's, Mad
River ; Runkle's, Champaign County ; Lowe's, Greene County ; Harlan's, Clinton County ;
Nicholas's, Lima; Nolan's Anderson Guards; Mason's Pickaway Tigers; Miller's Given
Guards; Ashmore's, Bellefontaine; Buell's, Marietta; McMurchin's, Clermont; Powell's,
Delaware ; Crawford's, Delaware ; total 2,888 men.
11. Regulations of the camp were announced by the Adjutant-General April 28. They
were in substance as follows : 1. Discbarge of firearms within the limits of the camp forbid-
den. 2. Violations of this regulation and all cases of intemperance to be reported by com-
pany commanders and punished by severe penalties. 3. Disorder in the dininghalls or bar-
racks, forcing the lines of .sentinels, and similar violations of discipline, to be reported to the
camp commandant for condign punishment. 4. Each c-ompany to organize its own music,
including beats and calls, but music during drillhours to be forbidden. 5. Companies attend-
ing church in the city to march without music and of the camp exercises only roUcalls to be
permitted on the Sabbath. 6. Visitors to be admitted only at stated times publicly announced,
and not at all on Mondays and Tuesdays. 7. Commanders of companies quartered else-
where than in the camp lo report regularly every morning to the Assistant-Adjutant-Gen-
eral. 8. Soldiers in camp to carry no arms except such as are used in the drill, and these only
when the drill is in progress. 9. Evening prayers to be offered daily at four p. m. 10. Reli-
gious service to be held at eleven a. m. on Sundays, but companies may attend divine service
in the city on permission.
12. The committees appointed were : On purchases, Mrs. Dennison, Mrs. W. W. Fell,
Mrs. Willard Knight, Mrs. Doctor McMillen ; on donations, Mrs. Henry C. Noble, Mrs.
George M. Parsons, Mrs. A. B. Buttles, Mrs. Doctor S. M. Smith, Mrs. J. W. Andrews,
Mrs. Baldwin Gwynne, Mrs. W. "W. Fell, Mrs. J. William Baldwin, Mrs. Peter Ambos,
Miss Kate Myers, Miss Mollie Andrews; on cutting garments, Mrs. Doctor McCune, Mrs.
F. W. Hurtt, Mrs. Searles, Mrs. Joel Buttles, Mrs. Theodore Comstock, Mrs. Peter Campbell,
Mrs. Godfrey Robinson, Mrs. P. Kimball, Mrs. E. E. Shedd, Mrs. Justin Morgan, Mrs.
Doctor Fowler, Mrs. Francis D. Gage, Mrs. Doctor Ide, Mrs. Medbery, Mrs. Keys ; on
distribution, Mrs. Samuel Galloway, Mrs. F. W. Hurtt, Mrs. John Hall.
13. The signatures to this pledge included the names of all the dry- and fancygoods
merchants in the city, and nearly all the participants in other branches of business, but
complaint was soon made that some who had signed it were not keeping it as they should.
U. This camp was a United States post controlled by the National Government, and
not, as was at the time popularly supposed, by the Governor of Ohio. Its administration
was much complained of and the Governor was very unjustly blamed on account of it. It
was in the department and under the control of General McClellan, under whose direction
it was laid out by General Rosecrans.
I. In Wartime— 18C1. 107
15. On May 7 appeared this comment: " Camp Jackson yesterday was a perfect mud-
hole. It rained incessantly during the whole day."
16. On June 21 Captain Turney's company was disbandeil, the requisite number of
men to organize it not having been obtained.
17. Ohio State Journal.
18. Ohio Statesman.
19. The Ohio State Journal of July G, lS(il, remarked significantly: "Quartermaster-
General Wright is gaining many friends by the manner he exhibits in awarding contracts.
There has not a single case occurred in which the lowest responsible bidder did not get the
contract for which he applied."
20. Ohio Stale Journal.
21. General L. Thomas.
22. Ohio State Journal.
CHAPTER IX.
II. IN WARTIME— 1862.
The administration of Governor Tod began January 13, 1862. Of the staff
officers of his predecessor he retained Adjutant- General C. P. Buckingham, Quar-
ter-raaster General George B. Wright and Commissary- General Columbus Delano.
The remaining staff appointments announced in due course were these : Judge-
Advocate-General, Luther Day; Surgeon-General, Gustav C. E. Weber; Aide,
Garretson J. Young. Adjutant-General Buckingham remained iu office only
until April 18, when he retired to take a position in the War Department, and was
succeeded by Charles W. Hill. Another change took place in October, when, in
lieu of Surgeon-General Weber, who resigned because of impaired health, the
Governor appointed Doctor Samuel M. Smith of Columbus.
The year opened rather cheerlessly. The vast volunteer host which had so
nobly responded to the various calls of the President had as yet experienced but
faintly the inspiration of success. A few minor triumphs had been won, but seri-
ous and bioodj- reverses had been suffered. A huge army lingered inactively on
the Potomac while the Confederate flag floated within sight of the National Cap-
ital. There were manj- optimists who still believed the struggle would be brief,
or would be evaded by some sort of temporizing comjDromise, but the signs of the
times gave no positive augury of its issue. Hope was mingled with appi'ehension,
confidence with dread.
Thus Januarj' passed and February had begun when, scarcely looked for in
the gloom of winter, a joyous message thrilled the nation. On February 6, Fort
Henry fell, and on the sixteenth Fort Donelson. The effect of these tidings was
everywhere electric, nowhere more so than at the capital of Ohio. As the good
news " passed from lip to lip," says a contemporary record, " beams of patriotic
gladness lighted up every countenance and glowed in every eye. . . . Every-
where were groups and knots and crowds of citizens listening as some one read
forth the dispatches that narrated the glorious victory." Flags were unfurled
from windows and housetops, and cannon mingled with the peal of cliurchbells
their thunderous voices. The General Assembly, unable to fix its attention on
business, adjourned and, in joint meeting, resolved itself into a "committee of the
whole on the glorious state of the Union." In the evening the Capitol and other
public buildings and many private residences wei'o illuminated, bonfires were
built and shouting multitudes thronged the streets.
[108]
II. In Wartime— 1RG2. KiK
Seven weeks later, just as the gladsome spring had begun to diffuse its aroma
of buds and blossoms, news of a different kind arrived, and a iiush of dcoii anxiety
fell upon the city. A tremendous battle had been fought on the Tennessee, and
the blood of Ohio's best had been shed in torrents. Scores of families, in all parts
of the city, awaited in chafing apprehension the first tidings of friends near and
dear who had taken part in the conflict. It was the first experience in Ohio, on
such a scale, of the fireside distress and desolation which follow in the wake of
war. The slaughter had been immense, and a piteous appeal for succor and solace
came from the bloody woods of Shiloh. Governor Tod, as will be narrated else-
where, quickly and nobly responded with all the resources at his command, and all
the energy of his generous heart. The Aid Societj' was equally prompt, and for
the first time, because it was the first greatopportunity, showed how fathomlessand
beneficent, how um-oserved, helpful and farreaching was the patriotism of the
women of Columbus. Their first information of the battles of April 6 and 7, was
received on the ninth ; a few hours later their trusted, kindhearted messenger,
Francis C. Sessions, was on his waj- with supplies to the scene of conflict. Let him
narrate, in his own way, what he saw and did. On April 12, he wrote as follows
from a steamboat then ascending the Tennessee and approaching Pittsburgh
Landing:'
I telegraphed you yesterday that I was on my way to the battlefield with
fifteen boxes of hospital stores from the Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society of Columbus.
At Evansville, Indiana, I met Major Hollowaj', the efficient Private Secretary of
Governor Morton, of Indiana, with twentyfour physicians and surgeons, a large
number of nurses and hospital stores for Indiana's sick and wounded. I showed
him a letter I had from Governor Tod to Generals Halleck and Buell and told him
my mission. He at once kindly invited me to take passage on the boat they had
chartered and bring my stores on board as thej- would arrive on the battlefield
some houi's sooner than the boat I was on. We stopped at Fort Henry, where we
saw six of our dead who were brought down ; two Ohioans, one from Wellsville named
Glass Patton, and the other an artillerist — I could not learn his name. We met
four boatloads of wounded bound for St. Louis, Louisville, Evansville and Paducah.
We hear a great many vague rumors of several Ohio regiments being cut to pieces,
driven back to the river, and the gunboats turning on them to prevent their
escaping across the river, etc., etc. That our troops have suffered severely there
can be no doubt.
We just met a boat loaded with wounded and they say there is great need of
surgeons and hos]3ital stores, and that we are the first boat up with such supplies.
We expect to arrive there tonight. I shall go to work immediately distributing
among the needy. I have no doubt their wants are urgent. General Halleck, it
is reported, passed up last night, and a great battle is pending at Corinth, if
not now in progress. Eeports come to us that General A. Sidney Johnson, Breck-
euridge, Crittenden and otiier rebel generals are killed, and Beauregard wounded
in the arm ; that they retreated in good order to Corinth ; that they have been
reenforced and have advanced two miles on our forces; and that the two armies
are ready for action. I shall write you all the news I can get, with the names of
Ohio's killed and wounded.
The distance from the mouth of the Tennessee to Savannah is 200 miles;
Pittsburgh Landing is ten miles above. The river is much wider than the Cum-
berland— nearly half a mile wide. There are but few signs of civilization thus far;
once in a while a negro hut. The colored inhabitants appear to bo quite enthusi-
110 History of the City of Columbus.
astic, coming to the doors and shouting and showing their ivory as we pass. We
have just passed the railroad bridge of the Memphis & Ohio JIailroad, destroyed
by order of Commodore Foote after the surrender at Fort Henry. . . .
We have just arrived at Pittsburgh Landing, and I went immediately to
Doctor Hewitt, Medical Director, and told him that I had fifteen boxes of hospital
stores. He said the articles were just what were tieedeil, as they wei"e out of every-
thing except medicines; that I was the first that had arriveil irith supplies. He
allowed me to go to Ohio surgeons and have them make out their requisitions for
what they needed. The wounded are now being sent away from here and there-
fore no more articles will be needed here until another battle.
Steamer Glendale, April 20.
I iiave now been nearly two weeks upon the battlefield and vicinity, dis-
tributing hospital stores, sending the sick and wounded to the boats and assisting
in various ways. Early this beautiful morning I heard the shrill notes of the
Calliope. I waited for the approach of the boat, which had the hospital signal
flying, and among the first persons I noticed was the genial face of Doctor S. M.
Smith, of your city, and the commanding form of Lieutenant-Governor Stanton.
He soon called me to come down to the boat and he was the first one to jump
ashore and enquire at once for the Medical Director. We waded through the
mud nearly knee deep and found him just getting up. We at once made known
our business and the Doctor went to'work immediately to make preparations for
receiving the sick and wounded of the soldiers. In a little over one day the boat
is loaded and we are on our way home. I was glad to see friends from Columbus
once more. It seemed as if 1 had been about six months from home, having seen
so much and not having had a regular night's sleep.
We stop at Savannah and take on board about twenty Ohio and several Ken-
tucky soldiers who seem grateful enough that they are not left there to die.
Scattered all over the town, in every house for a mile and a half around, our
wounded have been placed. Of course there has been much neglect and suftering,
as no one could well attend to all. About thirty miles below we take on more
sick of the First Ohio Cavalry, stationed there to guard the river. Two boats
have been fired into, while going down the river, by the rebels, and two persons
killed. A number of the rebels were taken prisoners, and the little town near
the ferry burned. We have about 250 sick and wounded on board who are
divided off' into wards, having surgeons and nurses detailed for each ward.
It is surprising how one becomes interested in the men one is caring for.
The ward assigned to Doctor Eoby, of the Senate, Doctor Bowers, Eev. E. P.
Goodwin, Messrs. Bickett and McNeilly, of Columbus, and myself, is the largest
ward, consisting of forty men, nearly all sick. The men improve under their kind
treatment; they are so grateful, and their countenances brighten up wonderfully,
and they so improve every day that one is well paid for any little inconvenience
or selfdenial one may suffer to alleviate their condition. One poor fellow from
Marietta died last night. I understand he was married in September and
enlisted next day. In his pocket were found letters from his wife and a little book
in which he had written : " Philip Shaub. Given me by my Chaplain, B. W.
Chidlaw."
During the month of April a great many sick and wounded soldiers arrived
at Columbus on their way home from the front. Many of them were destitute of
money as well as disabled by sickness or wounds. The ladies of the city were
therefore appealed to for contributions of food, and for such attentions to these
men as would alleviate their distresses while waiting between trains. The
response to this appeal was prompt and generous.
II. In Wartime— 1802. HI
On April 25 the Oluo State Journal made the following exuberant remark
apropos to apparent niilitar}- success then recent: " It is evident that the end of
the rebellion draweth nigh." The same paper of May 25 thus imparted the news
of the evacuation of Yorktown before McClcllan's army:
They [the enemy] fled on Saturday night, destroying of their stores all they
could without revealing their flight; the remainder was loft for our occu])anc3-
and possession. Now on to Richmond ! will be no vain demand, tiik uEiiKi.LinN
IS SUPPRESSED, the CONFEDERACY IS ALREADY CRUMBLED.
These remarks doubtless reflected to some extent the popular feeling at that
time — a feeling which received very little further encouragement during the re-
maindel' of this disastrous year. The consummation so long and so devoutly
wished — a movement of the Army of the Potomac— had at least been realized, but
the movement ended only in repulse, and humiliating and disastrous withdrawal
from before Richmond. While McClellan was advancing n\) the James River
peninsula, Stonewall Jackson swooped down the Shenandoah, cleared the Valley-
of Virginia of Union troops, appeared before Harper's Ferry and meditated, it
was supposed, a quick raid on Washington. This brilliant exploit of Jackson's
caused a panic at the War Department and produced tremendous consternation
throughout the country. Ap))ealed to from Washington, Governor Tod issued a
hasty call — May 26 — for threemonths volunteers to defend the National Capital,
supposed to be in imminent peril. The popular response to this summons was
instantaneous. On the very next day citizens came pouring into Camp Chase,
and for several days thereafter they kept coming, until the volunteers thus offered
numbered about five thousand. From these the Eighty-fourth, -fifth, -sixth,
-seventh and eighth regiments were organized, the Eighty-fifth and Eighty-eighth
for service in the State.
On July 1 the President called for 300,000 additional volunteers, and on
August 4 ordered a draft of 300,000 men to serve nine months. In pursuance of
these calls, recruiting efforts were redoubled, and, " to secure greater economj-,
convenience and efiiciency " in raising the new threeyears regiments and in re-
plenishing those already in the field, the State was divided, by an order from the
Adjutant-General's oflice, into five military districts, of which the fifth comprised
the counties of Franklin, Licking, Madison, Champaign, Logan, Union, Delaware,
Marion, Morrow and Knox, with its rendezvous at Camp Chase. The disappoint-
ing issue of the peninsula campaign had in no wise diminished the patriotic ardor
of the people; on the contrary it stimulated them to surpass all their previous
records for patriotic and resolute action. " War meetings " to promote enlist-
ments and provide for the families of absent soldiers were held in all parts of the
State, and were both enthusiastic and nonpartisan. A meeting of this kind,
extraordinary in size and earnestness, was held July 15, at the West Front of the
Capitol, and was addressed by Governor Tod, who was also its chairman. Other
addresses were made by Hon. J. W. Andrews and Hon. Samuel Galloway.
Messrs. Lewis Hej'l, Louis Hoster, D. W. Deshler and Horace Wilson served the
meeting as vice presidents, and H. R. Beeson and H. C. Noble as secretaries.
J. R. Swan, F. C. Sessions, J. P. Bruck, Isaac Eberly, L, Yerington, F. C.
112 History of the Citv of Columbus.
Kelton and C. N. Okls reported, as tbey were appointed to do, a series of resolu-
tions, which were enthusiastically adopted, pledging a most cordial and unquestion-
ing response to the call of the country. Among the sentiments thus expi-essed
and ratified were the following :
As it has been ascertained on examination that an appropriation of funds bj'
our City Council, which was anticipated, cannot be legally made for want of
proper authority, and as such funds as may be needed must be raised by the
private liberality of our citizens ; therefore
Hesolved, that a committee of seven be appointed by the chairman of this
meeting to obtain subscriptions to a military fund which shall be paid to James
H. Riley, Treasurer of the County Military Committee, said fund to be applied
under the direction of said Military Committee, to aid iu rccuiting our quota of the
volunteers of Ohio under the late call of the President, and for the relief of
soldiers in the service; further, that the military committees of the several town-
ships in the county be and they are hereby requested to call meetings in their
respective townships and cause committees to be appointed to obtain subscriptions
to said county military fund.
The manner in which the appeal for subscriptions was responded to by the
meeting is thus recorded :
One says, " put me down for $1,000," and amid the cheers that rise to the very
stars he turns to his friend and remarks : " 1 have five chileren, and that is an
investment of S200 for each of them in our nation's safety fund!" His friend,
touched with the same emotion, says : " Put me down for a thousand," and amid
other cheers he replies to his neighbor : " I have no children, but there is a thous-
and as a loan to posterity!" and in this spirit that great mass meeting felt and
spoke and acttil. We have heard of but one man who, the next day, felt dissatisfied
with his subscription; him we saw yesterday with eager countenance anxiously
seeking the committee to correct the amount of his subscription. We saw him too
as he made his way to their books and as he seized a pen and with a dashing hand
wrote down a thousanil dolbos where before had stood but five hundred, saying also
to the committee : " Gentleman, if it becomes necessary, make it Jive thousand.''
That was the venerable and patriotic Doctor Goodale. . . . The sum of §500 had
been subscribed for him in bis absence by a friend the evening before. . . . We
understand that fully twentyfive thousand had been tendered up to last evening."
An additional war meeting was held in Columbus August 20. Among the
speakers of the occasion were Hon. William Allen and Hon. H. J. Jewett. The
attendance was large.
Activity in recuiting having relaxed somewhat during the latter part of July
and earlier part of August, the Franklin County Military Committee adopted the
following resolution :
That a bounty of twenty dollars be paid each recruit for the volunteer three
j'cars service, procured in this county, subsequent to July 1, 18(j2, provided no
bounty has been received ; said bounty to be paid on the certificate of the surgeon
of the regiment to which the recruit or recruits ai-e assigned ; or of the colonel of
the regiment provided the colonel has the certificate of the captain of the com-
pany to which the recruit or recruits are attached; such certificates showing in all
case's that said recruits have been enlisted since July 1, 1862, and that they liave
been examined, accepted and sworn into the service of the United States for three
years or during the war.
^^
II. In Wartime— 1862, li;',
By this and other moans taken bj- patriotic citizens, acting through tlieir com-
mittees, the full quota of volunteers assigned to Franklin County was furnished
without resort to the draft. The total of enlistments in the county, up to October
19, reached 3,476, of which 1,431 had been furnished by the City of Columbus. In
anticipation of the draft which the county so praiseworthily avoided, Henry
C. Noble was appointed a district provost marshal, and C. N. Olds was named as a
commissioner for the city and county to hear excuses and determine as to exemp-
tions from military service. The draft finally took jilace in the State at large on
October 1 ; the whole number of recruits obtained by it was 12,251.
The autumn of 1862 was distinguished by great events in the theatre of war,
and much anxiety and excitement throughout the North. Particulars of the great
battles of August 28, 29 and 30, between the armies of Generals Pope and Lee in
Virginia, and the withdrawal of Pope's forces within the defenses of Washington,
began to reach Columbus September 2, and caused a great deal of apjjrehension.
Just a fortnight later the telegraph brQught information of the military operations
in Maryland, resulting in the bloody battle of Antietam. As to the manner in
which the favorable account of the opening of that battle at South Mountain was
received we have the following record :
The cheering news yesterday morning [September 16] sent a glad thrill of joy
and feeling of victory through the blood of our citizens during the entire day.
The deadly roar of cannon had hardly died away over the victorious plains of
Middletown before our city trembled with the concussion of a full national salute.
Major Bliss brought out one of the new rifled sixpounders on the eastern capitol
lawn, the report of which soon brought the rejoicing citizens together from every
quarter. The shouts and huzzas for McClellan and victory formed an appropriate
chorus for the deafening notes of the cannon.'
During the first five days of September an advance of Kirby Smith's Con-
federate army northward through Kentucky with evident intent to attack Cincin-
nati, which had been left in a defenseless state, caused a tremendous sensation
throughout Ohio. At the call of the Governor, minutemen, uniquely named
Squirrel Hunters, rushed instantly to the defense of the imperilled metropolis, and
by their promptness and vim quickly thwarted the enemy's scheme of invasion.
The Ohio State Journal of September 6 thus referred to this outpouring:
The oldest inhabitant on the face of this wide planet, not even excepting the
Wandering Jew, has ever seen anything like the present pouring forth of brave
and patriotic men for the defense of their homes. . . . The word went forth that
Ohio was menaced, that her Queen City was threatened; and immediately from
farm and forge, from shop and study, from office and factory, there came forth a
swarm that no man could number and no rebel army withstand. They came with
their own tried and trusty guns. They stood not upon the order of their going,
but went at once. They clutched the rifle that hung upon the buckhorns in the
kitchen; they snatched up the venerable musket that had long stood neglected in
the corner, they seized the doublebarreled shotgun with which they sported for
small game, all bringing their own ammunition, and poured out en masse upon
the railroad lines, along which every station was crowded with eager patriots
begging to be carried forward towards the rebel invaders. Yesterday morning,
from Columbus north along the Cleveland road, more than a thousand men were
114 History of the City op Colttmbits.
loniul awailitiij; the arrival of trains to carry them on towards Kentiiekj. . . .
But the trains could not receive them. They were already crowded with other
sucl) and no more could be taken. As they pas.sed our depot the air was rent
with huzzas and spirit.stirring songs that went up from a thousand loyal hearts.
Tiie year closed with the battle at Fredericksburg, December 13, and that at
Stone River, December 31. The first, a blundering, wholesale, useless slaughter
of brave men and a climax of military ineomptcncy and disaster, marked the very
midnight of the war and produced general sadness and dejection. Of the impres-
sions it produced in Columbus we have this accouut :
Yesterday [December 14] might be termed a Sabbath of solicitude in the city.
On the way to church in the morning the people wore startled. by running news-
boys crying Journal Extra, "bloodiest battle of the war," " Fi'edericksburg in
flames," etc. All day excited groups were gathered on the corners and at the
public houses, discussing the events of the previous day and conjecturing of the
probable carnage of every hour. Newspaper men and telegrapli 0]>erator8 were
hailed from every quarter by anxious inquiry, "anything more from the Rappa-
hannock?" "What about Burnside?' "How is the battle by this time?' . . .
At evening our office was crowded with people nervous for news and who seemed
loth to hear that nothing would come over the wires until 10 P. si. To all we
come this morning with our bloody otTering.^
After this horrible human hecatomb had closed, at least for Virginia, the
year's dismal record, the humor and the j-earning of the American people were
aptly exjjressed in the contemporary lines of Edmund Clarence Stedman :
Back from the trebly crimson field
Terrible words are thunder tost,
Full of wrath that will not }'ield,
Full of revenge for battles lost 1
Hark to the echo as it crost
The capital, making faces wan :
" End this murderous holocaust ;
Abraham Lincoln, give us a Man !
"Give us a man of God's own mould,
Born to marshal his fellowraen ;
One whose fame is not bought and sold
At the stroke of a politician's pen ;
Give us the man, of thousands ten,
Fit to do as well as to plan ;
Give us a rallying cry, and then,
Abraham Lincoln, give us a Man !
" Hearts are sorrowing in the North
While the sister rivers seek the main.
Run with our lifeblood flowing forth —
Who shall gather it up again ?
Though we march to the battle plain
Firmly as when the strife began.
Shall our offering be in vain?
Abraham Lincoln, give us a Man !
II. In Wartime — 1SG2. 115
"Is there never, in all the land,
One on whose might the cause may lean ?
Are all the common men so grand.
And all the titled ones so mean ?
What if your failure may have been
In trying to make good bread of bran.
Of worthless metal a weapon keen ?
Abraham Lincoln fiyid us a Man !
" O, we'll follow him to the death,
Where the foeman's fiercest columns are !
O, we will use our latest breath
Cheering for every sacred star!
His to marslial us nigh and far,
Ours to battle as patriots can
When a Hero leads the Holy War !
Abraham Lincoln, give us a Man 1"
The man so longed for was destined to be found — but not yet !
The military movements to and from Ohio's capital during the year may be
briefly recorded.
The Twentyninth Ohio Infantry, organized in Ashtabula County, in 1861,
moved to Camp Chase in December of that year, and in the following January to
Cumberland, Maryland. The Sixtyseventh quitted Camp Chase for Eomney,
Virginia, January 20. The Sixtysixth, from Urbana, passed Columbus for the
same destination January 17. On January 25 the Eightysecond, from Kenton,
passed Columbus going eastward, bound for Grafton, Virginia. The Seventy-
second, from Fremont, arrived at Camp Chase January 24, and in February was
ordered to report to General Sherman, in Kentucky. The Sixtyeighth, organized
in Henry County, moved in January to Camp Chase, and thence set out for Fort
Donelson, Tennessee, February 7. The Fortysixth moved from Camp Lyon, near
Worthington, to Camp Chase, Pebruarj^ 11, and on the eighteenth of the same month
set out for Kentucky. Three companies of the Eighteenth United States Infantry
quitted Camp Thomas for the same destination February 17 ; on May 31 five more
companies of this regiment and one of the Sixteenth Regulars set out for Corinth.
On February 24 the Seveiityfourth arrived at Camp Chase from Xenia ; on April
20 it was ordered to Nashville, Tennessee. The Sixtyninth set out for the same
destination April 19; it had arrived at Camp Chase from Hamilton February 19.
The Fiftyseventh, which arrived at Camp Chase from Findlay, January 22, set
out for Kentucky February 18. The Fiftyeighth, a German regiment organized
at Camp Chase, embarked from Columbus for Tennessee February 10. Part of
the Fiftysecond arrived at Camp Chase April 21. The Sixtyfirst, organized at
Camp Chase April 23, left for Western Virginia May 27. The Eightyfourth left
Camp Chase June 11 for Washington. The Eightysixth, organized at Camp
Chase June 11, left for Clarksburg, Western Virginia, June 17. The Eighty
seventh was ordered from Camp Chase to Baltimore June 12. The Niuetyiifth
was mustered in at Camp Chase August 19, and on the next day was ordered to
Lexington, Kentucky. The Fortyfifth, organized at the same camp in August,
lie, History ok the City of CoijiMiirs.
<leparteil on the twentieth of that month for Cincinnati ami the Soulh. Thirty
deserters were forwarded to their regiments September 4. A dispatch sent from
Cincinnati by Governor Tod September 3 stated that Colonel McMillen was on iiis
way home with 600 men of this regiment who had been captured and paroled,
and that the remainder were killed, wounded or missing. A large delachment of
the regiment arrived September 6. Among thousands of troops which passed
Columbus September 5, bound for the front, was the Twentysecond Michigan
Infantry. The Eightysixth Ohio returned from Clarksburg September 18, and
went to Delaware to be mustered out. The Eighlj-fourth arrived for musteroul
September 17. It was ordered to Camp Delaware, as was also the Eighty.sevcnth,
which arrived September 23. The One Hundred Seventh, a German regiment
organized at Cleveland, passed through to Camp Delaware October 3. Five com-
panies of the One Hundred Fifteenth arrived at Camp Chase for guard duty Octo-
ber 10. The One Hundred Tenth, from Camp Piqua, passed through to Zanes-
viJle October 19. The One Hundred Twelfth left Columbus for camp at Mansfield
October 23. The One Hundred Thirteenth, from Camp Zanesville, passed through
to Camp Dennison December 15. The rendezvous of the Ninth Ohio Cavalry was
changed from Camp Zanesville to Camp Chase October 28. The One Hundred
Seventh, from Camp Delaware, paissed eastward for Washington October 30.
The first installment of Confederates captured at Fort Donelson arrived at
Camp Chase, February 26. Among them is said to have been a former member
of the City Council named T. V. Hyde. These prisoners were under ciiarge of
Lieutenant Colonel Stewart, of the Eighth Illinois Infantry, and were all ofHcens,
ninetyfive in number. Another installment of 104, also officei-s, was brought by
Captain Fessenden's Company of United States Infantry, February 27. On
March first 720 arrived, increasing the number in Camp Chase to 1,200. These,
too, were in larger part officers, and all from Fort Donelson. Their uniforms were
described as being of all styles and colors. A Mr. Trigg, appointed by Andrew
Johnson, Military Governor of Tennessee, to visit the captive Confederates in
Camp Chase, performed his mission March 31. On April 8, thirty Confederate
officers were sent from Columbus to Fort Warren. On the thirteenth of the same
month a special train brought 230 officers captured at Island Number 10. They
were Alabamians, Tennesseaiis and Mississippians. Since they had been in the
Confederate service — about five months — they had received no pay, not even
" shinplasters." A lieutenant of the Fortieth Ohio Infantry brought in a few
officers of Humphrey Marshall's " band of guerrillas " April 16. During the week
ended April 18, one hundred captives were received at Camp Chase and 190 wei-e
transferred from thence to Johnson's Island. Seventeen prisoners taken at Pitts-
burgh Landing arriving about the same time. Complaint was made of local
demonstrations of sympathy towards them. The freedom given to the paroled
Confederates in the city was also, at this time, a subject of severe criticism. Over
two hundred were transferred to Johnson's Island during the last week in April.
One hundred and seven captives sent by General 0. M. Mitchell from Huutsville,
Alabama, arrived at Camp Chase May 1. On May 4, thirtyfour arrived from the
Kanawha Valley, and on May 9, several alleged " guerrillas " were received from
II. In Wartime — 1862. 117
Wheeling. A captive Confederate named C. M. Swayne eiscaped from Camp
Chase, May 9. Twelve Confederate partisan.* called Moccasin Eangers arrived at
the camp May 19. About two hundred captured Tennesseans, including member.s
of John Morgan's cavalry, were brought in nearly at the same time. A petition
to the Secretary of "War to have the paroled Confederates at Columbus removed
from the city was in circulation May 22, and received many signatures. Loud
complaint was made of the offensive manners of some of these paroled prisoners
while lounging in the streets and hotels. The entertainment of a Confederate
officer at dinner b.y Philip E. Forney,* an officer of the United States Army,
resulted in considerable feeling owing to the fact that Forney's guest knocked
down an intoxicated soldier of tlic Sixtj-first Ohio who approached and annoyed
him while at table. Forty captives, including several sick and wounded, arrived
from Corinth, Mi.^^sissippi, May 27. On the same date eighty paroled Confederates
who had been sent to Johnson's Island, in Lake Erie, returned to Camp Chase.
An inspection of the prisoners in the camp June first led to the discovery that
many of them were secrctl_y armed with knives, pistols and other weapons. The
Ohio State Journal of July 23, announced further Confederate arrivals in these
terms :
Yesterday two squads of secesh prisoners were taken to Camp Chase. The
11:20 A. M. train from the east brought twenty bushwhacking guerrillas captured
in "Virginia. Several of them had been wounded and were compelled to use
crutches. A number were of the regular mountain bushwhacker stripe. The
crippled ones were taken out to camp in an omnibus but the others were "walked"
out.
The same paper of July 31 furnishes the following index of the editorial temper
of the time :
A small batch of Kentuckj- secesh — guerrillas, bushwhackei-s and sick cattle —
who took occasion from John Morgan's raid to assist the rebellion, were landed at
Camp Chase yesterday.
Such language may have found echo in the existing state of public feeling, but
the rebellion was not suppressed by epithets.
On September 3 twentyfive captives arrived from "Wheeling, and on the seven-
teenth of the same month twentytwo escaped from the Camp Chase prison. A
reward of $G00 was offered for the fugitives; part of them were retaken in Madi-
son County. On September 29 two carloads of Confederates were sent to John-
son's Island ; on the next day a detachment of twentythree arrived. Twenty
secessionist prisoners mentioned as being of "the straw hat and foxy shoeleathcr
description," were brought in October 18. Twentynine more, including several
officers, arrived from Virginia December 2; on December 8 one hundred and
thirty left for Cairo, Illinois, to be exchanged. A series of rules regulating the
enrollment, custody, sanitation, visitation and inspection of the prisoners at the
camp was issued by the Govornor March 2.
A detachment of 750 paroled "Union prisoners captured during General Pope's
campaign in Virginia arrived at Camp Chase September 11. Their c<mdition was
described as " wretched and squalid." According to assignment there sliould have
118 History of the City of Columbus.
been, it was stated, about five thousand of these prisoners in the camp at this time,
although the actual number was only about three thousand. The remainder were
miscellaneously scattered over the country. On September 19 General Lewis Wal-,
lace and staff arrived for the purpose of organizing these men into a corps, pre-
sumably for service against the Indians. General Wallace's headquarters were
established on State Street. He soon reduced to order the chaotic condition in
which he found the paroled men, and by September 30 had officered three reg-
iments of them which he assigned to a camp of their own northwest of Camp
Thomas. To this rendezvous, under the command of General James Cooper, was
given the name of Camp Lew Wallace.
An additional bodj^ of 117 paroled men arrived from Muiifordsville, Ken-
tucky, September 25. Among the captured at Munfordsville was a company of
the Eighteenth Eegulars, which returned about this time to Camp Thomas.
One hundred paroled men of the Seventyfirst Ohio arrived September 29. The
last of the paroled prisoners at Camp Chase were transferred to Camp Wallace
October 13. A few days after this Hon. Peter Hitchcock, who was commissioner
of political prisoners at Camp Chase, resigned the position, and was succeeded by
Hon. Samuel Galloway. General Lew Wallace was ordered to Tennessee from
his post at Columbus October 31. Incidental to an arrest in the city of a large
number of deserters from the paroled regiments during this month complaint was
made that the deserters were hauled to the guardhouse in wagons, while their
guards were obliged to trudge along on foot. The following incident at Camp
Wallace is recorded under date of November 3; Some men of the Ninety Bfth
Ohio having refused to go on duty they wei'e arrested and put in the guardhouse,
whereupon their comrades destroyed the guardhouse and released the captives.
To suppress this revolt the regulars were summoned from Camp Thomas, but
before their arrival the mob work was executed.' A court martial for investiga-
tion and punishment of this disturbance was ordered by General Wallace. The
Ohio State Journal of November 5 said: "Of 3,723 paroled prisoners in camp
here, 1,586 are gone — have deserted." On November 4 General Wallace left
Columbus to report to General Grant at Corinth. On the following day fifty
paroled men from regiments serving in Kentucky arrived. They were in a very
destitute condition. The paroled Union soldiers captured at Perryville, Ken-
tucky, and those disgracefully surrendered at Hartsville, Tennessee, arrived at
Camp Wallace about the middle of December. On the sixteenth of that month
245 paroled men were sent from the camp to rejoin their regiments in the South
and West. Towards the end of December Camp Wallace was discontinued, and
the paroled men remaining there were transferred to Camp Chase.
About the middle of March the command at Camp Chase devolved upon
Colonel Granville Moody, of the Seventyfourth Ohio. From the same regiment
Major Ballard was appointed to supervi.se the police of the camp, and Lieutenant
William Armstrong was detailed as Post Adjutant. Sergeant-Major Rogers, of
the Seventysixth Ohio, was appointed Sergeant-Major of the Post. Colonel
Moody continued in command until June 25, when he was relieved at his own
request and went to the field. His successor was Colonel C. W. B. Allison, of the
II. In Wartime— 1862. 119
Eightyfifth, who was, at a later date, succeeded by Major Peter Zinn, of the same
regiment. On December 26 Major Zinn resigned in order to resume his duties as
a member of the General Assembly from Hamilton County. In March the camp
was visited in behalf of the Tennessee prisoners by Doctor Hoyt, a prominent
physician of Nashville, who was duly authorized for the purpose by General
Halleck. Doctor Hoyt was permitted to be the custodian of about 250 letters
from the prisoners to their families. Early in April Major Jones, an officer of the
United States Army, was sent out to investigate certain charges as to malad-
ministration at the camp prison. Major Jones is reported to have declared that
he found the prison in as good condition, in all respects, as any of its kind in the
Union. Owing to the extensive arrivals of captives, orders for enlargement
of the prison were issued in February, and executed during that month and
March. The enlargement included sixtyfour huts, each to accommodate twentj'
men. and all enclosed by a close board fence fourteen feet high. The entire
enclosure was about 750 feet long and 300 feet wide.
A unique flagraising took place at the camp June 7. The pole for the tiag,
elevated in two sections, rose to a height of 150 feet. The ceremony was opened
with prayer by Bishop Bedell, after which the flag was drawn up by Hon. William
Dennison and addresses were delivered bj' Governor Tod, ex-Governor Dennison,
Colonel Moody, N. A. Gray and Samuel Galloway. Colonel Moody, in the course of
his remarks, proposed the following, which was ratified with enthusiastic shouts :
•' In the name of God,
And Governor Tod,
We'll follow our flag to Dixie."
All furloughod soldiers being ordered to rendezvous at the camp, large num-
bers of them began to arrive early in July. Their ingathering was thus chron-
icled :
After the arrival of nearly every train numbers of the poor fellows are seen
limping upon crutches and leaning upon canes for support, passing through our
streets. Many of these men, and more especially the privates, have been com-
pelled to borrow money to come here. . . . The camp is four miles from the city,
and many are unable to walk there, and there is no provision made to carry them
out.
In March it was rumored that there were over seventy negro slaves in Camp
Chase, brought there as servants to Confederate captives. The rumor was im-
mediately investigated by a special committee of the State Senate, and was in part
verified. The committee found in the prison department soventyfour negroes,
about fifty of whom were slaves, the remainder free. They had accompanied the
Confederate officers brought from Fort Donelson. The committee concluded its
report by recommending the adoption of a resolution severely condemning their
detention in the prison. Of an alarm in the camp we have the following
account under date of April 9 ;
120 History of the Citv op Columbus.
A scene occurred at Camp Chase at an early hour Sunday morning. ... A
sentinel on guard atone of the prisons discovered what he thought to be a rebel
attempting to make his escape and fired. The alarm spread to other sentinels
who also fired. This aroused the camp— the long roll was beaten and soon the air
resounded with the calls of the orderlies to "fall in," and the men responded with
commendable alacrity. . . . Thej- presented a rather ludicrous appearance as they
crawled out in every conceivable condition, some with coats on and some with
them off'; here one with one boot on, and there one without. They certainly beat
anything Falstaff' or Humphrey Marshall ever headed. . . . The alarm, however,
was soon over and no " Southern gentleman " was found outside of the prison. It
was found also that the sentinel, like Pat Flannigan, did not know what end of the
gun to shoot with, as the ball passed through the quarters of the Sixtyninth in
close proximity to the occupants of some of the bunks.
The camp was relieved of about eleven hundred prisoners sent South for ex-
change on August 26. Their destination was Vieksburg. In November there
were unoccupied tents and " shanties" enough in the camp to accommodate three
thousand men.
Among those who died on the field of honor, whose bodies were brought
home during the year was M. J. Gibbons, of Captain Lilley's company of the
Fortysixth, who was killed at Pittsburgh Landing. His remains arrived Maj-
17. The body of Lieutenant Joseph A. Stewart, also of the Fortysixth, who
died of an accidental patrol shot after the battle of Pittsburgh Landing, was
buried at Columbus May 25. Adjutant C. G. Heyl, of the Ninetyfifth was
buried from Trinity Church October 20. The remains of Colonel Julius P. Gar-
esche, killed at Stone Eiver while serving on the staff of General Eosecrans, passed
Columbus for Washington January 14, 1863.
For the Ladies' Aid Society, auxiliary to the JSTational Society at Washing-
ton, the year was a very busy and useful one. Its annual report, published in
November, contained the following passages :
The cuttingroom has been open every day during the year, and the commit-
tee appointed to cut and supervise have been present to give out work and receive
donations. Wednesday of each week was set apart for a general meeting in the
main room, to which ladies of all denominations were invited, and where with
sewing machines and concerted action, much has been accomplished and the inter-
ests of the Society kept before the public. This has been a very pleasant feature
of the Society, and in all times of particular need the room has been filled with
cheerful workers. . . . The different committees, which were systematically
organized here, harmoniously worked together. An Executive Committee of
competent ladies were appointed to superintend the general interests of the So-
ciety; the different subcommittees for purchasing goods, devising ways and
means, cutting, packing and hospital visiting, performing a part and acting
through the Executive Committee, to which all results are reported the third
Thursday of each month, at the regular business meeting of the Society.
We are glad to say we have never had a call upon our stores without being
able, if not entirely to fill the order, to do much towards it; or called upon our
citizens, no matter how repeatedly, without a liberal response both in money and
in donations, and although the work immediately connected with the Society has
been done by a few, there is scarcely a household, however humble, that has
not sent its offering or shown in some way their sympathy and cooperation.
II. In Wartime -1862. 121
We have bad thirtysix auxiliary societies connected with us who have sent us
in all 118 boxes ; these have been gratefully received and sent with our own trusty
agents, and while we sincerely thank them we ask for a continuance of tlieir good
works with us in tiie following year. We also extend the same greeting to the
patriotic ladies of Jackson and Franklin Townships, of Grove City, Washington
and Westerville, who have assisted us in making hospital garments. . . .
At the annual meeting held Wednesday, October 22, the following officers
were elected for the ensuing year: President, Mrs. W. E. Ido ; vice presidents,
Mrs. Peter Campbell, Miss Aldrich ; recording secretiiry. Miss Kate Meyers ; cor-
responding secretary, Mrs. George Heyl ; treasurer, Mrs. B. T. Morgan ; executive
committee, Mrs. Henry C. Noble, chairman, Mrs. George M. Parsons, Mrs. Lewis
Heyl, Mrs. Albert Buttles, Mrs. James Osborn, Mrs. Captain G. Smith, Mrs. Wil-
liam G. Ueshler, Mrs. Doctor Little, Mrs. Isaac Aston, Mrs. Kate Smith, Mrs.
Haver, Mrs. Beebe, Miss Louise Stone. .Mi--< Ciiarlotte Tod, Miss Lizzie Thompson,
Miss Belle Woods, Miss Effic Moodic Miss .(ulia Gill, Miss Phebe Brooks, Miss
Jennie Doolittle, Miss Mary Awl, MLss Jeunio .Vndrews, Miss Kate Kelley, Miss
Charlotte Chittenden, Miss Mary Doherty. Hospital committee, Mrs. Edmiston,
Mrs. Osborn, Mrs. Morgan, Mrs. Haver, Mrs. J. S. Hall, Mrs. Chauncey Olds.
Packing committee, Mrs. George Heyl, Miss Phebe Brooks. Marking committee.
Miss Mary Doherty, Miss Kate Kelley.'
Among the curious events of the year were the false reports which from time
to time agitated the public mind at Columbus and elsewhere. A few illustrations
of these may be given. A report that the city of Savannah had been taken by
the Union forces was given currency in February. On March 3 street rumors
were rife that General McClellan had been assassinated, that Baltimore had been
captured by the Confederates, and that General Banks had been (as a few weeks
later he actually was) driven out of Virginia. A report that Richmond was being
evacuated was in circulation May 25. The death of Stonewall Jackson was as-
serted for a positive fact in July. This news was even said to be "confirmed."
On August 2, it was stated with a great deal of confidence and ampliticatorj- com-
ment that General McDowell had been shot in Virginia by General Sigel.
Another curious phenomenon of the time was the extravagant newspaper
puffery and sustained clamor for the promotion of certain officers whose services
had never as yet brought them within even long range of the enemy. The desire
to promote those who were gallantly serving in the field by no means found any
such conspicuous and labored manifestation.
In the sphere of local military organization and government some events look
place which are worthy of mention. In April the home company of the Vedettes
organized themselves into a relief association, of which the object was declared to
be "to lend aid and assistance to those who have been or may now be members of
this company and other military organizations of this city," and " to pay due re-
spect and honor to the deceased who may have fallen on the battlefield." On
April 20 the company served as an escort to the remains of Lewis A. White, of the
Fortysixth Ohio, who had died at Pittsburgh Landing. In May and early June
the Vedettes performed temporary service in guarding prisoner.s at Camp Chase.
At the organization of the Eightyeighth Ohio Infimtry (threemonths) the home
Fenciblcs were assigned thereto as Company A. The Columbus Cadets who had
122 ■ History of the City of Columbus.
been performing guard duty at Camp Chase were discharged from that service
June 3.
In early September quite a number of prominent citizens habitually met for
evening military drill on the East Terrace of the Capitol. Apropos to this,
Messrs. A. B. Buttles, William A. Piatt, A. W. Ayres, C. P. L. Butler, William G.
Deshler, A. S. Glenn and Isaac Aston were named as a committee to secure rooms
suitable for the dailj- military instruction and exercise of " all persons who might
see fit to attend.''
By a War Department order of June 6, Captain Albert B. Dod, of the Fifteenth
United States Infantry, then a mustering officer at Columbus, was appointed mili-
tary commander of the city and vicinity and proceeded to organize a Provost
Guard for the capital, the strength of which, as reported in September, was 110
men. Occasional complaints were made of the conduct of indiscreet members of
this Guard, but on the whole its services were undoubtedly necessary and useful.
Among the duties required of it was that of compelling men in uniforms who were
strolling in the streets to show their passes and furloughs. Another service is
thus recorded under date of November 1 : "The Provost Guard is clearing the
streets of drunken and disorderly soldiers. There seems to be a constant supply
of straggling soldiers who live on the bread and water of the guardhouse and the
bad whiskey of our doggeries alternatelj'."'" It was certainly a good thing to have
they city cleared of such, and if the army could also have been cleared of them
the public service would not thereby have suffered.
In February, a large quantity of shells and roundshot, east at Cincinnati, was
received at the State Arsenal. These missiles were intended to be prepared for
use at the State Laboratory, of which we have the following account:"
No. 1, West Gay Street, is an interesting room. The Laboratory for the
manufacture of cartridges is located there. The number of hands employed in the
room is one hundred. Except the foreman, Mr. Howard, and his assistant, the
employes are all females. The average daily product of the establishment in con-
nection with the powderfiiling branch over the river is 100,000 cartridges. A day's
work for one of the hands is established at 900 rounds. This, however, is often
exceeded, some of the girls making the astonishing number of 2,000 in a single
daj-. For overwork they receive stipulated wages.
The preparation of the cartridge is simple, though somewhat interesting. The
balls are shipped from Cincinnati in boxes of sawdust. They are turned out into
a coarse sieve and separated for use. Several little girls at the huge heap are
employed in "setting " them. This consists in placing side by side a given num-
ber— about three dozen — on an iron plate something like a candlestick. This
plate is then dipped into a vessel of melted tallow for the purpose of lubricating.
These plates, when the tallow cools, are placed on long tables at which the regular
hands worked. A ball [bullet] is placed against the end of a round stick or rule
just equal to it in diameter. It is held there with the left hand while with the right
the paper wrappers are rolled around the ball and a portion of the rule. Next
the stick is removed, the pajjer that surrounded it is doubled down and tied with a
cord twice around. This is the difficult part of the work to do and witli speed.
Thus " bagged," and with one end open, the papers are set in boxes to be forwarded
to the next room for the charge of powder. The powder is rapidly filled into them
from chai'ges or measures. This done, a little folding of the outer bag completes
the Work save the packing in boxes for shipment.
II. In Wartime— 1S62. 123
Tbe average number of persons daily employed by tlie Laboratory during tlio
year was 15(J ; its total product for the twelve months consisted of 16,757,500
cartri(li,'es for small arms and 12,077 for artillery. On one of the Sundays in May
a requisition was matle on Quartermaster-General Wright foi- 900,000 musket
cartriiiges for Pittsburgh Landing, and before the day had expired tbe^- were on
their way to their destination. A call for a million rounds more for the same
destination was received next day (Monday), and by nine o'clock the same even-
ing the entire consignment was loaded for shipment. These two orders filled
fifteen freightcars. Ten thousand Enfield rifles for the new regiments were
received in June. A full battery of sixpounder brass field pieces was forwarded by
General Wright to General Cox in June. A large quantity of arms and ordnance
etoi-es for iufixntry and cavalry was shipped to Cincinnati in July. Further
extensive shipments of like character were made in August, on the thirteenth of
which 10,000 Austrian rifles were received for temporary use in the camps.
J. M. Connell and William Hayden are spoken of in this month as having made
some improvement in their new shell." A trial of this shell, in the presence
of manj- ladies and gentlemen, at a point about two miles from the city, is men-
tioned in December. On November 1 Bigelow Chapel, on Friend Street, was rented
b\' General Wright for use as an armory.
About the eighteenth of March a letter was received in Columbus, from Hon.
S. S. Cox, then representing the Twelfth District in Congress, refei'ring to a bill
which had been introduced in that bodj' appropriating half million dollars for the
establishment of a National Armory and Arsenal at the capital of Ohio. Mr. Cox
suggested that the people of Columbus show their interest in this matter by a
" demonstration," and accordingly a public meeting was held March 28. This
meeting choose Samuel Galloway as chairman, named A. B. Buttles as secretary,
and selected a committee on resolutions, a committee of ten to collect and an expense
fund, and an executive committee of five persons, namely : William Dennison,
J. R. Swan, B. F. Martin, W. E. Ide, and Matthias Martin. The following persons
were named as delegates to go to Washington to push the interests of Columbus:
William B. Hubbard, Samuel Galloway, William G. Deshler, William Denni-
son, Walstein Failing, John S. Hall, J. H. Geiger, and Peter Ambos. This
delegation was reinforced by A. B. Buttles, Horace Wilson, Luther Donaldson,
and C. P. L. Butler, representing the City Council. The bill to which Mr. Cox
had called attention had been introduced by Representative Baker, of New York,
and was intended to provide for the location of several armories and arsenals, one
of them at Columbus. On arriving in Washington the Columbus delegates found
that this bill had no particular support, whereupon they went before a select com-
mittee of the Senate on tiie location of armories and arsenals, and presented to that
committee the claims of their city. As a result of this elfort Senator Grimes,
of Iowa, chairman of the committee, introduced a bill which passed both houses,
providing fur the location of several arsenals, one of. them at Columbus.'- General
C. P. Buckingham was charged with the selection of sites for these arsenals, and
on October 9 invited offers of grounds for the one assigned to the capital of Ohio.
This resulted in the tender and acceptance of a tract of about eight}' acres belong-
to Eobert Neil. Announcement of this was made December 5.
History of the City of Columbus.
NOTES.
1. Letter to the Ohio State Journal of April 21, 1862.
2. Ohio State Journal, July 16, 1862.
3. Ohio State Journal, September 17, 1862.
4. 0/iio .S'ta(eJoMr7io/, December 1.5, 1862.
5. Son of John W. Forney, the famous Philadelphia editor.
6. Ohio Stale Journal, November 3, 1862.
7. Ohio State Journal, July 3.
8. Ohio State Joiirnal.
9. The following correspondence illustrates the Society's work :
" Post Hospital, June 23, 1862.
" Mks. Ide; I have asked Captain Kerr, our Post Quartermaster, to purchase for hos-
pital use material sufficient to make 150 sheets and 50 towels. Will the ladies of the Aid
Society be so kind as to put the said material into shape for use ?
" Yours trulVj
" L. C. Bkown,
'■ [Post Surgeon at Camp Chasel.
" We hope the ladies will respond willingly to this call and manifest the right spirit by
punctual attendance at the rooms today (Wednesday). Sewing machines are already
engaged, and will be on hand at an early hour.
" By order of the President,
" Mrs. W. E. Ide.
" Miss SuLLivAVT, Secretary.
" Columbus, June 23, 1862.
" Mrs. W. E. Ide, Madam: It is my duty again, through you, to thank the Ladies' Aid
Society for their very liberal donation of this date, consisting of twentynine bo.xes of hos-
pital supplies. These were sent this morning to Cumberland, Md., where they are greatly
needed, the hospital at that point since the late battle being very full. To the patriotic
ladies of Columbus I convey the gratitude of the suffering.
" Very respectfully yours,
" George B. Wright,
" Quartermaster-General of Ohio."
10. Ohio Slate Journal.
1). Ohio State Journal, November 24.
12. The bill thus provided :
1. That there shall be and hereby is established a national arsenal at Columbus in
the State of Ohio, at Indianapolis in the State of Indiana, and at Rock Island in the State
of Illinois, for the deposit and repair of arms and other munitions of war.
2. That for the purpose of carrying this act into effect the sum of one hundred
dollars for each arsenal named in the preceding section is hereby appropriated.
In this form the bill reached and was passed by the House July 8.
CHAPTER X.
III. IN WARTIME-1863.
The battle of Stone River was tlie first important military event of this j-ear.
Begun December 31 it closed with Bragg's retreat during the night of January 3.
In this obstinate struggle 1,730 men were killed and 7,802 were wounded. Many
of the Ohio regiments were engaged and shared largely in the losses. The condi-
tion of the wounded and sick on the field, exposed to the inclemencj' of mid-
winter, appealed strongly to the sympathies of the people and made renewed claims
upon the work of the aid societies of the State. Governor Tod immediate!}' sent
thirty nurses and surgeons to the battlefield, from which Mr. F. C. Sessions, who
again represented Columbus in this good work, wrote on January 12:
We have about 2,000 wounded here and in the vicinity, and all are well cared
for ; a better supply of hospital stores and medical supplies than there were either
at Fort Donelson, Shiloh oi- Antietam. The Government supplies were good, and
the United States Sanitary Commission, under the direction of Doctor J. S. New-
berry, Western Secretary at Louisville, had forwarded sixty or seventy tons of all
kinds of clothing, dried and canned fruit, concentrated beef, and chickens, etc ,
necessary for the comfort of the sick and wounded. Doctor Eeid, their inspector,
witii his assistants, was busy night and day, distributing articles to the surgeons
and hospitals, arranging and systematizing the operations, removing our wounded
from rebel hospitals, etc., etc. Eight wagonloads of supplies were sent on Monday
and seven on Wednesdaj' from Nashville, and a large amount distributed among
our 4,000 wounded in Nashville. It was an exceedingly gratifying sight to seethe
boxes of sanitary goods at the different hospitals with the imprint of "Soldier's Aid
Society, Cleveland ; " boxes marked with contents " From Soldier's Aid Society,
Columbus." Our soldiers think, as one said, they come from " God's country."
I told one of our men at the first hospital we stopped at that Governor Tod had
sent the Surgeon General and others to look after them and send them to Ohio, if
permitted. One replied, " God bless the Governor, and the man that uttered that
sentence."
In order to accommodate the increasing number of sick and wounded brought
to Columbus, Governor Tod rented the Ladies' Seminary building then known as
the Esther Institute, on Bast Broad Street, for hospital purposes.' The building
was furnished for the accommodation of 350 patients. The building was also used
as a place of confineuient for female prisoners of war. Of its arrangement
and use for this purpose we have the following account under date of
April 24 : '
[125]
12(i History of the City of Coldmhis.
(icncnil Mason [commanding at Columbus] has under his control the female
rebel prisoners at this post and the arrangement of the now hospital. The upper
story of the residence in front of the Hoyl Seminary [commonly socalled from the
name of its Principal, Lewis HcylJ has been fitted up for the females, ol whom
there are now five in number: Mrs. Samuels, of Nasbville, Tennessee, and two
daughters ; Miss BooUer and Miss Battles. The two latter occupy a separate room
furnished with two single beds, chairs, &c. They are permitted to write letters,
subject to inspection, to their friends, read papers and books, walk in the open air
under guard, and enjoy more than the ordinary comforts of prison life. These
j'oung belles persist that the southern army contains braver boj's than the north-
ern, and that there is no danger of their long imprisonment, for, say they, Morgan
will be in Columbus belbre two years. They are directly under the charge of Mrs.
Powers, who, though firm in her governmient, exercises every possible kindness to
them. The hospital into which the main building is being converted is under the
supervision of Major Stanton. New bedsteds (iron) and beds are furnished. A
patrol of soldiers guard the premises night and day in consequence of the location
of the prison. It will be ready for occupancy in a few days.
Medary's Crisis newspaper was mobbed by soldiers March 5. An account of
this affair has been given in the history of The Press. General Irvin McDowell,
accompanied by Mrs. McDowell and staff officers, was entertained during the
evening of March 11 at the residence of Governor Dennison. The company was
large and included numerous prominent persons. On March 31 the death of
General James Cooper, who had been in command at Columbus, was announced.
He was a prominent Pennsylvania politician, and had studied law with Thaddeus
Stevens at Gettysburg.
On March 30, while General Burnside's Army Corps was passing west, by
rail, through Columbus, some of the men, occupying three long trains which halted
briefly at the station, quitted the cars and undertook to pass up town, but were
turned back by the local provost guard which had been stationed there to prevent
straggling. Enraged bj' this, and being, it is said, somewhat intoxicated, the men
who were repelled assailed the guard, first with verbal abuse but finally with
sticks and stones. The guard was reinforced and had the advantage of being
armed while the soldiers were not, but the latter were quickly joined by several
hundreds of their comrades from the trains, and their number being thus made
far greater than that of the guard, they made a rush upon the opposing line de-
termined to break through it. Thereupon, says a contemporary account, the
guard opened fire, but discharged its pieces mostly over the heads of its as-
sailants.
Sergeant Clough, however, cooler than the others, drew his revolver and or-
dered the soldiers to fall back. They paid no heed to the order, but were rushing
upon him when he fired three successive shots and every shot brought its man.
Others of the guard now began to apply the bayonet and one of the soldiers re-
ceived a severe thrust. Intimidated by the firmness of Sergeant Clough, who
stood there like a hero, with determination stamped on every line of his counte-
nance, the soldiers halted in their mad career. At this moment orders came from
Captain Skiles, commanding the guard, to cease firing. At the same time officers
began to arrive from the depot and ordered the soldiers to the cars, which were
then, at the suggestion of Captain Skiles, about to start from the depot. The sol-
diers, seeing that matters were becoming decidedly serious for them, soon after
III. In Wartime— 18r,3. 127
returned to the cars, and were immcdiatelj' carried off by tlic moving train. One
of the soldiers was taken iiji as ilcad. Two others remained, severely wounded.
They were sent t" llic Im-pital and everything was done for them that possihlj'
could be. Two of thuni are mortally wounded ; the third will probabl3' recover.
The whole matter was a sudden and impulsive outbreak, incited by bad liquor, with
which the soldiers had been supplied from some source unknown to the officers
who did all that was possible to quell the disturbance which occurred so suddenly
that no means could have been taken to prevent it.'
The following incident is recorded as having taken place in the Chamber of
the Ohio Senate April 11 :
Sergeant Elisha Mason, of Com]iany A, Twentyfirst O. V. I., who is one of
the immortal twentytwo [Andrews raiders] that about a year ago stole a locomo-
tive from a rebel train in Georgia and ran it at a fearful speed for one hundred
miles with the intention of destroying and cutting certain communications, was
jiresented to the Senate bj' Governor Tod. This honor was conferred upon him
because he is one of the few privates in the volunteer army who has [sic] been
presented by the War Department with a gold medal in consideration of his dar-
ing and meritorious services and recommended for promotion. After a statement
of the circumstances, including the fact that he had been a prisoner for eleven
months and had suffered untold hardships, the Governor in the presence of the
Senate, who had risen to their feet to receive the soldier, presented him with a
lieutenant's commission, a promotion made upon the recommendation of the Sec-
retary of War. The performance was applauded by the Senators, and Pi-esident
Stanton made a neat responsive speech. It was twelve o'clock, and the Senate
adjourned to take the lucky soldier by the hand.^
On May 22, a number of the " Squirrel Hunters" who had participated in the
defense of Cincinnati were presented witli their certificates of discharge in the
presence of several hundred people at the West Front of the Capitol. Speeches
were made by Adjutant-General Hill, Colonels Wilcox and Parrott and Hon.
Samuel Galloway.
On May 23, Joseph D. Price was arrested on a charge of illicit possession of a
large amount of Government clothing, concealed in a building on Oak Street. Ho
was imjirisoned at Camp Chase. A groggery keeper named Thompson was
implicated with Price.
At ten A. M., July 4, the following bulletin was issued from Washington :
The President announces to the country that the news from the Army of the
Potomac to ten p. m., of 'the third, is such as to cover the army with the highest
honors and promise a great success to the cause of the Union, and to claim the
condolence of all the many gallant fallen; and that for this he especially desires
on this day that He whose will, not ours, should ever be done, should be every-
where remembered and reverenced with the profoundest gratitude.
Such was the first official announcement of JSIational success in the greatest
and the turning battle of the war — the battle of Gettysburg. " For about four
days past," said the Ohio State Journal of Monday, July 6, " we have been receiv-
ing news from the scene of battle in Pennsylvania, that, while it encouraged
hope, nevertheless filled the mind with anxiety, but the dread uncertainty which
hung about the final issue has at length given place to the assurance that a
12S History of the City of Colitmbus.
splendid victory has been achieved." Tiic same paper of Julj^ 8, had this further
annoucement to make :
While yet in the midst of rejoicing and congratulations over the achievements
of the army of the Potomac under Meade on the Fourth of July, we are now
thrilled with new joy over the success that crowned the efforts of the Army of the
Mississippi under Grant, on the same hallowed day. Vicksburg was on that thrice
glorious day surrendered to the Union army, and the bright and brave old flag
of the Union was on that day once more unfurled over the conquered ramparts of
that rebel city. No wonder that this news, coming up to the ear of the people while
still glorying in the success of our arms on the Potomac, should create the wildest
enthusiasm which found manifestations in the most extravagant demonstrations
of joy. The moment that the magic words Vicksburg siirrendered met the eye of
the multitude which crowded around the Journcd's bulletin board, there went up
such a shout — three wild huzzas and " tiiree more for Grant," as never issued
from unloyal lungs. Old men wearing the silver crown of honor that time weaves
for age threw up their hats and led in the wild chorus of shouts that made the
midday welkin ring. Neighbor grasped the hand of neighbor while the triumph
of the moment beamed fourth from every face and ligiited up every eye.
In the evening a great bonfire was built at the corner of Town and Third
streets, over which an effigy of Jefferson Davis was suspended from a gallows.
In various other places in the citj' Confederate effigies were burned. The scenes
of popular joy and enthusiasm, both day and evening, were unprecedented in
Columbus.
During the closing hours of its session in the spring of this year, the General
Assembly passed a long and complicated law to organize and discipline the State
militia. This law, says Eeid, was "the basis of the organization that afterward
enabled Governor Brough, at scarcely two days notice, to throw to the front at
the critical hour of the eastern campaign the magnificent reinforcement of forty
thousand Ohio National Guards." While the Adjutant-General was addressing
public meetings in explanation of this statute and otherwise endeavoring to bring
about the organization it provided for, an event happened which soon became a
powerful auxilliary to his efforts. That event was the unexpected and daring raid
of General John Morgan's cavalry through Indiana and Ohio. Having made his
way through Burnside's lines in Kentucky, Morgan i-eiichcd and crossed the Ohio
Eiver sixty miles below Louisville July 9. He had with him 2,460 men. Having
made a quick and brilliant dash through Southern Indiana and produced, as he
intended, a wild state of consternation and confusion among the inhabitants
thereof, he struck the Ohio border on Sunday, July 12. On the same day
Governor Tod issued a proclamation calling out the militia to repel the invasion.
Part of the force thus summoned was directed to report to General Burnside at
Cincinnati, other portions were ordered to assemble at Marietta and Camp
Denuison. As the Governor was apprehensive that the capital of the State would
be attacked and the State Treasury pillaged, he directed the militia of Franklin,
Madison, Clark, Greene, Pickaway and Fairfield counties to report immediately
to Brigadier-General John S. Mason at Camp Chase, there to be organized and
officered. In pursuance of this call nearly fifty thousand militia took the field,
but not half of them ever "got within threescore miles of Morgan,'" The bold
^i^^s^^-t^^ -y^^^'(y~z^i!^^^c--c^
111. In Wartime— IStiS. 129
raider's principal purpose was to produce a big scare, and in that he succeeded.
Completely bewildering everybody as to his real intentions, and generally also as
to the direction of his march, he crept around the suburbs of Cincinnati in the
night, and on the morning of July 14 halted and quietly fed his horses within
sight of Camp Dennison. The commotion produced by these movements was
tremendous. Ecid thus describes it:
Thrifty farmers drove off their horses and cattle U> the woods. Thrifty house-
wives buried their silver spoons. At least one terrifiod matron, in a pleasant
inland town forty miles from the rebel route, in her husband's absence resolved
to protect the family carriagehorse at all hazards, and knowing no safer plan led
him into the house and stabled him in the parlor, locking and bolting the doors
and windows, whence the ihmso of his dismal trami)iiig on the resounding floor
sounded, through the livelong niglil like distuiil peals of artillery and kept half
the citizens awake and watching for Morgan's entrance.
Meanwhile the militia were hastily mustering, and crowded railway trains
were bearing them to their places of rendezvous Camp Chase suddenly became
once more a scene of activity and excitement. But Morgan came nowhere near.
Taking his way through Washington Courthouse, Piketon, Jackson, Berlin,
Pomeroy and Chester he made for, and, on the evening of July 18, reached the
Ohio River ford at Buffington Island. There he was overtaken by J udah and
Ilobson, failed to cross the river as he intended, and after a tight ilrew off with
1,200 of his men, the remainder having been captured. Twenty miles farther up
the river Morgan again essayed to cross, and actually got 300 of his men over
when he was intercepted by gunboats on the Ohio and with the remaining 900 of
his band resumed his flight northward through the eastern portion of the State.
He was finally ridden down and captured near Salineville, Columbiana County,
July 26. When he perceived that he was surrounded, and his escape hopeless, he
surrendered to a militia captain named Burbeck whom he was at the time using
as a guide, and from whom he exacted a promise that his officers and men should
be paroled. These terms were rejected by Governor Tod, and the Confederate
chieftain and his principal subordinates were consigned to the Ohio Penitentiary,
their subsequent escape from which, on November 27, will be described in the
history of that institution.'
General Morgan, accompanied by many of his staff officers and subordinates,
all under guard, arrived at Columbus by rail from Steubenville on the afternoon
of July 27. Their presence at the railway station attracted a great crowd which
lingered until the train bearing the party departed for Cincinnati. The Confed-
erates were in the custody of General Shackelford, and were visited at the train
by Governor Tod and various military officers. After investigation of the ques-
tion of parole they were brought back to Columbus and imprisoned, as above
stated.
On August 4 a flag bearing the names of Vallandigham and Pugh was torn
down by soldiers from the place where it was suspended over the grocery of A.
Neiswander. Another soldier who expressed approval of the act was beaten by
Neiswander's friends who afterwards paraded the streets and serenaded their po-
130 History of the City of CoijTMntTs.
litical favorites. A now flag was presented to Neiswandcr, bearing the same legend
as the one which had been removed from his premises, and two soldicis eduvitted
of tearing down the first one were each fined twenty dollars and cosis.
Particulars of the Cliickamaiiga battle began to be jMiblislieil in ('oluinlms
September 21. News that Captain J. M. Weils, formerly- with IlaiHlall .V Aston,
had fallen in the fight was received September 24. 'Phr lunrral i>\' ("uiilain Wells
took place from Wesley Chapel .Xovnil.ci- 1. Kxlrndcl lists of the killed and
wounded of the battle were publisl]<M| during Ihc first days of ()c|..licr. In the
course of the same month, B. D. Brown was uoniniissioniMl by (l^viTnor Tod to
remove the Ohio dead at Gettysburg to grounds purchased by the Stale for their
interment on that field. The excavation for the United States Arsenal building
was begun during this month.
The removal of General Roseei-ans fnmi command of the Army of the Cum-
berland excited much unfavorable comment. The Ohio State Jininml saiil :
" When a few more such earnest, bravchearted men as Butler and Fieniont and
Curtis and Rosecrans, who have won many victories and never lost a battle shall
have been put out of Halleck's way in order that his mediocrity may seem self-
luminoua, then it maybe that the people will be provoked into an investigation
into his claims to infallibility." The paper goes on to observe that the President's
mind seems to have been jioisoned against Rosecrans, an observation which sub-
sequent revelations have gone far to justify.'
A courtmartial for the trial of F. W. Hurtt, Quartermaster, on charges of em
bezzlement and misapplication of public funds and property, convened in Cincin-
nati about the Ist of December, but was dissolved by order of the War Depart-
ment and the case transferred to Washington. Reference to this trial and a
statement of its results have been made in the history of the Press.
On July 1, Brigadier-General A. J. Slemmer, of the New York Volunteers,
and Major Roger Jones, Inspector-General of the United States Armj', visited
Columbus as commissioners to investigate as to the condition of convalescent com-
missioned officers required to report there in pursuance of general orders. A
commission to examine and audit old and irregular military claims closed its
labors December 15. It was created by the General Assembl_y and comprised the
Auditor of State, Oviatt Cole; the Quartermaster-General, George B. Wright;
and the State Treasurer, G. V. Dorsey. A general courtmartial of which Captain
Charles B. Goddard was Judge-Advocate, was summoned to meet at Columbus
January 4, 1864.
An event which indicated a new departure in the conduct of the war was
thus recorded under date of June 19.
Yesterday afternoon a company of colored recruits marched through our
streets to the music of the drum and fife. In the afternoon they assembled on the
Elastern Terrace of the C'lpitol to the number of sixtyfive, formed in line and
dispatched their recruiting officer to His Excellency, the Governor, with a request
that he address them. The Governor complied and was received with much
enthusiasm. In his speech he gave them some good advice and said that he had
no doubt from present indications that in twenty days a full regiment of colored
troops would be reported at headquarters, On yesterday the Governor received
III. In Wartuie — 1X63. 131
twelve or thirteen personal applications fi-oni enthusia.itic niiliUiry gentjcnioii for
the colonelcy of the colored regiment.
This regiment was ordered to rendezvous at Delaware and to bo enlisted for
throe years or during the war. David Jenkins was appointed its general recruit-
ing agent. Its ranks filled up slowly until G. W. Sliurtliflf, of Oberlin, a captain
in the Seventh Ohio, was appointed its Lieutenant-Colonel. Contemporary with
this appointment the name of the organization was changed from that of One
Hundred Twentyseventh Ohio Infantry to Kifth United States Colored Troops.
Eecruiting then progressed actively, and in November the regiment, tlien contain-
ing nine full companies, was ordered to Norfolk, Virginia. It afterwards formed
a part of the colored division of the Eighteenth Army Corps.
Impelled by the northward movement of General Lee's army, and its attack
on Winchester, the President, on June 14, issued a proclamation calling into active
service one hundred thousand militia to be mustered into service at once and to
serve for the period of six months unless sooner discharged. Ohio's quota under
this call was thirty thousand; that of Franklin County about 750. Appeals were
made by General Burnside and Governor Tod for a prompt response to this call,
and on June 29 a "war meeting" was held on the Bast Terrace of the Capitol.
This meeting was conducted by Doctor William M. Awl as chairman, and was
addressed by Governor Tod, who stated that he had oificial information from dif-
ferent sources which led him to believe that the State was in danger of invasion
from two directions within the ensuing ten days. Hon. Honry C. Noble also
addressed the meeting and a committee to take such action as might bo deeraed — -7^
necessary was appointed as follows: Donald Frazer, Albert^uttles, JobnUjams,^^^.
H. Lindenberg, James O'Kane, Lucion Buttles, H. J. Winey, J. B. St, Clair and
Daniel Miner. Ward committees for the city were also appointed. An adjourned
meeting was held Juno 30 and still another large and enthusiastic one July 2.
At this latter meeting, of which M. Halm was chairman, a finance committee
which had been appointed at the meeting of June 30 reported through B. F.
Martin recommending: That the proper way to raise suflScient funds to put the
requisite number of sixmonths volunteers into the field from Franklin County was
to levy a county tax and thereby equalize the burden ; that since this tax could
not be levied until authorized by the General Assembly, interestbearing scrip to
the amount of $67,500 should be issued by the County Commissioners; that the
meeting recommend to the Commissioners the issue of this scrip at such rate of
interest as they would deem proper, depending on the patriotism of the General
Assembly to legalize their action; and that, in addition to the Government bounty
and pay there should be paid to each man who should respond to the sixmonths
call a bounty often dollars besides a monthly stipend of ton dollars to his family
during the term of his enlistment. This report was signed by L. J. Critchfield,
William G. Deshler, H. E. Beeson, Isaac Eberly, C. Bartb, John Van Yorx, B. F.
Martin, John Noble and W. B. Hubbard. A committee to confer with the County
Commissioners was appointed as follows: Joseph R. Swan, Allen G. Thurman,
George M. Parsons, Abram Sharp, J. P. Bruck, John L. Gill, David Taylor and
132 History or the City of Columbus.
VV. H. Grinnell. The meeting was acklressecl bj' Governor Tod, Ex -Governor Dcn-
nison and Mr. Ijam.s. Under the sixmonths call only two infantry regiments were
organized. These were the Eighty.sixth — reorganized as succes.sor to tiie ihrce-
montiis regiment of that number — and the One Hundred TweiUyninlh. Botli
were mustered out at the expiration of their term of service.
On October 17 the President called for 300,000 more volunteers, and under
this call a quota of 29,352 was aissigned to Ohio. The quota of Fianklin County
was seven hundred. In an appeal of November 7 to the military eoinmitteci
Governor Tod stated that all the recruits to be raised were intended tor regiments
already in the field and that no new organizations would be atteni])ted. " Gallant
and brave men," he said, " who have already earned their commissions are to be
sent home to receive from me the promotions upon condition that they raise a
given number of recruits."
The Ohio State Journal of February 14 contained this choice bit of satire :
The boys of the Eighteenth Regulars at Camp Thomas have in many instan-
ces been furnished with new board tents. We would suggest that the Governor
put up brick or stone structures that will last a long time, and \a.y out a cemeter}-.
for those soldiers will doubtless die of old age before they are ordered to the field.
Within a very few days after this appeared orders were received directing
the officer commanding the regulars at Camp Thomas to take them to the front.
Among the notable movements of troops past Columbus during the year was
that of Burnside's Corps transferred from the East to Kentucky, in March.
Reference to this movement, in connection with a street collision which took
place between some of Burnside's men and the provost guard of the city, has
already been made. An appeal to the ladies of the city to provide refreshments
for these troops during their momentary sojourn at the railway station in transit
was vei-y liberally responded to and elicited grateful acknowledgments.
On July 16 the Eightysixth, a sixmonths regiment, arrived from Cleveland
and encamped in Goodule Park. From thence it moved on July 22 to Zanesville,
to assist in intercepting John Morgan. Returning after the raid, it encamped at
the Stone Quarry, from whence it departed August 9 for Kentucky. The Eighty-
eighth, which had been guarding prisoners in Camp Chase, was relieved in that
service by a detachment of the Invalid Corps, Colonel Johnson, and dejJarted
October 22 for Cincinnati. The regiment returned to its much disliked service at
Camp Chase December 20. On October 26 a company of two hundi'ed carpenters,
blacksmiths and bridgebuilders j^assed through en route to the Army of the
Cumberland. The movement of the Eleventh and Twelfth army corps, under
General Hooker, from the Army of the Potomac to the Army of the Cumberland,
took place in September and October. A large part of these forces pa.ssed
Columbus in their long journey, but the fact was not chronicled in the city
papers, probahlj- for military reasons. The same discretion probably prevented
other local movements of forces from being mentioned. The Sixtysixth Ohio
Infantry, Lieutenant-Colonel Powell, arrived December 26 on " veteran furlough,''
having reenlisted for three years. This was the first of the veteran regiments to
return on leave.
III. In Wautime— 1S(J3. 133
Early in July we read of an adjourned meeting of citizens exempt from
military service to volunteer to guard the prisoners in Camp Chase temporarily.
Doctor William E. ide was chairman and S. Taylor secretary. A committee was
appointed to wait on the Governor and was informed that the guai-ds would be
needed as soon as they could be recruited. In the same coDnection we read that
on July 3 an infantry company enrolled by Cornelius C. White and Addison
Moore met at the City Hall to organize. On July 6 Captain John F. Ijiims's com-
pany of the Fifth Independent Cavalry Battalion was sworn into service for six
months. Tliis company was composed chiefly of residents of Columbus. Its First
Lieutenant was ilichael Halm, its Second Lietitenant J. W. Cox. Captain Ijams was
authorized to enlist 300 more men for the battalion, and on August 2 a fourth
company was organized. Its oflScers were: Captain, James ,B. Rusk; First
Lieutenant, John Nelson; Second Lieutenant, Thomas Roberts. On September
8 the battalion was ordered to report to General Cox at Cincinnati, from whence
it was sent into Eastern Kentucky.
A com])any calling itself the "Silver Grays," composed of citizens exempt
from military service on account of age, was organized July 5; Captain, J. E. St.
Clair; First liieiUenant, S. Taylor ; Second Lieutenant, JSJ. Upton. This com-
pany volunteered to do guard duty at Camp Chase, as above narrated.
From the trustees of the ditferent wards in the city notices were given
requiring all persons between the ages of IS and 45, eligible for military service,
to meet at places designated July 4 and elect one captain and two lieutenants for
each military district. Accordingly Company B, of the Third Regiment of Ohio
Militia met at the City Hall and elected : Captain, C. C. White ; First Lieuten-
ant, Addison Moore; Second Lieutenant, Charles H. Parsons. On August 5 a
meeting was held at the same place by the companies of the regiment, all recruited
in Franklin County, to elect field officers. The companies were: A, Captain
William B. Hayden, Columbus ; B, Captain Cornelius C. White, ditto; C, Captain
Joseph M. Clark, Mifflin; D, Captain Job Wilson, Plain; E, Captain Joseph
Steely, Clinton ; F, Captain G. S. Innis, Montgomery; G, Captain William Ewing.
Washington; H, Captain Hiram C. Tipton, Pleasant; I, Captain Lawrence C.
Meaeham, Blendon ; K, ('aptain O. Sells, Orange and Washington. The field
officers chosen were: Colonel, William B. Hayden; Lieutenant-Colonel, G. S.
Innis; Major, Joseph M. Clark. On October 24 a third regiment of Franklin
County Militia elected: Colonel, A. O. Mitchell; Lieutenant-Colonel, Samuel
Thompson; Major, H. J. Rushmer.
In November, 1862, H. M. Neil, George W. Taylor and A. B. Alger were
authorized to recruit the Twenty-second Ohio Battery, and by April 1, 1863, men
enough had been obtained to man two of its guns. This section found emiilo}'-
ment in the enforcement of the draft in Holmes County, and in the movements to
intercept John Morgan. The battery was wellnigh filled up in July and on
August 4 changed its quarters from Camp Chase to Camp Thomas. From thence,
on August 12, it departed for active service in Kentucky.
During the greater part of the year the commandant at the post of Columbus,
including Camj) Chase, was Brigadier-General John S. Mason, Captain Edwin L.
134 History of the City of Columbus.
Webber, of the Governor's Guard (Eightyeighth Ohio Infantry), was for a tiino
commander at the camp. He succeeded Major Zinn in April. D. W. Tolford was
assigned to the camp as its Chaplain, and in Julj- T. W. Tallmadge was named as
its Commissarj'.
Under the date of August 30 we find the following statement : " At the
instance of Colonel Netf, the new commander of Camp Chase, J. T. Carpenter, of
Cincinnati, Medical Director of Oiiio, Doctor David Stanton, Post Surgeon, and
other prominent otfieers, made an examination of that camp with a view to
removal nearer the railroad and rivei". They unanimously reported in favor of
removal and forwarded their views to Washington."
Camp Tod, named in honor of the Governor, was located about August 1 in
the vicinity of the old State Quarry, three miles from thccitj-. It was for a time
occupied by the Eightysixth Ohio, a sixmonths' regiment. Still another rendez-
vous, comprising frame buildings and a drill ground on the east side of North
High Street, a short distance north of the railway station, was given the name of
Tod Barracks. The grounds had a frontage of 316 feet on High Street, with a
depth of 750 feet, and were surrounded by a board fence twelve feet in height.
The buildings comprised, besides six lodginghouses, a guardhouse, a dininghall
32x190 feet, officers' quarters and a kitchen. The paradeground measured 262x425
feet. Construction of the buildings was begun October 20 and completed in time
for their occupation about December 1, The place was intended as a rendezvous
for recruits and sick and wounded soldiers, and for the temporary custody of
deserters. It was placed under command of Captain J. W. Skiles, Provost Mar-
shal of the post, who removed his guard and headquarters thither early in Decem-
ber. Captain Skiles had been in command of the general guardhouse and provost
headquarters known as the City Barracks since early in the year, and had
redeemed it from a condition of extreme filthiness to one of tolerable decency.
On March 23 an order was issued by Major-General Wright, commanding at
Columbus, requii-ing that all officers found in the city without leave from compe-
tent authority should be arrested and sent to their regiments. Another order
from the same source forbade the sale of arms or ammunition to any person within
the city or vicinity without permission from the commandant. The sale of citi-
zens' clothing to soldiers was stringently forbidden by orders issued in April.
All sojourning officers were required to report to Provost Marshal Skiles, register
their names and exhibit their documentary authority for being in the city.
Officers and soldiers found on the streets without proper permit were arrested by
the patrol. In this way the city was cleared of loungers, disturbances were pre-
vented and military shirks and malingerers, those who wore shoulderslraps as well
as those who did not, were obliged to rejoin their commands.
Desertion became during this year an enormous evil and required summary-
treatment. In March an authentic statement was made that the deserters from
thirtythree Ohio regiments then in the field numbered five thousand. Under the
caption "Seven Hundred Deserters from Camp Chase" the Ohio State Journal of
January 14 contained the following:
III. In Wartime— 1S()3. 135
On Monday General Cooper issued an order to Captain Burr to I'luiiisli truns-
portation for 1,200 cxciiangod prisoners from Columbus to Naslivillr. '^v!llu■^■^^•(.■.
Accordingly the Captain made arrangements with Mr. J. W. i»iilnit\. ni' tlio
Little Miami Eailroad, to furnish the requisite cars and telcgraiilnil \<< (':i]it:iin
Diekerson, at Cincinnati, to see that steamboats were employed to tiaii>|i(irt them
down the river. On Tuesdaj' (yesterday) afternoon Captain Burr was inrnnncd
that there were no more than 600 men who could be mustered, and iho number
constantly diminishing. Somewhat amused at the rapid reduction of numbers,
we visited the depot in the evening to see how many Colonel Tafel could muster
and found him in command of just about three hundred men ! The authorities
were unwilling to forward a special train for so small a force, so they were
detained till 10 o'clock this morning, when they were attached to the regular
passenger train. This atiair develops the fact that at least 700 soldiers (?) of the
One Hundred Fourth Illinois and the One Hundred Sixth and One Hundred
Eighth Ohio have deserted between the time of issuing the order on Monday and
the departure of tiie train this morning. To add to the disgrace and ridiculousness
of the call to the field is the great dissappointment caused to the railroad and
steamboat companies who, if they are disjjosed, can hold the government to account
for costs. Who sa^s shame ?
It would be interesting to know how many of these alleged soldiers who for-
sook the flag of their country in the time of its sorest need are now drawing pen-
sions for disabilities incurred after the war.
In May we read :
Large numbers of deserters are now being captured and forwarded from this
point to their respective places; the trade averages no less than fifteen per day
from Columbus.'
Cajjtain Skiles yesterday [May 28] started seventeen deserters south to join
their regiments.
Paragraphs of this kind are of frequent occurrence in the newspapers of the
year. Those reproduced will suffice for illustration. Whether the policy of send-
ing such men to the front instead of dismissing them from the service was a wise
one may be seriously questioned. As a rule a willful deserter was not worth to the
army cost of his transportation to the front, and in a great many cases such persons,
without going into battle, found occasion to make a "hospital record" which
would be useful to them in after years.
Ill April Colonel E. A. Farrott, of the First Ohio, became Provost Marshal of
Ohio, with his headquarters in Columbus. The Provost Marshal appointed for
the Seventh District, including Franklin County, was Colonel J. A. Wilcox.
The members of the Military Committee of the county during the first five
months of the year were: John Miller, chairman; David Taylor, L. W. Babbitt,
and Peter Ambos. In June a new committee was named by the Govei-nor as fol-
lows: Chauncey N. Olds, L. W. Babbitt, David Taylor, B. F. Martin and Peter
Ambos.
Among the prisoners of war reccive<l during the year were Brigadier General
Churchill and staff, captured at Arkansas Post, and brought to Camp Chase about
the end of Januaiy. Three women — a mother and two daughters— who had been
arrested for .giving information to the enemy, were brought from Nashville
136 History of the City of Columbus.
February 4, and wore lodged in Camp Chase. They were afterwards transferred to
the Heyl Seminary, on Broad Street. On Februarj' 13, about one hundred prison-
ers of war were released on recommendation of Special Commissioner Galloway.
On March 29 Camp Chase was relieved of 483 Confederates sent to City Point for
exchange. These were joined at the station by 250 from Louisville bound for the
same destination. On April 23 Colonel Adler, a Confederate prisoner at the camp,
took the oath of allegiance to the United States. On April 28 fifty Confederates
were brought in from the Kanawha Valley. One of these, it was said, had taken
an oath of allegiance to the United States at the camp the year before. The
arrival of another squad via Cincinnati May 20 is mentioned. On May 22 seven
female secessionists arrived from Western Virginia. Among them was the wife of
a clergyman. Twenty Virginians and Kentuckians were released May 29 on tak-
ing the oath of allegiance. On June 12 about 1,700 captives taken by General
Grant's army in Mississippi passed Columbus en route to Fort Delaware On June
14 three hundred and fortyfour Confederates were removed from Camp Chase to
Johnson's Island. These were more than replaced Jnly 6 by the arrival of 411
captives taken by General Eosecrans. On July 14 Camp Chase contributed 900 of
its prisoners of war to Fort Delaware. In lieu of these 300 of John Morgan's men
and 140 captives from Bragg's army were received July 27. About 450 arrived
August 7 and 200 August 10. On the nineteenth of that month Camp Chase
received 3,150 Confederates, most of whom were ordered to Camp Douglas a few
days later. Further arrivals occurred in October almost daily. Under date of
November 7 we read :
Night before last, about nine o'clock, a rebel prisoner at Camp Chase, approach-
ing too near the line of the guards, was ordered to halt, which he refused to do,
whereupon one of the guards fired his musket at him. The man died almost
instantly after being struck with the ball. We did not learn his name.'"
Eightyeight captives taken by Averill's cavalry near Lewisburg, Virginia,
arrived November 18. On October 13, the following general order was issued
from department headquarters at Cincinnati by General Burnside :
In consequence of the large number of applications in this department, from
prisonei-s of war to take the oath of allegiance, Brigadier-General N. C. McLean,
will, by authority of the Secretary of War, examine such causes, and when satis-
fied of the honesty of their intentions will release the applicants on their taking
the oath and furnishing sufficient bonds. All communications for prisoners of war
must pass through the office of Brigadier-General N. C. McLean, Provost-Marshal-
General of this Department.
About 150 paroled prisoners arrived at Camp Chase February 3; in April 530
paroled men were transferred from Camp Chase to Camp Morton. Seven hun-
dred taken at Murfreesboro in December reached Camp Chase May 3. On June
10 two hundred were brought from Vicksburg. On June 7 one hundred and fifty
paroled Indianians were sent from Columbus to Indianapolis.
The manufacture of ammunition at the State Arsenal was continued until
August, when, owing to the difficulty of procuring powder, it was discontinued.
III. In Wartime— 1803. 137
Among the caiiiirds of Ihu year was a roporl of Ainil 7, tluil (Miaikslon hail
been eaptui-ed by Union foix-ow. Tlio following infornialion was nivun uut liy the
Ohio State Journal, May (i :
It is lunioreMl, anil u|mui gi-ounds that wo deem (|uitu i-oliablc that Lre has
actually suiTcmlcrcil his ai-iny to General Ilookur, The anMoiinceincMl cdihos
through SDuncs wr arc not pfrmiltud to make public, and is allogcthur in (■on-
formi'ty with the facts given in oui- (lisi)atfhos. If such be the case, then the
rebellion is vii-tuall^' cnished.
The day of publication of this news was that on which Hooker's army
reti'oated across the Rappahannock. The same paperof May 11, contained this :
We have the startling announcement that ilichniond is taken and that the
flag of the Union now floats over the capital of Rebeldom I
On the next day the same columns contained this bit of news which if true
would liave been highly important:
It is now rendered certain that Lee has skedaddled from the Ha|)|iahann()ck
and that Hooker is hard after him. There must now be a footrace, with Richmond
for the winning post. The line of rebel defenses is utterly broken and Richmond
is bound to come this time.
The same paper of May 29, had a report " via Chicago and Toledo " that
Vicksburg had fallen. "Thus, then," the editor commented, "the long agony is
over!" On the strength of this news the city was "well ornamented," we ai-e told
by the display of flags.
On July 2, a report was current that Grant had attacked the defenses of
Vicksburg and had been repulsed with a loss of ten thousand men. The Confed-
erates also had this news and imparted it to the writer while their captive on the
field at Gettysburg. It is tolerably well known now that Gi-ant marched into
Vicksbui-g two days later.
1. Since known as the Irving House, and now the property of Trinity Church and
known as Trinity House.
2. Oldo Slate Junrnal.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. So says Reid. The exact number of men wlio reported for duty and were jiaid was
officially stated by the Adjutant-General as -lit.oS". Franklin County furnislie<l fortynine
companies, numbering in the aggregate 3,052 men, to whom was paid tlie sum of $10,4-11.59.
(5. The order of commitment was as follows :
"Executive Depaktment, Columbus, July 30, 1863.
" Nathaniel Merion, Esq,,
" Warden of the Ohio Penitentiary :
" You have been advised by a formidable and destructive raid througli our State of a
band of desperate men under the lead of the notorious John Morgan ; also their capture by
the uiilitary forces of the Federal Government, aided, however, materially by the militia
forces of our State.
138 History op the City op Columbus.
" Upon consultation with Major-General A. E. Burnside, commander-in-chief of this
Military Department, I learn from him that he has not subject to his command a secure
place in which to keep the principal officers of said band. I have therefore tendered to the
Federal Government the use of our Penitentiary as a place of safekeeping for them until
other provision can be made. You will therefore please receive from the officers of the
United States Government the said John Morgan and thirty others, Confederate officers,
captured with him (a list of whose names is herewith handed you), and safely and securely
keep them within the walls of the Penitentiary until other provisions shall be made for
them. You will carefully search each prisoner as he may be handed over to you and take
from him all arms and articles of value (money included) and carefully preserve the same
until you may receive further directions touching the disposition thereof. You will keep
said prisoners, so far as possible, separate and apart from the convicts. You will furnish
them everything necessary in the way of food and clothing for their comfort, and impose
only such restrictions upon them as may be necessary for their safekeeping. You will per-
mit no one to hold interviews or communications by writing or otherwise, except by
written or telegraphic orders from General Burnside. You will employ such additional
force for guard or other duty as you may deem necessary. Should clothing be required for
the prisoners you will make requisitions upon me for the same. You will keep an accurate
account of all increased cost to the institution consequent upon a compliance with this
request and report the same to me from time to time as you may require funds to meet the
expenditure.
" Respectfully yours,
" David Tod,
" Governor and Commander-in-Chief."
7. A few weeks later the same paper heartily approved of the removal of General
Schofield from the command of the Missouri Department, saying the step indicated that
" treason in disguise" was no longer to be tolerated therein.
S. Oliio State Journal.
9. Ohio Slate Journal, May 16. •
10. Ohio State Journal.
CHAPTER XI.
IV. IN WARTIME— 1864.
lion. Joliii Bi-ough was inaugurated as Governor January 11. His assumji-
tion of office was opportune for the exercise of great executive talents. With sucii
talents, aniODg the rarest of all human endowments, he was superlatively gifted.
Enoi'nious tasks, novel responsibilities and sudden emergencies, both state and
national, soon put them to the task.
The spring opened with Lieutenaut-f-reneral Grant in chief command in thu
field and plans laid for a simultaneous advance of all the armies, from the Potomac
to the Mississippi. The Army of the Potomac, directed by Grant in person, broke
up its camps and crossed the Eapidan May 4. The battles of the Wilderness
began May 5. General Sherman's army advanced at nearly the same time from
the line of the Tennessee. On the James, the Shenandoah and the Mississippi the
Union hosts were all pushing to the front and challenging their foes to one last
supreme eifort. Grant crossed the James Eiver June 14; on July 20 and 22,
Sherman fought two great battles before Atlanta. Pending these general move-
ments Banks was routed on the Red Eiver, Sigel met a like fate in the Shenandoah
Valley, and Early's Confederate army menaced Washington. Atlanta fell Sep-
tember 2 ; in the same month Sheridan defeated Early in the battle of 0])equan.
On September 22, Sheridan won another great victory over Early at Fisher's Hill,
and on October 19, still another at Cedar Creek. On November 14, General Sher-
man set out from Atlanta for the seacoast, and on December 21, captured the city
of Savannah, of which he made a Christmas gift to the President. Meanwhile, in
August, the lionhearted seacaptain, Farragut, had won one of the most splendid
victoi'ies of the war in Mobile Bay. Such, briefly mentioned, were some of the
leading military events of the year; their recapitulation is useful as an intcrjirota-
tion of contemporary events at Columbus.
Among all the loyal states which participated in this mighty game of war, Oiiio
fulfilled the most conspicuous part. This was due scarcely less — perhajis moic —
to the quality and numbers of the led, than to the great loaders, which she con-
tributed to the armies in the field. With the work of recruiting and organizing
the fresh levies called for by the new emergencies of the struggle the capital of
Ohio was closely identified. Columbus was the principal theatre of that work as
well as the principal rendezvous of the forces collected and organized.
[139]
140 History of the City of Columbus.
Wlieii Governor Brough came iuto office he found Ohio's quota in the national
armies, under all the calls which had been made upon her, complete. Over
twenty thousand veterans of the old regiments had reenlisted for three years, and
when the year closed these sturdy and faithful organizations which had enlisted
twice over without expectation of bounty, were beginning to arrive at Columbus
on " veteran leave." They, and such as they — men who fought for no reward,
who knew, yet shunned not, the hardships of the field, and who disdained to seek
promotion at the rear however unfairly denied them at the front — men wlio
loved more the turmoil and the sears of battle than all the cheap laudation and
meretricious honors to be won at the recruiting station — were the very bone and
sinew of the armies, and deserved, as History assuredly will give them, the first
honors of the war.
The reenlistment of these men imparted to the National cause fresh moral as
well as numerical strength. It put Ohio ahead in her quota, stimulated general
recruiting and facilitated the supply of men necessary to meet the additional calls
soon to be made. First of these calls was that of February 1, for 500,000 men for
three years. Of these Ohio was required to furnish 51,465; on March 15 the Presi-
dent additionally demanded 200,000, Ohio's share this time being 20,595. A tiiird
proclamation of July 20 summoned 500,000 more men to the field, Ohio to furnish
50,792. On December 19 a fourth call was made, asking for 300,000 volunteers, of
whom Ohio was requested to furnish 26,027.
Unfortunately for the good of the army a demoralizing system of bounty-pay-
ing had been adopted in the recruiting service of the State. Governor Brough, we
are told, deeply regretted this system ; his regrets were wellgroundcd. After con-
siderable observation of its results the writer firmly believes that the national
cause would have been more effectively served had not one dollar of bounty ever
been paid. The patriotism of the people properlj- appealed to, was quite sufficient
to furnish all the men needed without resort to purely mercenary expedients.
The best soldiers were those who volunteered from patriotism and not for money.
The stimulus which bountypaying gave to desertion, and the fraudulent enroll-
ment, bountyjumping and substitute brokerage which it produced were evils of the
first magnitude.' The Eepublic, when in jeopardy of its life, is entitled to the
military service of everj- ablebodied citizen. If this service is not voluntarily and
freely given when solicited, it should be compelled. But when once adopted, the
bounty system could not easily be dispensed with, and in Ohio its inducements and
its evils alike became more and more aggravated. " Government, State, township
bounties, hundreds piled on fresh hundreds of dollars, till it had come to such
a pass," says Eeid, -'that a community often paid in one form or another near
a thousand dollars for every soldier it presented to the mustering officers, and double
as much for every one it succeeded in getting into the wasted ranks at the front."
Early in the year Governor Brough conceived a plan of calling out a sufficient
militia force to guard the forts and railways so as to make every veteran engaged
in this service available for active duties in the field. At his suggestion the
Governors of Indiana, Illinois and Iowa met him in Washington to consult upon
this ]ilan, and at that meeting a proposition to the President was formulated offer-
IV. In Wartime— 1S(U. 141
ing eightyfive thousand infantry troops, to be furnished within twenty days from
date of acceptance, for a term of service of one hundred days. These troops wore
to be mustered, armed, fed and paid in the same manner as other United States
Infantry Volunteers, and were to serve in fortifications or wherever they might be
needed " within or without their respective states. " No bount}- was to bo paid
them nor were their services to be charged or credited on any draft. The number
tendered from Oiiio was thirty thousand.
The proposition, presented to the President April 21, was accepted two days
later, and on Monday, April 25, the following general order was issued under
instructions from Governor Brough by Adjutant-General B. E. Cowen :
The regiments, battalions and independent companies of infantrj- of the
National Guard of Ohio are hereby called into active service for the term of one
hundred days, vmless sooner discharged. The}- will be clothed, armed, equipped,
transported and paid by the United States Government.
These organizations will rendezvous at the most eligible places in their res-
pective counties (the place to be fixed by the commanding ofticer and to be on a
line of railroad if practicable) on Monda}% May 2, 1864, and report by telegraph
at four o'clock P. ji. of the same day the number present for duty.
The alacrity with which all calls for the military forces of the State have been
heretofore met furnishes the surest guarantee that the National Guard will be
prompt to assemble at the appointed time. Our armies in tlie field are marshaling
for a decisive blow, and the citizen soldiery will share the .glory of the crowning
victories of the campaign bj' relieving our veteran regiments from posts for the
more arduous labors of the field.
The business and work of the season had just fairly opened when this call
appeared; a great many of the militia were men who had business or industrial
interests or engagements needing their personal attention ; the weather was incle-
ment; nevertheless, on the day appointed for the regiments to assemble, the
Adjutant-General was able to telegraph to the Secretary of War: " More than
thirty thousand National Guards are now in camp, ready for muster." So prompt
and generous was the response that on May 2 Governor Brough issued an address
to the National Guard in the opening sentences of which he said: "This mani-
festation of loyalty and patriotism is alike honorable to yourselves and your noble
State. In the history of this great struggle it will constitute a page tliat you and
j'our descendants may hereafter contemplate with perfect satisfaction.''
The work of organization was assigned to Colonel W. P. Richard.son, of the
Twentyfifth Ohio Infantry, at Camp Chase, and soon the troops came pouring in.
The celerity with which the regiments assembled and were dispatched to their
places of usefulness is indicated by the following message sent by Governor
Brough on May 18 to the Secretary of War :
Ohio has sent regiments as follows : Four to Baltimore, Maryland, two to
Cumberland, thirteen to Washington, and the fourteenth will leave tonight; three to
Parkersburgh, four to Charleston, three to New Creek, three to Harper's Ferry.
Has stationed one at Gallipolis, two at Camp Dennison, tvvo at Canij) Chase, two
and a battalion of seven companies at Johnson's Island ; being forty regiments
and one battalion, comprising an aggregate of thirtyfour thousand men. This
work has been completed in sixteen days. The National Guard regiments mus-
142 History of teie Citv of CoLUMnos.
tei-L'd in or out, or both, at Camp Chase, were the One Hundred Thirtyfirst, -sec-
ond, third, fourth, -fifth, -sixth, -seventh and -ninth ; the One Hundred Forty-
second,- third, -fourth and fifth ; the One Hundred Fiftj'first, -tliird and seventh ;
tlie One Hundred Sixtyfirst, -second and -third, and the One Hundred Seventieth
and One Hundred Seventysecond.
Eleven new oncyear regiments, nunibercii from 173 to 183, were organized
during the year. Of these, the One Hundred Scventyfourth, Colonel John S.
Jones, was organized at Camp Chase September 23, and left two da_ys later for
Nashville; the One Hundred Seventj'sixth, Colonel Edwin C. Mason, wa'^ organ-
ized at Camp Chase September 21, and left at once for Tennessee; the One
Hundred Sevenf yeiglith. Colonel J. A. Stafford, organized at Camp Cliase Septem-
ber 29, was also dispatched at once to Nashville ; the One Hundred Seventj-ninth,
Colonel Harley H. Sage, organized at Camp Chase September 28, arrived at
Nashville, October 8 ; the One Hundred Eightieth, Colonel Willard Warner,
organized at Camp Chase October 9, departed for Nashville October 15 ; and the
One Hundred Eightysecond, Colonel Lewis Butler, organized at Camp Chase
October 28, arrived at Nashville November 6. The Thirtyseventh Iowa which
pas.sed Columbus September 1, was said to contain no soldier or oflScer under forty-
five years of age.
The various efforts made and means employed to meet the different demands
for troops during the year were attended by some curious local incidents. On
May 3 a much-dreaded draft took place at the City Hall on Fourth Street, in the
presence of a committee, the members of which were Provost Marshal James A.
Wilcox, Commissioner S. S. Hinkle, Surgeon S. Lemon and G-. K. Armstrong,
clerk. A newspaper account of this proceeding ran thus:
Having called the vast assemblage to order, the Provost Marshal took his
stand upon the platform on which the ominous looking keg was placed, which, in
a few moments, would hold the fate of many an anxious individual wbo was wait-
ing with impatience to draw a prize. Captain Wilcox explained in a lucid man-
ner the »io</».s o^jera«f/!, after which he requested the audience to name a person,
without regard to his political bias, who should draw the names from the wheel of
fortune. No one responding to the request, the Captain named Mr. John Otstot,
who was unanimously endor.sed by the multitude present. After preliminaries
were all arranged. Commissioner Hinkle stated [that] the subdistrict of the
Seventh Ward, being the first ward whose quota was deficient, they would proceed
to draw seven men from the number enrolled. The whole number enrolled in this
ward of both classes was 505. The name of each person enrolled was written
upon a card and the Provost Marshal proceeded to place them in the keg, and as
they were silently dropped in Mr. Otstot, in a loud, clear voice, called out the
numbers. ... A handkerchief was then tied over the eyes of Mr. Otstot. . . . The
Provost Marshal then taking hold of the crank of the " churn " turned it round in
a rapid manner, frequently reversing the order of circumlocution until they [the
cards] were completely mixed, when Mr. Otstot drew out the first name. The
first prize was awarded to Jacob Bower, and in like manner proceeding he drew
out the remaining six prizes which were awarded to the following gentlemen:
George Weaver, John Woodward, Charles Shank, Jeremiah Crawley, Charles
Keintz and S. H. Witte. Thus ended the anxious fears of the Seventh Warders.
IV. In Wartime— IRtU. 14:^
In September another draft was ordered, supplementary to wliicli still iinolhei'
for delinquent subdistricts in Columbus took place at the City H:ill.
In reciting the proliable difficulties to be met in filling the National (iuard
regiments pursuant to Governor Broughs call, the Oliio Shife Joiinuil of April 29
said :
In regard to substitutes there seems to be a holding off for higher prices. So
far they have been obtained from $50 all the way up to $200, and some are now
asking $300.
The same pajier of July 28 contained this:
There are a great many scoundrels who make a business of enlisting as sub-
stitutes, receive their pay, and the first opportunity which presents the}- invaria-
bly skedaddle to some other point and re])eat the ojieration. . . . Even in this
city, at Tod Bairacks, where every precaution is taken, quite a number have man-
aged to make their escape.
Advertisements of " substitutes for hire " were sometimes seen in the news-
papers. In October a Cj'prian was offered as a substitute, under the name of
Charles Henry Brown, by a Jackson County bounty broker. The fraud was
detected by an examining surgeon. Two bountyjumpers, "elegantly attired in
citizens clothes," were arrested as they were on the point of leaving the citj- Jan-
uary 10, 1805. One of them, it was stated, had "jumped " a bountj- of one thou-
sand dollars. The Ohio Statesman of February 4, same year, contained this :
Two men, John Connelly and James Starkey, of Cincinnati, were arrested at
Camp Chase on Tuesday evening under the following circumstances: It seems
they had enlisted a recruit, got half his local bounty-, and had taken him to Camp
Chase. They then undertook to inveigle him out of camp for the purpose of reen-
listing him and playing the same game over again. With this design in view, they
procured a hack, put the recruit into it, made him lie down, and covered him over
with blankets.
The same paper of January 21, 1865, referred to the mercenaries then in the
market in this style :
Prices unsettled, with an upward tendency. Buyers, alias recruit brokers,
abundant and the number constantly increasing. Substitutes demanding $800 for
one, $1,000 for two and $1,200 for three years. Very few, however, wish to sell
for a longer time than one year. Eecruits asking for one year $450 @ $500, and
sometimes effecting a sale at a higher figure than the one last quoted.
The same paper of May 2, 1865, mentions a bountyjumper then under sentence
to be shot at Camp Chase. He was said to have "jumped " bounties eighteen dif-
ferent times.
The opening of Tod Barracks as a military rendezvous for certain purposes
deprived Camp Chase of much of its activity and interest. On March 3; the com-
mandant's quarters were destroyed by fire. Early in May, 230 Ohio soldiers who
had escaped the terrible catiistrophe caused by explosion of the boilers of the
steamboat Sultana, near Memphis, April 27, arrived at the camp. About 1,500
paroled soldiers were in the camp at this time. A general courtmartial convened
at the camp in December and continued in session about two months,
144 History of the City of CoLLMBrs.
All through the j-ear the collection and forwarding of military waifs and way-
farers at Tod Barracks was active. During the months of February and March
some hundreds of soldiers were sent to the front dail}-. On some days the
numbers tiius dispatched reached seven or eight iiundrcd. Over one thousand
paroled men \vcro received and fed at the barracks April 6. On the same dale
Major Skiles forwarded 187 siragglers and 87 deserters. One hundi'ed substiiutcs
were forwarded May 8, and on June 7 one hundred more, the latter, it was stated,
being " of a belter class " than the former lot. On July lO one hundred substit-
tutes, and on July 12 a large squad of substitutes and drafted men were sent
from the Barracks to replenish some of the old regiments. On October 4 the num-
ber of men which Major Skiles had sent to the front from his post during the pre-
ceding two mouths was thus summarized: Substitutes, 3,200; recruits, 2.000;
deserters, 238; stragglers, 483 ; convalescents, 896. Within eight days next pre-
ceding October 19, the total number of men of these different classes sent off was
about 2,000. Five hundred exchanged Union soldiers arrived at the Barracks
from Annapolis March 15. About five hundred paroled from the same place
arrived March 20. Sick, disabled and paroled man to the number of 125 arrived
from Alexandria May 16.
Major-General Heintzelman, appointed early in the year to command the
Northern Department, established his headquarters in Columbus. On Ajiril 21
he was serenaded at the Neil House, but refused to respond to the compliment.
One of his orders, issued in September, deplored certain depredations committed
by disorderly soldiers upon the property of loyal citizens residing near Columbus,
and directed that the amount of pecuniary injury done should be ascertained.
During a transfer of Confederate prisoners from Camp Chase to Eock Island,
by rail, in January, some desperate men cut a hole in the bottom of one of the
cars and escaped from the train while it was running at a high rate of .sjieed.
Basil Duke, of Morgan's raiding party, was transferred from the Penitentiary to
Camp Chase in February. On February 24 one thousand Confederates were
sent from Camp Chase to Fort Delaware. A transfer of Morgan's officers in
the Penitentiary to the same destination was ordered by the War Department in
March. Among the arrivals of Confederate captives at Camp Chase during the
year were the following: 130 March 11; an indefinite number from the south-
west April 7; 22 from Helena, Arkansas, May 17; 250 — described as being "as
ragged as Lazarus" and "as dirtj- as they could possibly be not to have been
literally rolled in the mud" — from General Crook's department, in Virginia,
May 27; 1,163, captured before Atlanta, August 1. The number of prisoners
of war in the camp August 6 was about 3,500. On July 4 some of the prisoners
attempted to escape but were fired upon by the guards, and two of them were
severely wounded.
On December 18 about two hundred exchanged Union soldiers who had been
confined in the Confederate stockade at Florence, South Carolina, arrived at
Columbus. Their condition is described as very pitable, as wei'e also the .stories
they told of their sufferings while in captivity.
<^^^^
IV. In Wartime— l.S(j4. 145
Among the local military organizations of the ^car, not hitherto mentioned,
was that of the Meade Eifles. Upon the organization of the One Hundred Thirty-
third Infantry, of the National Guard, this company was assigned to that
regiment.
A "jollification" over Sheridan's victories in the Valley of Virginia took
place on Saturday evening, September 24. Telegraphic dispatches were read and
numerous speeches were made. General Thomas's Nashville victory caused great
rejoicing in the city. A Siihite of fifty guns was fired at the northeast corner of
the Capitol Square. On September 5 one hundred guns were fired at the United
States Arsenal in honor of Farragut's victory in Mobile Bay.
The Eightysecond Ohio Infantry arrived at Columbus from Tennessee, on
veteran furlough of thirty days, January 21. It reassembled at Camp Chase on
its return to the front February 26. On January 26 the Eightysixth passed
through to Cleveland to be mustered out. The Fiftythird arrived on veteran
leave about February]. The Sixtyseeond arrived February 6, direct from Port
Royal, the Twentyninth, veteran, passed through, to Louisville, February 10.
The singular fact was at this time noted that many of the reenlisted veterans who
were furloughed for thirty days returned to the front before the period of their
leave expired. In explanation of this, one of thoni stated that he was homesick
and wanted to return to his " homo in the army."
On February 25, the Thirteenth Ohio Infantrj' arrived on veteran leave, and
a detachment for the Sixtyeiglith passed Columbus en route to Vicksburg. The
Sixtyeighth, which had been engaged in the Meridian raid, passed Columbus to
Cleveland on veteran leave late in March. On March 13, the arrival of the Forty-
sixth, Colonel C. C. Walcutt, was signaled by rockets fired from the Statehouse.
The regiment was met at the station by the local military companies and citizens,
and was welcomed in the rotunda of the Capitol by Governor Brough. In the
evening the officers and men of the regiment sat down to a dinner spread for them
b}' Linderaan & Co. at Ambos Hall. The regiment quitted the city on its return
to the front April 16.
The Seventysixth arrived from Alabama on veteran leave February 8 ; on
March 15, it passed Columbus from Newark, returning to the front. The Fifty-
first, veteran, arrived from Tennessee February 10 ; returned to the front March
16. On the latter date the Twentj'fifth, veteran, quitted Camp Chase for South
Carolina, and while passing the Capitol for the railway station delivered its service-
worn colors to Governor Brough, by whom, at the same time, a new set of flags
was presented to the regiment. The Tliirtysecond, veteran, arrived on leave
March 14; on March 19 the Seventyfourth, veteran, returned from leave to rejoin
Sherman's army. The Seventyeighth, veteran, arrived at Tod Barracks, on leave,
April 2; it set out to rejoin the Army of the Tennessee May 7. The Sixtieth, a
new battalion of six companies, quitted Camp Chase for Virginia in the latter part
of April. On April second 2,900 men of the Ninth Army Corps, then passing
westward, took supper at the Tod Barracks. The Eightieth, veteran, passed the
city April 7 and May 9, coming from and returniugto the Army of the Tennessee.
The Thirtieth, veteran, arrived from and returned to Sherman's Army April 8 and
10*
l-li; HiSToKY OF TliK City oP Coi.UJinrs.
May 9. It reassembled, on the expiration of its furlough, at Camp Chase. The
Fiftysixth, veteran, which had been knocked to pieces in Banks's ilhvlvised and ill-
managed Eed Eiver expedition, arrived from New Orleans, r/rt Now YorU-,.Iune
5, on veteran leave. It set out on its return In the (uilf 1 »e|i;irtniont at the e.\-])ira-
tion of its furlough. A portion ol' the Fil'l ycighth, (iri'inaii, arriveil from Vicks-
burg on veteran leave June 10. The Twentylourlh retnrnod I'ldni Sherman's
army, then in front of Dalion, and was mustered out at ( 'amp < 'hasi> .1 inic 2 L The
Fourtli Oliio infantry, Hancock's Corps, Army of the r<itiini,ic, rciuriuMJ for mus-
terout June 12. The Second Oliio Infantry, Sherman's Army, arrived at ('ain].
Chase for musterout September 25. The Sixteenth Ohio liifaiilr\ arrived t'vom
Louisiana for musterout October 14.
Among the canards of local circulation dui-ing the yeai' was a report of Maj'
27, derived from " an Ohio man. perfectly reliahle, just from Dalion, Georgia,"
that Sherman's army was then " in tbe immediate vicinity of Atlanta. "' The cap-
ture of Atlanta was currently j-epoiied July 16. The death of Jcfi'ei-son Davis was
rumored December 23.
During Governor Tod's administration state military agencies for the assis-
tance and care of sick, wounded, penniless and otherwise needy soldiers were
established at Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Crestline, Bellair, Washington
City and other points of military movement or rendezvous. On Governor Brough's
recommendation the number of these agencies was increased to twelve, James E.
Lewis being appointed agent at Columbus. A considerable pai-t of the supplies
obtained by popular donation were distributed through these agencies.
NOTES.
1. On March 14, 1804, Governor Brough wrote to the Secretary of War referring to the
bounty system in a deprecatory vein. He expressed a decided preference for the draft. On
February 6, 18(55, he wrote to General K. C. Schenck, then in Congress :
I can say to you confidentially that of the thirty thousand men raised, credited and
mustered in Ohio during the last call, over ten thousand failed to reach the front. About
eleven hundred men have been forwarded to Camp Chase under the present call, and of
these two hundred and sixtj three were on the lists last night as " absent without leave," and
this although the money brought here with them is taken from thera on arrival. Still they
have been mustered and credited, and till so much of the '■ quota," though not of the army.
The State swarms with bountybrokers, bountyjumpers and mercenaries of every description.
Men take contracts to fill "quotas" as they would to furnish hay or wood. They take the
largest share to themselves, and frequently the recruit deserts because he says he has been
svf indled in his bounty. Patriotism and love of the cause are supplanted to a large degree as
a motive of filling our armies, by the mercenary spirit of making money out of the opera-
tion. . . . We have strength enough, but we are throwing it away; we are weakening our
armies by every call and draft instead of strengthening them ; we are piling up enor-
mous debts and taxations upon our people; we are impairing the confidence of the thinking
and earnest portion of our people, and pampering the desires of the weak and profligate ; we
are making a traffic of the holiest duty we owe to the country, and procrastinating a struggle
that we have the power to speedily terminate if our means were less popularly and more
earnestly directed."
2. Ohio State Journal, May 4, 18(54.
f!. 0/iio State Journal.
CHAPTER XII.
VICTORY AND SORROW-1865.
The ficM operations of this momentous }-c:ir began almost with its advent.
Fort Fislicr was captured by General Terry, Januaiy 15, and within a few days
alter that event General Sternian's army began i(s winter campaign in tiiu Caro-
linas. Columbia fell into the possession of that army February 17, on which date
also the Confederates aban<loned Ciiarleston. On March 2 Sheridan again routed
Earl}^ ; on March 19 Slicrnian's forces fouglit their last battle in the war at Ben-
tonville. General Lee abandoned Richmond and I'ctersburgh April 2, and on
April 9 he surrendered his army to Grant at Apponiatto.K. Tiio pr.ictical conclu-
sion of the war took place April 2(5 with the capitulation of tJeneral Johnston's
army to General Sherman.
Intelligence of Sheridan's victory at Five Forks, southwest of Richmond,
began to reach Columbus on Sunday evening April 2, and revealed, as by sun-
burst, the beginning of the end. When the news of Richmond's i'all flashed over
the wires in the course of the next day, flags were flung out all over the city, even
vehicles on the streets were dressed with them, and the first dashes of an ocean of
fervid enthusia.sm swept over the community. In the evening a great crowd
assembled as by common impulse at tlio West Front of the Capitol where so many
meetings had been held during the gloomy episodes of the war, and there listened
to the latest dispatches, read by Governor Brough, who also addressed the jjcople
and interpreted to them the good news. Further addresses were made by G. V.
Dorsey, Octavius Waters, Joseph H. Goiger and Samuel Gallowa)-. The Tod
Barracks Band helped, if help was needed, to swell the emotions of the multitude.
The meeting closed with the doxology, sung by the crowd, and a benediction pro-
nounced by Chaplain Drake, of the army.
On Sunday evening, April 9, the following dispatch from General Grant
electrified the country :
Headquarters Ar.mies of the United States,
April 9—4:40 P. M.
Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War: Genei-al Lee surrendered the Army
of Northern Virginia this afternoon ujjon the terms proposed by myself The
accompanying additional correspondence will show the conditions fully.
U. S. Grant,
Lieutenant- GeneraL
L147]
148 IIisTciiiY (IF THE City nv CouiMr.iTs.
This news, eoiivejed in a special dispatcli to Governor Broiigii, ruaclied Co-
lumbus the same evening, and the popular delight which it profluced found instan-
taneous expression. "Churches," we are told, "gave up their congregations,
hotels their occupants, and one grand, loud, continued, shouting song told the
])cople's joy. Cannon thundered, hells clanged, bonfires blazed. A monster ci'owd
collected and was addressed by Governor Brough, Hon. Octavins Waters and
others.' On the following morning the newsjjapers gave additional pMrticiilars,
nccomjianied hy delirious editorials and ecstatic headlines.
A general celebration of Grant's victories in Virginia took place the following
Friday, April 14. The daj- was opened with the ringing of bells, blowini,^ of
whistles and firing of cannon, and at an early hour the streets were thronged
with people. Business was generally suspended. The day was one of thanks-
giving as well as of joy, and services were held at the principal churches. At
noon the bells of the city were again rung, with accompaniments of steamwhistles
and the thunder of an artillery .salute fired in the Capitol Square. At two o'clock
the people assembled in great mass at the East Terrace of the Capitol, whci-e Hon.
George M. Parsons was called to preside, and, after praj-er by Kcv. Granville
Moody, Hon. John Sherman addressed the happy multitudes for nearly an hour.
Following are some of Mr. Sherman's most striking sentences:
Four years ago I went to Washington around Baltimore. The niotio of the
First Regiment of Ohio Volunteers was," to Washington through Baltimore." We
thought it a feat when they made their motto good. I was in Washin^'tou when
the rebel ilag floated in sight of the Capitol. It blockaded the Potomac, and might
have signaled across the continent. We all remember the battle of Bull Run, the seven
days on the Chiekahominy, the second Bull Run and the battle of Autietam. We
all remember the dark days that preceded Gettysburg and Vicksburg— yes, even
the past summer, until Atlanta and Mobile shed their light upon us. Through
what dangers and storms has the good old Ship of State gone safely ! The battle
of Gettysburg was the turning physical batile of this war and tbe civil strife of
18(33, here in Ohio, was the turning political contest of the war. What if Lee had
won at Gettysburg? What if Vallandigham had won in Ohio'? We would not
thus have been rejoicing over a I'estored aud strengtheued Union. I look back
upon the dangers we have passed, not with unkindness, but with thankful-
ness. . . .
That all the Southern States will .soon return to the Union, and be again
represented in Congi-ess I do not doubt. . . . The people can confide in the prom-
ise of the President that no act of amnesty, that no exercises of the ^^ardoning
power, that no military convention will endanger either Union or emancipation.
The conceded and secured reconstruction in the South cannot be verj- difficult. It
is easy to raise theoretical and constitutional questions, but Mr. Lincoln has a
homely and direct way of solving these, and of doing it at the right time, i do
not fear but that after the war, and in due time, we can settle all the complicated
political questions growing out of it, and without conceding to the rebels any
terms that are not assented to by the body of the people.
In February, 18tjl, I ventured to prophesy to the leaders of this rebellion,
tlien m the House of Representatives, that if they attempted to execute their
threats of secession, we would find power in the Constitution, and among the de-
cided masses of the northern people, to whip them into submission to the con-
stituted authorities. I now prophesy that, during the present term of Mr.
Lincoln, all the Southern States, and Colorado, Montana, JN'ebraska, Idaho, IS'ew
Victory and Sorrow— 1805. 149
Mexico :iiid perhaps Utah will be rc]jrescnte(l in ("oni:;re.ss, rtiid that slavery will
be abolished by coustilutioiial amoiiilrnent with the assent of South Carolina, or
■what is left of it.
At the close of Mr. Sherman's remarks " three cheers " for (rraut, Sherman
and Sheridan, and three tor " Old Abe," were called for b)- Rev. Granville Moody,
and heartilj' given. Bvelj-n Evans then read two selected poems, one entitled
Where's Sherman. ? and the othei-, Sheridan's Ride. A song by the choir followed,
then a speech by State Treasurer Dorsey, then a song, Victory at Last, and a very
lively address by Hon. Samuel Gallowaj\ In the evening the whole city was
illuminated, there being scarcely- anywhere a single dark window. The Capitol
glittered with lights from foundation to cupola, and the fences around its grounds
were hung with lampions. Emblems and devices in tire and on illuminated can-
vas were frequent. The names of Gra)it, Sherman and Sheridan were brilliantly
emblazoned, as were also such mottos and expressions as Pcare, Liljerty and Union,
United States Army and Navy, and Glory tn God. Various humorous devices were
attempted.
In the course of the evening a torchlight parade passed through the streets,
led by the Bightyeight Ohio Infantry, Lieutenant-Colonel Weber. The other par-
ticipating organizations, named in their processional order, were the One Hundred
Ninetyseventh Ohio Infantry, Major Hill ; a torchbearing battalion of 500 paroled
prisoners, Lieutenant-Colonel Ewing ; the Tod Barracks Band, the Veteran
Reserve Corps, Lieutenant Peterson ; the Columbus Brass Band, the Rescue Hook
and Ladder carriage, gaily decorated ; the Ridgway and Miller steam fireeugines,
with their hosereels, and the Fourth Ward " Hackmen's Delegation," marshalled
b}^ P. Eagan.
A large and highly enthusiastic evening meeting, on the Capitol Square,
opened with the song of the " Star Spangled Banner," and was addressed by
Granville Moody, Colonel Given, A. G. Byers and E. E. White. Various patriotic
and popular songs interspersed the speaking, while from a platform on the grounds
a brilliant display of fireworks was made. At the close of the meeting the 2>eople
sang the doxology, and dispersed, we are told, "full of joyous emotions," alas, very
soon to give i)lace to emotions of a very different nature!
On the following morning — Saturday, April 15 — while the city was yet
dressed with the insignia of rejoicing, the whole community was startled with the
news that President Lincoln had been assassinated the preceding evening at a
theatre in Washington. A suspension of business immediately ensued, and the
people, eager fijr ])articulars, gathered in great crowds around the newsi)aper bul-
letin boards, au<l silently, many of them tearfully, discussed the dire calamity
which, in the very hour of its deliverance, had befallen the country. Suddenly
Rev. Granville Moody appeared in the midst of one of these anxious throngs, and
after some conversational remarks began an address, which, after some minutes,
he concluded with a fervent prayer. A sombre spirit pervaded the entire city, as
though death's shadow had fallen upon every spirit. Flags were halfmasted, and
the Capitol and other prominent buildings were draped with emblems of mourning.
A dispatch stating that Mr. Lincoln had expired blotted out many hopes still
150 IllSTORV OF THE CiTY OF COLUMBUS.
fondly cherished that he might survive his injuries. Newspaper extras wore
issued at various times during the day, and also on Sunday morning, April 16.
Religious services announced, for two p. m. of that day, at the East Terrace, drew
thither, it is said, the largest crowd which had ever assembled in the Capitol
Square. Part of the assemblage consisted of soldiers from Tod Barracks, who
came in a body, bearing the National and State flags dressed in mourning, and
marching to dirge music played by their bands. The crowd being too great for
one speaker to address, services were also held at the West Front, where a dis-
course was delivered by Kev. A. G. Byers. The speaker at the East Front was
Eev. Granville Moody, whose text was : "And the victory of that daj' was turned
into mourning unto all thej)eople." (II Samuel, 19, 2.) " During Mr. Moody's dis-
course," said a report of the services, " the vast concourse of faces, expressing
each emotion of the speaker, heads bowing in grief, eyes wet with tears or flashing
with indignation, presented a scene impressive beyond description. The same
may be said of those addressed by Doctor Byers, and never, perhaps, did the
appearance of a crowd indicate in itself so deep and general a sorrow."
At five o'clock p. m. on Saturday the City Council convened in special
session. President Reinhard in the chair, and adopted resolutions expressing
abhorrence of the murderous deed which had deprived the Nation of its Chief
Magistrate, tendering condolence to his family, recording appreciation of the
great and good qualities and services which had distinguished him, and particu-
larly of his fitness for the work of pacification upon which he had entered ; giving
assurances of sj'mpatby for the wounded Secretary and Assistant Secretary of
State; and directing that a committee of nine be appointed to act in conjunction
with committees representing the State authorities and the citizens in making
suitable preparations for reception of the remains of the President, should they
be conveyed through the city. An additional committee was appointed to drape
the city buildings in mourning. On Tuesday, April 18, a large meeting of citi-
zens, to take proper action upon the death of the President, convened at the City
Hall. Hon. Samuel Galloway was called to preside, H. T. Chittenden was
appointed secretarj-, and prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Felton. Messrs. L. J.
Critchfield, George M. Parsons, C. N. Olds, B. F. Martin and Peter Ambos were
appointed lo report resolutions, and, on invitation, appropriate remarks were
made by Rev. J. M. Trimble. At the conclusion of Mr. Trimble's address Hon.
Samuel Galloway was called for, and narrated some personal reminiscences of the
late President. The resolutions reported recommended that the people close their
places of business on the next day, nineteenth, during the progress of the funeral
services at Washington, between the hours of eleven a. m. and three P. m., and
that during that time the bells of the city be tolled. In pursuance of a further
resolution offered by William G. Deshler the following committee was appointed
to cooperate with that which had been appointed by the Council in arranging a
suitable reception of the late President's remains and procuring the delivery ol
a suitable oration upon his life and services: William G. Deshler, David S. Gray,
J. E. St. Clair, W. Failing, Isaac Eberly, K. Mees, L. Kilbourn, C. P. L. Butler,
and Starling Loving.
ViOToRv AND Sorrow -1S05. 151
In aeeordiinco with the rccominendations of this meeting, business was sus-
pended, bells were tolled and minute guns were fired on the nineteetli, wliile the
funeral at Washington was in progress. During the same hours appi-opriate
religious services were held at the First Presbj'terian Church and at the
Methodist Episcopal Church on Town Street! A few days later it was ascertained
that the train bearing the remains of the President would arrive at Columbus, in'n
Cleveland on the morning of April 29, whereupon the Adjutant-General of Ohio,
B. R. Cowen, issued an order appointing Major John W. Skiles, of the Eighty-
eighth Ohio Infantry, as cliicf marshal for the ceremonies of that day, and direct-
ing that all orgaiiizalioiis desiring to participate in those ceremonies should
report to him. NunjeTous aides to the chief marshal were appointed ; also the
following jjallbearers : Doctor John Andrews, Robert Neil, F. C. Kelton, John
Field, Augustus Piatt, Christian Heji, B. W. Gwyune, W. B. Hubbard, Judge
Taylor, John Brooks, William B. Thrall, D. W. Deshler, L. Goodale, Joseph R.
Swan, William T. Martin, William M. Awl, G. W. Manj-pennj-, John M. Walcutt,
F. Stewart, John Noble, F. Jaeger, Senior, and Amos S. RamseJ^ The Executive
Committee comprised W. G. Deshler, C. P. L. Butler, James Patterson, S. N.
Field, and F. Jaeger; the Finance Committee, B. Gilmore, Walstein Failing, Isaac
Ebei-ly and S. N. Field ; the Escort Committee, Samuel Galloway, L. Kilbourn,
S. Loving, James Patterson, John Miller and Jacob Reiuhard ; the Decoration
Committee, D. S. Gray, A. B. Buttles and William Gaver ; the Music Committee,
A. B. Buttles, Rev. K. Mees, B. Gilmore and William Naughton; the Reception
Committee, Walstein Failing, B. Gilmore, and J. E. St. Clair.
The order of i^rocession announced that the funeral escort would consist of
the Eightyeighth Ohio Infantry ; that army detachments and volunteer organiza-
tions would wear sidearms only; that the usual badge of mourning would be won
on the left arm and swordhilt ; that the procession would
divisions ; that it would move from the railway station sout
Broad, east on Broad to Fourth, south on Fourth to State, east on State to
Seventh, south on Seventh to Town, west on Town to High, and north on High to
the West Front of the Capitol ; and that a cavalry force would be suitably
stationed to kee^i High Street north of Town clear of vehicles.
The funeral ti-ain i|uittctl Cleveland precisely at midnight, and from that
time until it reached Crestline was drenched with rain, falling in torrents. It was
preceded by a pilot engine, the LoiusvUlr, under cliarge of Assistant Superinten-
dent Blee and Master Mechanic W. F. Smith, with B. Van Camp as engineer and
C. Van Cam}) as fireman. The engine of the train was the Nashville, George West
engineer, and Peter Hugo fireman. Mr. T. J. Higgin, superintendent of the tele-
grajih, uecompanied the train with instruments for sending messages in ease of
accident or other need. JSfotwithstanding the darkness and rain, people gathei'ed
in crowds along the route, and, with lighted bonfires and torches, tolling bells and
saddened countenances, manifested their deep sorrow. After daybreak — morning
of the 29th— the demonstrations were more general, but not more impressive. At
Cardington an immense crowd of citizens assembled, bells were tolled, minute
guns were fired, ainl over the doors of the station building, dressed in crape, was
lournmg wouiu ue worn
1 be organized in five /^
uth on Foui'tb Street to M-«^/^
1S"2 lIlST'RY OF THE C'lTV OF CoLUMIifS.
Stretched a white banner bearing the words : " He sleeps in the blessings of the
poor, whose fetters God commanded him to break."
At the appointed hour the funeral train arrived at the Union Station at
Columbus amid the ringing of mufHed bells, and halted in such a position that the
car containing the Pi'esident's remains lay nearly accross High Street. An im-
mense crowd of spectators had congregated about the station, and military bands
discoursed solemn dirges while the coffin, attended by the pallbearers and Guard
of Honor, was taken from the car and laid in the hearse. The procession then
formed, and, according to contemporary description, was the most imposing and
impressive which had ever been seen in Columbus. Let the accomplished ]>en of
William T. Coggeshall describe its appearance and movements : '
The hearse was the great centre of attraction. All along the line of march it
was preceded by hundreds of all ages, sexes and conditions, striving to keep as
near as possible to the sombre structure. It was 17 feet long, 8^ feet'wide and 17^
feet from the ground to the apex of the canopy. The main platform was lour feel
from the ground, on which rested a dais for the reception of the coffin, twelve feet
long by five wide, raised two and a half feet above the platform The canopy
resembled in shape a Chinese pagoda. The interior of the roof was lined with
silk flags and the outside covered with blacU broadcloth, as were the dais, the
main platform, and the entire hearse. Black cloth, festooned, depended fi-om the
platform within a few inches of the ground, fringed with silver lace and orna-
mented with heavy tassels of black silk. Surrounding the cornice of the canopy
were thirtysix silver stars, and on the apex and the four corners were five heavj-
black plumes. The canopy was appropriately curtained with black cloth, lined
with white merino. On e:ich side of the dais was the word Lincoln in silver let-
ters. The hearse was drawn by six white horses, covered with black cloth, which
was edged with silver fringe. The heads of the horses were surmounted with
large black plumes, and each was led by a groom dressed in black, with white
gloves and white band round his hat. On the dais, nearly in the centre of the
hearse, the coffin was placed, nearly in full view of the multitudes on the streets.
Every window, housetop, balcony, and every inch of the sidewalk on either
side of High Street was densely crowded with a mournful throng assembled to
pay homage to departed worth. In all the enormous crowd profound silence
reigned. Conversation was carried on in whispers. The completeness of every
detail of the procession was remarked by all, and much praise awarded to the com-
mittee of arrangements. The display made by the various orders and associations
in the procession elicited universal commendation. The Fire Department was
the subject of especial notice and praise. The neat clean uniforms of the men,
the splendid condition of the steamers and hosecarts, and the decorated car filled with
fortytvvo young ladies habited in deep mourning, were among the notable incidents
of the day. A very impressive feature of the oec^asion was the singing by the young
ladies in the mourning car of the Fire Department of the 1027th hymn of the
Methodist Episcopal collection, eommencin<; with : " Great Ruler of the earth and
skies," and the 1018th hymn : " Behold, O Lord, before thy throne." . .
Along the entire line of march, dwelling houses, shops, stores, and other places
of business, as well as all public buildings, were tastefully and solemnly decor-
ated. . . . The great feature of the decoration was found at the clothinghouse
of Marcus Childs in the Neil House building. Thousands of persons were attracted
by the beauty and appropriateness of the designs and the very elegant manner in
which they were carried out. ... At the base of the front" windows a draped
portrait of Mr. Lincoln was exhibited, and each doorway was hung in heavy
festoons of black cloth. Over all a draped flag was extended.
*''Sm^:LI>M. Co^ C'"'
as^i.~^i
See pages 323 and 844; and page 919, Vol, 1.
Victory and Sorrow— 1S65. 153
The west gateway of the Capitol Square was arched and bore the simple
inscription Ohio Mourns. The columns at the West Front of the Capitol were
tastelully drajied in spiral turns of mourning cloth from top to bottom. Imme
diately over tlie entrance (west front) was placed the inscription, Gorl Mores in ,i
',1,1/strriniis ii-iii), and over the cornice of the columns was placed a quotation from
Presidciil Liiu'oln's inaugural address : With Malice to none, vxith Charity for oil.
Each of the windows in the west front was heavily draped.
About nine o'clock the head of the procession arrived at the west entrance of
Capitol Square. The Eightyeighth Ohio Infantry, acting as a special escort,
passed in immediately, forming lines in two ranks on each side of the passway
from the gate to the steps of the Capitol. During the momentary delay the
silence and deep feeling manifested by the people in the procession, by those
crowding the streets in every direction and by those gazing from every available
window was without precedent. ... As the cofiSn, borne upon the shoulders of
eight of the sergeants constituting the Veteran Guards, passed towards the arch-
way, the bands gave expression to the solemn emotions of the hour in a dirge. . . .
Slowly and solemnly the escort, headed by General Hooker and staff and Gov-
ernor Brough and staff, passed to the Capitol entrance and reverently the coflSn
was lowered from the shoulders of the veterans to the flowery bed awaiting it.
The officers named, with their attendants, Major-General Hunter and staff, the gen-
eral officers in charge of the corpse from Washington, General Wager Swayne
and staff, the ])allbearers and members of committees, assumed their proper places
around the catafalque with uncovered heads; the guard from the Veteran Eeserve
Cor))S formed in line on each side, and as soon as the corpse was in place, Eev. C.
E. Feltoii offered an appropriate pra3'er. Impressive as was the scene, it was sur-
passed by the one that followed immediately on opening the coffin. Amid silence
almost painful the lid was raised — a sigh from those present -a slight movement
by the undertaker — and for minutes all was again as still as death. The veteran
officers and soldiers, with bowed heads, seemed immovable as statues, unconscious-
ly everj' face mirrored the contending emotions of the heart and the grouping
around the dead of citizens and soldiers, seen by those forming the head of the
procession at the foot of the western stairway formed a scene never to be forgot-
ten, and not to be described. Mrs. Hoffner, representing tlie Horticultural Society
of Cincinnati, the onlj- lady present, stepped softly forward and placed at the foot
of the coffin an anchor composed of delicate white flowers and evergreen boughs, a
wreath of the same upon the breast of the dead and a cross at the head. Instruc-
tions were given more by signs than words, and arrangements made for the people
to look upon the remains.
The rotunda of the capitol, well calculated for display, grand in its loftiness
and much the resort of our people, was transformed into a gorgeous tomb. The
column of light streaming down from the lofty dome made distinct and impressive
each feature of the solemn scene below. There was no stiffness to jar witii softened
feeling. . . . The entrance ways and the corresponding panels were uniformly
drajied with black cloth falling in heavy folds from the arches to the floor. In the
panels the drapings were gathered to the sides equidistant from arch to floor and
then allowed to fall in fulT volume and closing at the bottom as at the top. In
three of these central spaces thus formed were grouped the warworn battle flags of
veteran Ohio regiments. In the other panels, the one between the north and east
enti-aiices, tastefully mounted and appropriately draped, was Powell's painting,
Pirrifs \',rf,,i-i/. . . . Above the j)anels, entirely round the dome, were three rows
of festoons with black and white jiendants, the whole Joining ajipropriately the
general drapings below.
On a phitform with the base of 211x28 feet, rising by five steps until it
presented a top surface perhajis onchalf as large, was placed the dais for the rece])-
154 History of the City of Columbus.
tion of the coffin. This platform, tastefully carpeted, the rise of each step dressed
in black, was ornamented with emblematical flowers and plants in va^cs so arranged
as to present with their impression of beauty, the sorrow for the deaij. At the
lorners facing the west entrance were large Viises containing lieautifui specimens
of amaranth, and midway between them ii grand central vase glowing with the
richness and beauty of the choicest flowers of the season. A similar disposition of
vases faced the east entrance, from the corner ones the flowers of the emblematical
Justitia reaching to the height of the dais. Around these large vases wore jfrouped
smaller ones, rising in grailations of beauty with theste)is (jf the ])latform. Tiie dais
was most properly the crowning beauty of the sti-uctui-e. and in a brief description it
is impossible to do it justice. Kectaugiilar in form, with a side elevatino ipf two feet,
it was without canopy and beautifulTy oramented. The sides were covered with
black bi-oadclotli, over which drooped from the top festoons of white nieiiini and
tassels of white silk. The end facing the west entrance bore, inscribed on a Idack
panel with white border, in silver letters, the word " Lincoln." From the festoon-
ing at the top, rose in graceful swell a bed of white roses, immortelles and orange
blossoms, the pure white relieved only by the deep fresh green of the leaves and
sprigs accompanyi!ig.
The Guard of Honor was relieved by the following named officers, acting in
the same capacity and under the immediate charge of Colonel J. A. Wilcox and Major
L. S. Sullivant: Captain Douglas, 13th O. V. I.; Captain Stivers, U. S. A.; Cap-
tain Walker, 5th O. V. C; Captain A. T. Wikoff, 91st O. V. I.; Captain McGroat ;
Captain Hull, 18th O. V. I.; Captain H. P. Wands, 22d Michisjan : Captain Davis,
18th O. V. I.; Captain Haniial, 124th O. V. I.; Lieuteant Horringer, Second O. V.
C; Lieutenant J. H. Orr, 109th O. V. I.; Lieutenant H. B. Frcetnan, 18th O. V. I.;
Adjutant D. C. Patrick and Lieutenants J. B. Dague, G. I. Davison, J. D. Wilson
and Norris Killen, of the 88th O. V. I.
The officers, pallbearers and committees after looking upon the remains
retired, excepting those having the body in charge. The officers forming the
guards were assigned their positions, and without delay the people commenced
moving into the rotunda. First came the various military' organizations of the
procession, the men formed in four ranks, marching without noise upon a carpet
to the catafalque, passing by twos on each side of the coffin — the face and uppQr
part of the body being brought in full view of each individual — and then those
on the right passing out at the south and those on the left turning to the north.
Then followed in order the various delegations of the procession, succeeded by
the people e« ma.s.se ; the same order being preserved throughout the daj'. . . .
By actual count it was found that over eight thousand passed in and out every
hour from half after nine until four o'clock, and, making due allowance, 'tis
thought that over fifty thousand people viewed the remains in that time. The
unparalleled good order 2)revailing at all times must remain ever a source of pride
to all participating.
Many scenes during the day were affecting and impressive, but to chronicle
tliem would fill a volume. All felt the sorrow, and countenance and act mirrored
it with striking plainness. Thousands of persons stood in line on High Street,
four abreast; the lines extending in either direction north from the west gateway
to Long Street, and south from the west gateway to Rich Street, patiently await-
ing their o|pportunily. For more than six hours a steady stream of humanity
poured through the channel, all eager to gaze at the martyred President on his
bier.
The time appointed for the oration was three o'clock p. m. ; the place, the
East Front of the Capitol. The orator was Hon. Job E. Stevenson. An immense
audience gathered around the platform which was erected for the s])eaking
Victory and Sorrow— 18(15. 155
immediately in front of the eastern entrance, and upon which appeared, besides
the orator, Major-Generals Hunter, Hooker and Barnard, Brigadier-Generals
Townsend and McCallum, Colonels Swords, Simpson and Lathrop, C.iptnin Tay-
lor, Hon. T. B. Shannon of California, Hon. T, W. Ferry of Michigan, Hon. Mr.
Clarke of Kansas and Eeverends B. P. Goodwin and ('. E. Felton, of Columbus.
After military music, and a hymn sung by a choir, directed by J. A. Scai-i-itt,
prayer was offered by Mr. Goodwin, another hymn was sung and the oration was
delivered. Mr. Coggeshall thus describes the departure of the remains:
At six o'clock in the evening the doors of the Capitol were closed, the bugle
sounded the assembly, the soldier.s took arm.s and the procession began reforming
for the final escort to the depot. As the body was being borne out to the funeral
carat the west gateway of the Capitol grounds a national salute was fired. Soon
after, the procession moved, and the remains of the President were transferred
to the funeral ear at the depot of the Indiana Central Railway- for transportation
to Indianapolis.
The committee superintending the catafalque in the rotunda detLriniiicd to
allow it to I'emain until the remains of Mr. Lincoln were cmisigned to the tomb ;it
Springfield, and it is to be recorded as a memorable deed for the citizens of Colum-
bus, that every morniiur until that fourth of May fresh flowers were pi iced around
the dais where the President's coffin had rested, and thousands of men, women and
children visited and revisited the catufalque, and again and again with sad emotion
viewed the symbols of grief which decorated the rotunda of Ohio's Capitol, in which,
in Februai'y, IStil, Mr. Lincoln had been given the most enthusiastic reception ever
bestowed by the people of Ohio upon a citizen of the Republic.
NOTES.
1. Ohio Slute Journal, April 10, 1805.
2. Lincoln Memorial, 1SG5.
CHAPTER X
RETURN OF THE VOLUNTEERS.
With the victories in Virginia the prodigious activities of war preparation
came to a sudden halt. B3' order of April 14 all further recruiting in Ohio was
su.spended. Up to that date, however, the work of organizing and forwarding
troops was in no wise relaxed, and during the first months of the year various
military movements of local interest took place. On January 8 the Fiftyeighth
Ohio Infantr}^ arrived from Vieksburg for musterout, which took place January
14. On February 22 the One Hundred Eightyfourth, a oneyear regiment
organized at Camp Chase, quitted that camp for Nashville. The One Hundred
Eightj'fiftli, oneyear, organized at Camp Chase February 26, set out the next day
for the same destination. The One Hundred Eightj'sixth, oneyear, which com-
pleted its musterin at Camp Chase March 2, left for Tennessee the following
morning. The One Hundred Eightyseventh, oneyear, organized at Camp Chase
March 1, left for Nashville March 3. The One Hundred Eightyeighth, oneyear,
organized at the same camp March 4, left on the same day for the same destina-
tion. The One Hundred Eightj-ninth, organized at Camp Chase for one year
March 5, left for Huntsville, Alabama, March 7. The One Hundred Niuetyfirst,
organized for one year at Camp Chase March 10, left the same day for Winchester,
Virginia. The One Hundred Ninetysecond, organized at the same camj) on the
same date and for the same term, left for Halltown, near Harper's Ferry,
Virginia, March 12. The One Hundred Ninetythird organized at Camp Chase
for one year, left for Harper's Ferry March 13. The One Hundred Ninetyfourth,
organized for one year at Camp Chase March 14, left the same daj- for Charles-
town, Virginia. The One Hundred Ninetyfifth, oi'ganized at Camp Chase for
one year, left for Harper's Ferry March 20. The One Hundred Ninetysixth,
organized for one year at Camp Chase March 25, set out immediately for
Winchester, Virginia. The One Hundred Ninetyseventh, which completed its
organization at Camp Chase April 12, for one j^ear, left on April 25 for
Washington Citj-. The recruits for new organizations received at Camp Chase
from January 2 to February 4, 1865, numbered 2,480. Seven hundred and sixty
paroled Union soldiers arrived from Annapolis February 23.
The military arrivals and departures at Tod Barracks during the first months
of 1865 were almost continuous. On March 15 five hundred exchanged soldiers
[156]
WlM-0 1
•ccoiv
(Ml. A -riKTul conrl-
in- tlu.
SiUlK
• month. Amoiii;- the
m1 from
1 Ann
i;i]iolis, Maryland, and
i.-i, Vir;
,nui;i.
On June "fourth 350
[iirnnN of the Voi
arrived from Annapolis. On Ajiril first 050 i
to the field ; on April fifth 1,0,S(; ])arolcd men
martial held its sittings at the harraeks dur
arrivals in May were five or si.x hiindriMl p:irol
125 sick, disabled and paroled IVom Alcxandi
drafted men and substilutes returned to llie barraeks from Alexandria for
mvisterout. They had been assigned to various Ohio regiments in tlio Ami}- of
the Cumberland and had roaehed Atlanta just in time to participate in Shermau's
march to the seacoast.
One of the earliest Confederate arrivals of the year vrasthat of 2,200 ca])tives
taken by General Thomas, and delivered at Camp Chase January 4. Twelve
hundred more taken from Hood's army arrived January 6. During the month of
February Lieutenant-Colonel R. J. Breckenridge, 8up]iosed to have been sent into
Ohio by the Confederate authorities to induce deserters from their armies to return,
was arrested and confined in the Penitentiary. In May he was transferred to
Johnson's Island. An order of the War Department authorizing the organization
of a battalion of the Confederates at Camp Chase for western service being
announced to the prisoners in March, two thousand of them offered to volunteer
for that service. On May fifth 522 captives from North Carolina were received.
On May fifteenth, 108 took the oath of allegiance, and were furnished transporta-
tion to their homes. The number of Confederates in Camp Chase June 10 was
3,200. Six hundred who had taken the oath of allegiance left for their homes
June 12; seven hundred more who had taken the oath were at the same time
awaiting transportation. By June 28 the camp was entirely cleared of Confeder-
ates, a few only having refused to take the oath of allegiance. A good many of
the released captives sought employment in and about the city. In the early
spring refugees from the South arrived at Columbus almost daily. Fortythree
prisoners from Arkansas who had been convicted as spies, guerrillas, etc., wei-e
delivered to the Penitentiary June 26.
The discharge of G-overnment employes at Columbus began early in May. A
committee of citizens to arrange suitable receptions for the returning volunteers
was appointed June 5, with J. J. Janney as chairman, and C. S. Dyer as secretary.
This committee soon had plenty to do. Among the very first to command its
attentions were various deachments from Sherman's army which were received at
Tod Barracks June 8. Several more detaehments from the same army arrived
June 9 and were marched to the capitol, where they were addressed by Hon.
David Tod and Hon. Charles Anderson. They were then conducted to Goodale
Park where they were served with a dinner, and further addressed by Governor
Brough, Colonel Given, Samuel Galloway and Granville Moody. The Ninety-
seventh and One Hundred Twentyfirst Ohio Infantry arrived at Camp Chase for
final pay and musterout June 14. These regiments and detachments of various
others were dined at Goodale Park on that date and were on that occasion
addressed by Hon. Samuel Galloway and others. On the same day the Twenty-
fourth Ohio Independent Battery passed through the city en route to Camp Den-
nison. The One Hundred First passed Columbus to Cleveland June 15; on the
158 History of the City of Columbus.
same date the Fortj-fifth arrived and was mustered out at Tod Barracks. The
Seventyeighth was paid and discharged at Tod Barracks June 16. On the next
day a reception was given to the Fortyfifth and various other troops at Goodale
Park. Speeches were made on this occasion by Governor Brough, Peter Odlin
and State Treasurer Dorsej'. For a time these formal receptions were kept up,
but tlie daily arrival of battalions and regiments for several successive weeks soon
made their repetition monotonous, and after some further heroic efforts to main-
tain them they were discontinued.
The One Hundred Seventysixth arrived and was paraded in the Capitol
Square June 17. It was mustered out at the Tod Barracks June 18. On June 20
tlie One Hundred Seventyninth was formally received at Goodale Park. The
speakers of the occasion were Messrs. Galloway and Dorsey. Eight hundred and
eighty men were discharged at the barracks June 24. The One Hundred Fifteenth
passed the city en route to Cleveland June 28. On June 29 a wagontrain of 250
veliieles from General Sherman's army passed through the city going westward
on the National Road. The wagons, each drawn by a team of six mules, were
accomjjanied by a drove of 500 of these animals. The One Hundred Twenty-
second, One Hundred Twentysixth and part of the One Hundred Tenth were
formally received at Goodale Park June 29. Speeches were made by Chief Justice
Chase and Hon. Samuel Galloway.
Among the July arrivals for musterout were those of the One Hundred
Seventyfourth, July 5; the One Hundred Seventyeighth, July 8; the Twenty-
second Independent Battery (Neil's), same date ; the One Hundred Twentyeighth,
from Johnson's Island, July 11 ; the Twelfth Independent Battery, July 10; the
Seventyeighth Ohio Infantry, July 11; the Fortythird, July 13; the Twentieth,
July 16 ; the Sixtysixth, July 19; General Sherman's Headquarters Guard, July
20; the One Hundred Eightieth, July 23 ; the One Hundred Eightythird, same
date; the Ninetysixth, July 24 ; the Twenty-first, July 26 ; tlie Portysixth, same
date; the Eightysecond, July 28 ; the One Hundred Eightythird, same date; the
Thirtysixth, same date ; the Ninth Cavalry, July 31. The Twentythird Ohio
Infantry arrived from Cumberland en route to Cleveland. On July 8 the One
Hundred Thirteenth was given a formal reception and dinner in Goodale Park.
Speeches were made by General J. G. Mitchell, H. C. Noble, Colonel James A.
Wilcox, Lieutenant-Colonel D. B. Warner and General J. D. Cox. The ceremonies
were interrupted by rain.
The One Hundred Ninetyseventh arrived at Tod Barracks August 3, and the
One Hundred Ninetythird at Camp Chase August 6. On August 15 the One Hun-
dred Fourteenth arrived at Tod Barracks and the Seventeenth Independent Bat-
tery at Camp Chase. The Ninetyfifth arrived at Tod Barracks August 16, and on
the seventeenth was banqueted at the Neil House. Before an unoccupied chair at
this banquet was placed a garland of white flowers bound with red, white and
blue ribbon and occupied by a card inscribed : " Captain Oscar Dwight Kelton. "
Captain Kelton had been killed at the battle of Guntown. Tod Barracks received
the Thirtieth Ohio Infantry August 21, the Eightieth August 23, and the Fifty-
seventh August 24, The Second Heavy Artillery was discharged at Camp Cuase
IJktiiiin (II'' THE Vhijntef.rs. IfiO
August 29. Cam]) DcnnisoM having by this Lime bcuii brokcii up, and Tod Bar
I'aei'is appropriated for other pui-])Oses, Camp Cliasc was the only remaining ren-
dezvous for the paymonl and diseliarge of Oiiio tro()))s. The soealled Permanent
Party, organized liy Major SI;iU's tor ^uard duly at tiie Tod Barracks, and consist-
ing of about one hundred disaired veterans frcnn variou- Ohio regiments, was dis-
banded June 15. Often companies of tlie Veteran lleeervc Corps which ai-rived
from Baltimore for guard and garrison duty in Ohio July 22, four companies were
assigned to Tod Barracks and six to Camp Chase. The barracks ceased to be a
military post September 11. Major vSkiles had been relieved from duty some days
before to accept a ticket ageticy on the Columbus & Indiana Central Railway. He
was a onearmed veteran, and had discharged the duties of his arduous position
with great efficiency. The barracks were reopened as a military rendezvous Jan-
uary 23, 1866, and were not finally closed until August 1 of that year. The last
commandant was Lieutenant P. W. Kobinson, successor to Colonel George A.
Woodwai'd. The material composing the barracks buildings was sold April 11,
1867, for about »1,400.
Further arrivals of returning volunteers in 1865 were as follows : One Hun-
dred Ninetysecond, September 3 ; Seventysecond, September 16; One Hundred
Eigbtysixth, September 22 ; One Hundred Eightyeighth and First Ohio Cavalry,
September 25 ; One Hundred Twcntj'seventh Colored Infantry', October 5 ; One
Hundred Twentyfifth, October 15 ; Eighteenth, October 22 ; Fiftyfirst, October 30 ;
Fifth Cavalry, November 10; Twentysixth Infantry, November 12; Twelfth
Cavalry, November 17; Fortyfirst Infantry and Fifth Cavalry, November 18 ;
Twelfth Cavalry (mustered out), November 22 ; Fortyfirst Infantry (mustered out),
November 26; Sixtyseventh, December 12 ; One Hundred Ninetyfifth, December
21 ; Sixtyfifth, December 27 ; Forty ninth, December 28.
An army train of 250 wagons, each drawn by six mules, jjassed through the
city, bound for Fort Leavenworth, September 22. It had come, by the National
Eoad, from Washington. Another train of 256 wagons, bound for the same des-
tination, under Captain Hoskins, Assistant-Quartermaster, arrived September 28,
and was corraled over night at Frauklinton. It had traveled from Washington by
the National Eoad at the rate of 15^ miles per day. This train also was bound for
Fort Leavenworth, but its march ended at Springfield, Illinois, where the mules
were sold and the wagons forwarded by rail.
The last of the volunteers to return to Columbus from the field arrived in the
year 1866 as follows : Sixtyfourth, January 3 ; Eightyeighth (Camp Chase guard),
July 3; Thirteenth, January 11; One Hundred Eightyseventh, January 27;
Seventyseventh, March 23 ; Fiftysixth, May 4 ; Fortyeighth, Maj' 23 ; Twentyfifth,
June 12. The last Ohio troops in the field were the Eleventh Cavalry, which had
been engaged in service against the Indians on the Western Plains. This regi-
ment arrived at Toil Barracks July 18 and was there mustered out July 20 and
21. The last volunteers to be discharged in Ohio were Lieutenant F. W. Eobin-
son's detachment from the Fourth Eegiment of Veteran Reserves. The soldiers
of this detachment, twentyseven in number, were from other States than Ohio.
They were mustered out August 3.
1(10 IllSTORV OP THE CiTV ()¥ CoLU.MIiUS.
Thus the volunteer army reached its final extinction so far as it was enlisted
from or held organized connection with the State of Ohio.
Under date of June 17, 1865, the Ohio Statesman thus vouched for the good
behavior of the returning veterans:
For a week or more soldiers have been arriving at this point and daily departing for their
homes, having received their pay and discharge at Camp Chase and Tod Barracks, yet every
citizen will bear witness that fewer soldiers have been seen loitering about town than at any
former period since the commencement of the war. While civilians are daily arrested and
fined for drunkenness and disorderly conduct, it is rare, indeed, that a soldier is found at the
morning levees of Mayor Bull.
One of many interesting incidents of the return is thus recorded in the Ohio
Statesman of June 12, 1865:
Some three years ago a young man, Gershom Rose, residing at Claypoole's Mills, near
Zanesville, in Muskingum County enlisted in Company B, Seventyeightli O. V. I. He left a
most affectionate and devoted mother, of whom he was both the darling and the pride. For a
long time past she had not heard a word from him, as he was with Sherman's army in its
grand sweeping campaign through the South. She had almost given up her darling boy as
lost. But, unexpectedly, about ten days ago, a letter came from him saying that a detach-
ment of men from the Seventyeighth would start in a few ilays for Columbus, and he should
come home with them.
The fond mother could scarcely believe her eyes when she read this letter. The news
was too good to be true. It formed the subject of her thoughts by niglit and by day. At
length, on Saturday morning last, as she was out in the yard of her dwelling attending to some
household work, a neighbor called and stated that the expected detachment of the Seventy-
eighth bad arrived at Tod Barracks, and that her son was among the men. The full realiza-
tion of the actual truth that her longlost boy was so near home was too much for the mother's
ph}'sical frame. • That loving heart throbbed violently for a few moments, and then was still
forever. On Saturday evening a friend of the family arrived at the barracks and announced
to the young soldier the sad news of his mother's death. That night he left for home to
attend his mother's funeral yesterday.
A soldier eager to return to civil life without unnecessary formalitj' wrote as
follows to the Governor:
Camp near Sweatwater,
Tenasee, August 4th, 1.S65.
Governor Brougli, Sir: — The demoraliseing effect of woods lite having become so vividly
portraid to me I would earnistly recomend that the 12th 0. V. C. now at this place be
mustered out of the U. S. Servis at the earlist posable oppertunity.
Adrean Siiaw.
Resolved also that I Adrean Shaw do hereby theas presents respectfully tender my resig-
nation wich I hope will meet with the necessary Promptitude of action required.
Private A. Shaw.
The Ohio State Journal of March 27, 1866, contained the following:
Soldiers on their entry into a city, after discharge, with pockets full of money sometimes
do very foolish things and make odd purchases. Not least among the last mentioned are the
suits of new and awkwardy fitting clothes that they jump into at the first opportunity. On
Monday evening a returned veteran glorying in all the finery of a new rig, not excepting kid
gloves, was marching along High Street in a pair of bootees just purchased. They were
several sizes too small, and the feet, so used to the freedom of the flatbottoined army shoes,
rebelled. Veteran was in misery ; veteran couldn't walk and immediately resolved that
'b^fiLAJLM^-^&(^^
Mtfm iw,) ' Bit Ca Cmh ,0
See page 323 ; and page 920, Vol. I.
Return of the Voi.unteeps. 161
"something must be done." He had been too many ye.irs a soldier to be disconcerted long,
so he seated himself on the pavement, took off shoes and socks, but not his kid gloves,
and resumed his march toward the barracks with a free, round swinging gait that spoke of
the " Grand March " and of many a raid on the Rio Grande and total inditl'ereuce as to cold
and the observation of spectators.
The prison propertj^ at Camp Chase was offered for sale at public auction July
14, by order of General Richardson. An inspection of the camp was made October
12 by General Thomas M. Vincent of the United States Army, and a general
eourtmartial was held there in November, 1805, and again in January, 1866. By
order of the Secretary of War Camp Thomas was discontinued as a recruiting
depot for the regular army early in October. During the first week in February,
1866, the military records and documents at Camp Chase were removed to Colum-
bus, and that camp ceased to be considered as an army post, although, for safety
of the public property it was still under guard of a detachment of the Veteran
Reserve Corps. A sale of the Government property at the camp began in March
but was suspended by order from the War Department. By the middle of April
all the Government property had been removed except the buildings, and these
were tenantless. On May 3 the condition of the camp, a few months previously
the scene of so much activity and excitement, was thus described :'
It is no longer a military centre, no more a living thing ; the city is deserted, the giant
form a skeleton. Hundreds and thousands of armed men paraded as the guardians of the
living thing ; a single man unarmed keeps watch and ward over the remains of the thing
dead waiting for burial. Two years ago you entered the precincts of Camp Chase armed
with passes signed and countersigned ; were directed by shortspoken orderlies ; warned by
straight up-and-down sentinels; received with punctilious standoffishness by officials ; and
came away duly impressed with the military power of the country. Now, you drive up to
the gate as you would to that of a cemetery ; the guardian presents himself in his shirt-
sleeves ; you tell him your desires ; ho kicks away a huge stone ; opens the gate ; cautions
you a little, and you enter unchallenged and unheralded to the mighty presence of the great
solitude of loneliness. The rows of barracks remain unchanged ; the flowers planted by
some careful wife of some careless officer are ready to record that " the hand of woman has
been here ;" the flagstaff stands without pulley, rope or flag ; the chapel with its halfchange
in the latter day to a theatre remains a monument of the one, a telltale of the other ; the
prison pens frown still with barred gates, but are silent within. In one, the scaffold on
which Hartrup and Oliver were executed' stands firm — the grim guardian of the ghostly
solitude — and with beam in place and trap half sprung seems waiting for another victim.
Everywhere are the marks of the skeleton. The pumpstocks have all been withdrawn from
the wells ; the windows from the buildings ; grass growing on the paradeground. Old shoes
tumbled into promiscuous groupings tell which buildings have been last occupied, and the
martin boxes give some signs of life. A little fruittree in the midst of all this loneliness
blossoms and puts forth leaves with all the proud defiance of nature, and with a scornful
fling with every wave of wind for the works of man perishing on every side.
For the military post of Columbus very few noteworthy events remain to be
recorded. Toward the end of September, 1865, Surgeon J. Y. Cantwell was
relieved from duty as post surgeon, his services being no longer needed. In
November General James A. Wilcox, Provost-Marshal-General for Ohio, was
directed to close all the offices of district provost-marshals and transfer their
IP
162 History op the City of roLUMBPs.
records to Columbus. General Wilcox assumed command of tbe Military District
of Ohio January 30, 1866, but in the following September we find him out of tbe
service and resuming the practice of law.'' In July, Major Henry Douglas, who
had for more than a year been mustering and disbursing officer at Columbus, was
relieved by Captain George McGown. Early in August, Colonel H. P. Wolcott,
who was for a long time paymaster at the post, was ordered to Washington.
At this point of transition from the turbulent conditions of war back into
the serene atmosphere of peace, some further retrospect of the soldiers' relief
work in Columbus may properly be taken. During the summer of 1S61 a branch
of the United Stales Sanitary Commission was organized in the city. Its Presi-
dent was William M. Awl ; Vice President, J. B. Thompson ; Secretary, John W.
Andrews ; Treasurer, T. G. Wormley ; Executive Committee, J. B. Thompson, Peter
Ambos and F. C. Sessions. The latter, on the resignation of Mr. Andrews, suc-
ceeded him as secretary. On April 22, 1862, a Soldiers' Home was established by
this society at the railway station, with Isaac Dalton in charge. A twostory build-
ing cre«ted near the station during the spring and summer of 1883, for tiie use of the
Home, was occupied during the ensuing October. Additions to this building after-
wards increased its dimensions to 24x140 feet, besides a small annex, the whole
costing about five thousand^ollars and being chiefly furnished by citizens of Co-
lumbus. The superintendents were T. E. Botsford and Isaac Dalton. It was their
duty to provide for the sick and wounded, to furnish transient soldiers with meals
and lodging, to advise and assist them at the arrival and departure of trains, and
to be generally helpful to all sojourning and traveling soldiers while in the citj-.
To keep soldiers from being swindled or otherwise imposed upon a police force
at the station was maintained. The Home was finally closed May 7, 1866. Dur-
ing the period of its operations it gave lodgings to about fifty thousand men, and
dispensed 136,000 meals. It also fed a considerable number of refugees from the
South. The buildings were finally sold by the trustees on March 16, 1867.
The Columbus Society sent to the front large quantities of supplies for the sick
and wounded, and also sent its agents to accompany them. Conspicuous among
these agents were Doctor S. M. Smith, Doctor Starling Loving and Mr. F. C.
Sessions. Without compensation, Mr. Sessions spent the greater part of his time
for two years in this relief work, in the course of which he visited Kentucky,
Fort Donelson, Pittsburgh Landing, Murfreesboro, Nashville, Antietam and the
armies of Fremont and Grant in Virginia. Under direction of the Society a sani-
tary committee made frequent inspection of the hospitals and camps around the
city to see that they wei'e properly provisioned and policed.
The Ladies' Aid Society was indefatigable in its efforts from the beginning of
the war to the end. Its president during the greater part of the time after Mrs.
Dennison, was Mrs. W. E. Ide. Among its most active members were Mrs. S. J.
Haver, Mrs. George Heyl, Mrs. Lewis Heyl, Miss M. L. Swayne, Mrs. S. M. Smith,
Miss Pamelia Sullivant, Mrs. H. C. Noble, Mrs. Harvey Coit, Mrs. Alexander
Houston, Mrs. Joseph H. Geiger, Mrs. Isaac Castor, Mrs. James Beebe, Mrs.
John S. Hall, Mrs. William G. Deshler, Mrs. Walter Brown, Mrs, E. T. Morgan,
Mrs. F. C. Sessions and Mrs. John W. Andrews.
Return of the Voi-unteers. 103
The disbursements of the Pranlvlin Coiuity lloliof Fund, as reportt-d to tlie
Governor, were as follows: To September, 1861, $345.50; 1862,1997.13; 1863,
$11,789.98 ; 1864, $24,535.00; 1865, 836, 556.49 ; to April, 1866, $9,294.00.
In January, 1864, the Oliio Senate passed a resolution introduced bj^ Mr.
Gunckel looking to the establishment of a State Soldiers' Home. A bill reported
by Mr. Gunckel in pursuance of this resolution having passed the Senate, and
become a law, a board of trustees was appointed by Governor Anderson, and the
Tripler Hospital,^ located near Camp Chase and used for the sick of that camp
during the war, was donated to the State for the Home by the National Govern-
ment. The board held its first meeting at the ho,spital October 3, 1865, and
organized bj- electing Surgeon-General Barr ]3residcnt, and L. B. Gunckel secre-
tary. The Superintendent of the Home appointed by the board at this meeting
was Captain Isaac Brayton, of Newburg; the Resident Surgeon, Dr. J. C. Denise,
of Dayton, and the Consulting Surgeon, Doctor Barr, Surgeon-General of Ohio.
Doctor Denise had been executive officer at the Tripler Hospital from its opening
to its close. The Home was formally opened October 17, and on that date received
fifteen disabled veterans. On the occasion of the opening an address was delivered
by Governor Anderson. By November 20 the number of inmates had risen above
one hundred. A considerable quantity of public ]iroperly which had been used
at Tod Barracks was donated to the Home by order of the Secretary of War. By
March 1, 1866, the number of disabled soldiers at the Home had increased to 190,
of whom ten were of African descent. One year later the number of inmates was
250. On March 2, 1866, Doctor C. McDermott was appointed trustee, vice Doctor R.
N. Barr, resigned. On March 26, 1867, the State Home was formally tendered to
and accepted by the trustees of the National Soldiers' Home, to be u.sed tem-
porarily by that institution until its trustees should erect its permanent buildings.
In May, 1867, the officers of the Home under its National management, were as
follows: Superintendent, Captain E. E. Tracy; Surgeon, Doctor C. McDermott;
Chaplain, Rev. Mr. Tolford, succeeded shortly afterward by Rev. Mr. Hill; Secre-
tary and Steward, A. P. Woodruff; Matron, Mrs. E. L. Miller. Expectation was
then current that the Home would be permanently located at either White Sulphur
Springs, in Delaware Count3-, or at Dayton. It went to Dayton.
The construction of buildings for the United States Arsenal located at
Columbus in 1863, as already narrated,' was carried on during the war as rapidly
as circumstances would permit. It was supervised by Colonel T. C. Bradford, as-
sisted by Joseph O. Sawyer. George W. Bradford receiving and time clerk ; Cap-
tain E. Penrose Jones, military storekeeper; Daniel Barnhart, master mason ; and
Colonel Cyrus Reasoner, master carpenter, were also connected with the work.
The main arsenal building, 180 feet long, sixty wide and three stories high was
built on plans furnished by the Ordnance Department of the National Army and
composed exclusively of stone, brick, iron and slate. Officers' quarters, a magazine
30x50 feet, and temporary buildings for the repair and storage of arms were also
erected. During the summer of 1865 proposals for a twostory artillery storehouse
were invited. The main building and magazine having been by that time com-
pleted, the transfer thither of stores from the eastern arsenals began in August.
KU History of the City of Coi.hmiuts.
the commandant's office in the centre. The first commandant at the arsenal was
Captain J. W. Todd, who took charge September 3, 1803, and whose successors
down to 1869 were as follows: December 3, 1803, Colonel (reorge B. Wright;
February 10, 1864, Captain T. C. Bradford; July 13, 1869, Major Theodore Ivison:
July 30, 1869, Captain B. P. Jones; No\-ember 19, 1869, Major John McNutt. ( )n
November 19, 1875, the arsenal changed its character to that of a United States
military post for rendezvous and recruiting as well as equijiment, and receivetl the
garrison which had occupied the barracks at Newport, Kentucky. The Ne\v]iort
|ianicd by its famous militar
V l.:ini
1 nf fori
vtlve ]iieccs. The
vU,> took charge at the time «t
nns,.|
laiin'O, w
as Colonel R. C.
niiiaiided at New])ort. Sincc^
tills c
pocTi 'th
e concerts, dress-
IS at the garrison have conti'ih
Ulc.l 11
IllK-ll to
tlio social interest
Mason, who li
parades ami r
of Cohunbns.
When the General Assemblj- authorized the sale of the Old Penitentiary lots
in 1860, three of them were reserved as a site for a State Arsenal to be erected
with the proceeds of the lots sold. For the erection and equipment of the build-
ing, the cost of which was forbidden to exceed $14,000, the General Assembly
appropriated $6,000 additional to the amount realized from the sale of the Peni-
tentiary lots. A further appropriation of $2,500 was made in 1863 for the
improvement of the building and its grounds.
On July 3, 1865, while the great volunteer armies of the Republic were
rapidly dissolving into the general mass of the people, the City Council of
Columbus adopted resolutions extending the hospitalities of the city to General
William Tecumseh Sherman. The invitation was accepted, and Mayor J. G. Bull,
G. Douty, President of the Council, and Councilman D. Gilmore, L. Donaldson
and Jacob Reinhard were appointed a committee to arrange for the reception of
the distinguished chieftain. On July 13 General Sherman, who had been sojourn-
ing at Lancaster, journeyed thence to Columbus, halting by the way to visit
Mr. John S. Rarey, the famous horsetamer. al Groveport. Here the general was
intercepted by a part of Governor Brough's military staff and a delegation from
the City Council of Columbus. He was also greeted by several hundreds of citi-
zens and former soldiers from the neighborhood. When he resumed his journey
in the early forenoon, the train bearing him was heavily crowded, and became
still more so as it passed from station to station. At Columbus the general
alighted amid the welcoming shouts of an immense multitude which awaited him,
and was saluted by the firing of artillery. As he was escorted up High Street,
its sidewalks and buildings were densely crowded with people, roses and garlands
were showered upon him and thousands of fair admirers signaled their compli-
ments with waving handkerchiefs. Alighting at the west entrance of the Capitol
he made his waj- with some difficully through the enthusiastic throng, which for
hours had here awaited him, and proceeded to the Governor's office, from whence,
after brief delay, he was conducted to the North Front, and there, in the presence
of the people, was formally welcomed to the city by Hon. W. B. Hubbard.
Greeted by what is described as "a perfect hurricane of applause," General
KeTTRN (IF THK V^OI.UNTEEKS, KJo
Sherman rcspouded briefly and apjiroiiriately. In tlie eoiirse of bis reinarkN
occurred the following passages:
I take pride in referring to Ohio as my home, though I have been tlirovvu liither and
thither so much that I scarcely know where I belong. I have been a long time separated
from you, but still when I return to you I find all the same. There have been changes, of
course, but these are entirely superficial. Here the same old flag floats from the Capitol,
the same good government secures peace and prosperity, and more than all, the same green
fields give forth abundant crops. I recollect when that old flag many years ago floated
above the Old Statehouse. Now the Statehouse is gone, but "the flag is still there," and
has been carried in triumph by Ohio's sons wherever they have gone. . . .
I can tell you nothing new about the war, can describe no new scenes in our long cam-
paigns, for, from Columbus to Portsmouth, from the Ohio River to the Lakes, you will find
in every house and every hamlet a bluecoated boy who marched with Sherman from
Tennessee down through Georgia to the sea and who has told the story better than I can do
it, because he saw it inside and outside.
In pursuing his theme General Sherman jmid a glowing tribute of praise to
the soldiers of Ohio, particularly naming Generals McPherson, Cox and Walcutt.
He retii-ed amid great cheering to the rotunda, where he spent some time with the
surging tiiousands who pressed in to take him by the hand. His exchanges of
greetings during this episode, particularly with wounded soldiers and little
children, were often touching or amusing. At two o'clock p. m. he was banqueted
at the Neil House as the guest of the City Government. About 150 representa-
tive citizens were present at the tables. Responses to the toasts proposed were
made by General J. D. Cox, Hon. H. C. Noble, J. H. Geiger, and others. In the
course of the response to which he was invited, General Sherman again highly
coin])limentcd the soldiers and military leaders which Ohio had furnished to the
war, particularly mentioning Generals Grant, McPherson and Swaj'ne. A por-
tion of his remarks personal to himself was thus recorded :
He alluded with feeling to misrepresentations to which he had been su'ojected ; to dis-
torted statements of his views — sometimes, doubtless, from misapprehension and sometimes
from motives be did not comprehend. He said that it had been surmised that he had
political aspirations. That was a great mistake. He would not accept the office of President
were it ofl'ered to him today. ... He would prefer to retain the military position he now
holds. He was quite satisfied with the reputation he had gained in it, and he intended to
take care of it.
In the evening, after the banquet, General Sherman attended the opera, whei'e
iinother most entliiisiaslic welcome awaited him. Attended by General Cox and
others, he ti)()k his seal in a private box which was decorated with flags and
flowers. As soon as he entered the opera house, the great audience which crowded
the liuildiiig broke into prolonged cheering, at the subsiding of which a patriotic
medley was played by the Eighteenth Infantry band. Following this, Mr.
Howard, of the theatrical troupe then engaged, recited a poem entitled " Sherman's
March to the Sea." After the opera General Sherman was serenaded at the Neil
but responded merely with thanks. He departed from Col urhbus early the follow-
ing morning for St. Louis.
On September 22, 1865, General Grant was invited to accept the hospitalities
of Columbus by a committee of citizens which visited him at Cincinnati for that
166 History of the City of Columbus.
purpose. On Tuesdaj^ October 3, the same committee, Hon. Geori^e M. Parsons,
chairman, intercepted the train bearing General Grant and party at Xenia, and
accompanied him thence to Columbus. At Xenia, London and other stopping
points on the way the General was greeted by enthusiastic crowds of people, but
resisted all solicitations to address them. He was accompanied by his family and
members of his staff. The train arrived at Columbus at noon. The city was
dressed with flags, and its streets were crowded with waiting throngs, all eager
to see and welcome the great, victorious commander of the Nation's armies. His
arrival was announced by the firing of artillery mingled with the shouts of eager
and admiring multitudes. Prom the railway station a procession, comprising
Governor Anderson and stafll, officers of the city government, military detachments
and the Fire Department, escorted the city's guest to the Capitol where, as along
the line of march on High Street, he was saluted by the plaudits of the people
assembled in many thousands. From the Governor's office, where he remained
but a few minutes, he was escorted to a suitable point, and introduced to "one of
the largest crowds ever assembled in Capitol Square." His appearance was a
signal for great applause, but he declined to say anytliing in response except to
express his thanks for the compliment. He was then conducted to an appointed
station in the rotunda, whither thousands upon thousands eagerly surged to claim
the privilege of taking him bj- the hand. Among the most earnest of these were
two thousand children from the public schools.
From the Capitol, after this levee. General Grant was conducted to the Asylum
for the Insane, and the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, for an inspection of
these examples of Ohio's public charity. At four o'clock p. m. he was banqueted
at the Neil House, where covers had been laid for about two hundred guests.
Governor Anderson presided on this occasion. Among the other prominent
persons present were Major-General B. 0. C. Ord, then commanding the Depart-
ment of the Ohio, and Ex-Governor David Tod. At the table brief addresses were
delivered by Governors Anderson and Tod, Hon. Samuel Galloway and Joseph H.
Geiger. General Grant again declined to attempt anything in the nature of a
speech, but gracefully expressed his thanks for the honors and hospitalities
bestowed upon him in Columbus. In the evening he attended a theatrical per-
formance at the Opera House, where he was received with prolonged cheering
by an audience which packed the building. About ten o'clock in the evening he
dejjartcd b}- rail for Pittsburgh.
NOTES.
1. Ohio State Journal.
2. An account of this execution will be found in another chapter.
3. Ohio State Journal, J anunry \0. 1806: " We stated some days ago that General
Wilcox liad been directed by Major-General Ord, commanding the department, to assume
command of the District of Ohio. General Wilcox, as Provost Marshal and Chief Mustering
Officer of the State, was subject only to orders of the War Department, and could not comply
with the request, or direction, and for some days the District remained without a recognized
Retukn op the Volunteers. 167
commander. Yesterday, in accordance with orders from Department Headquarters, Colonel
George A. Woodward, Twentysecond Veteran Reserve Corps, late Post Commandant at
Camp Chase, assumed command, with Lieutenant H. M. Jewett as AssistantAdjutant-Gen-
eral. Colonel Wood, of the Fourth Veteran Reserve Regiment (Hancock's Corps), succeeds
him as commander of the post at Camp Chase."
4. This hospital took its name from Surgeon C. S. Tripler, Medical Director at Cincin-
nati. Its location was about three miles west of Columbus.
5. The grounds comprised 77^4 acres, and were bought of Robert E. Neil for $112,377.
CHAPTER XIV,
WAR EXPERIENCES AT COLUMBUS.
BY (iENEKAL GEORGE IS. WRIGHT, LATE QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL OP OHIO.
[George Bohan Wright was horn near Granville, Licking County, Ohio, December 11,
1S15. His grandfathers, both maternal and paternal, were officers in the War of Indepen-
dence. His father was an officer in the war of 1812. His parents emigrated from Massa-
chusetts to Ohio in 1S08. George B. Wright was the youngest member of the family, com-
prising three brothers and two sisters. His earlier education was obtained at the district
school and the Granville Academy; he afterwards spent a year at the Western Reserve
College and also a year at the Ohio University at Athens. After having studied law and been
admitted to the bar at Newark he became interested as attorney and director in the San-
dusky, Mansfield & Newark, the Central Ohio, the Steubenville & Indiana, and later the
Scioto and the Hocking Valley railways. When the Civil War broke out in 1861 he engaged
actively in promoting enlistments for the Seventysixth Ohio Infantry Solicited by Gover-
nor Dennison to assist in the organization and equipment of the Ohio troops he became at
once engaged in that service at Columbus, where he was appointed Assistant Quartermaster-
General of Ohio, and three months later was appointed Chief Quartermaster of the State
with, the rank of Brigadier-General. Governor Tod recommissioned him to this office, in
which he also served for a time as Commissary-General of the State. At later dates he
was appointed Colonel of the One Hundred Sixth Ohio Infantry and was detailed on com-
mission from President Lincoln as military storekeeper in charge of the Columbus Arsenal.
In manufacturing fixed ammunition, shipping the same to the armies in the field, and pur-
chasing clothing, equipments and supplies for the Ohio regiments, General Wright expended
over three millions of dollars in the Quartermaster's Department alone, and not one of his
vouchers was ever questioned. The first soldiers' aid organization for the State, with
agencies at Cincinnati, Nashville and other places, was established by him ; he also first
introduced the use of transportation tickets at reduced rates for needy soldiers, on a plan
afterward adopted by the Government. The " conscientious fund," with which the expense
of the draft in Ohio was mostly paid, was collected and disbursed by him. In 1S62, he was
nominated for Congress by the Republicans of his district, but was defeated. In 1867, by
appointment of Governor Cox, he became the first Commissioner of Railways and Tele-
graphs for Ohio, to which office he was reappointed by Governor Hayes. While in this
position he made a valuable compilation of the laws of Ohio pertaining to railways and tele-
graphs. He resigned the office of Railway Commissioner to accept the Vice Presidency of
the Atlantic & Great Western Railway Company, of which General George B. McClellan was
President, with his office in New York City. General Wright had charge of the legal depart-
ment of the company and resided at Meadville, Pennsylvania, where the company's general
[168]
War ExPEitiENCEs at Chlu.misus. loy
offices were locati'd. In 1873, he was appointed receiver of the Indianapolis, Blooniin>,'ton ik
Western Railway Company (now the Ohio, Indiana & Western), and thencffortii rtshlcd at
Indianapolis until 1887, when he returned to Columbus, his present home.]
On April 12, 18G1, when the war was inaugurated by the firiiiii; on Fort
Sumter I was residing at Newark, Ohio, engaged as receiver tti' tiie Saiidusl^^-,
Mansfield & Newark Eailroad Company. The excitement tiicre, as everywhere
at the North; was intense, and when, three daj-s -later, a call for .seventyfive
thousand volunteers was made by President Lincoln, the fife and drum were heard
in the streets, bells were rung, and the people, men, women and children flocked
to the Courthouse, which was soon filled to overflowing with an excited and anx-
ious audience. A meeting was organized, voluntary patriotic speeches were made,
and a resolution was adopted to raise at once a company of volunteers. Lconidas
McDougal, one of the most popular young men of the town, immediately stepped
forward and volunteered, offering to lead a company to the field. Ho had had
some military education at Annapolis and had been a volunteer in the Mexican
War; was at the bombardment of Vera Cruz, and marched with our army into the
City of Mexico. He was the first volunteer in the county for the War foi' the
Union. He fell at the battle of Perryvillo October 8, 1862, at head of his com-
pany. Ho was a brave soldier and his memory is chorished by all who knew
him.
As soon as McDougal volunteered he was joined bj^ others, and on April 19,
four days after the call for volunteers, he reported with a full company at Colum-
bus. They were attached to the Third Ohio Infantry as Company H. I recall
the departure of the company from Newark as one of groat interest. The com-
pany was drawn up in front of the hall and received a beautiful silk flag pre-
sented by the ladies of Newark. The Captain responded in glowing, patriotic
words. The company marched away amid the shouts and cheers of citizens and
the waving of handkerchiefs and tears of the ladies. I mentioned this as one of
many similar instances all over the State indicative of the patriotic feeling and
love for the Union prevailing at the North. Every heart was stirred, and more
volunteers were offered in three days than Ohio's quota of the sevontyfivc
thousand.
I was well acquainted with Governor Dennison, tiien Governor of the State,
and immediately wrote him tendering my services in any capacity where I could
be serviceable. 1 heai-d nothing from the Governor until two months later when
ho telegraphed me to come to Columbus. Although confined to my house and
under the care of a phj^sician, I took my doctor's prescription and the first train
to Columbus. I reached the Governor's office a little after midnight and found
it full of men and officers receiving and executing orders. The Governor welcomed
me cordially and said he had sent for me to a.ssist in the Quartermaster-General's
Department in the purchase of army supplies for the Ohio soldiers. I told the
Governor I was entirely unfitted for such duty, having never had any experience;
but if he would send me into the field I would do the best I could, lie insisted that
very important work was needed in the Quartermaster's Department, and iio be-
170 History of the City of Columbis.
lieved I could aid him and the Government more there tlian anywhere else at that
time. He explained the diflBculty he had encountered, in the rush of troops to the
capital, in jiroviding tents, clothing and other equipments for the soldiers.
Thousands had come to the capital eager to get to the field, and the State had not
on hand arms, tents or equipments sufficient to supply one regiment. The news-
papers of the State were full of criticisms and faultfinding for the management of
military matters at Washington and at Coluralnis.
Accordingly, on the next day, I entered the department and remained there
until the close of Governor Tod's term, January 1, 1864. General C. P. Bucking-
ham had, only a few days previously, been appointed Adjutant-General of the
State, and Columbus Delano Commissary-General. I was handed a commission
by General Buckingham as Assistant Commissary of Subsistence, with the
rank of captain, and was escorted by him to the office of General Wood, then
Quartermaster-General of the State. General Wood assigned me a desk and I at
once began to study the business and duties of the department. The office was
full of clerks and General Wood was giving orders in an imperative and earnest
manner. 1 was quite impressed with the importance and responsibility of the
work in hand. I found General Wood- ready to aid me in obtaining a knowledge
of the duties of the office. He assigned me to the duty of contracting and inspect-
ing all clothing and equipments for the troops, except ordnance stores and the
fabrication of ammunition, which he superintended himself The office was full of
soldiers coming and going constantly, day and night. The office was never
closed before midnight, and often was kept open all night. I found the business
of the office in a very crude state. Supplies of all kinds had been purchased
wherever they could be found and sometimes at extravagant rates and of poor
qualit}'. The rush of volunteers to the capital had greatly embarrassed the
Governor and overwhelmed the several departments with orders and requisitions
which could not be instantly filled, and when they had been filled complete records
had not been kept. The Stale had no clothing, blankets or tents, and the volun-
teers as they came in were quartered in the Statehouse and at hotels and boarding-
houses.
The defeat of the National army at Bull Run aroused the people of the North
and encouraged the rebels. The general feeling in the Northern States was well
expressed by Rev. Henry Cox at a campmeetiug in Hlinois. The news of the
battle came while he was preaching, and he closed his sermon with these words :
" Brethren, we'd better adjourn this campmeeting and go home and drill."
Ohio's quota under the 500,000 call was fixed at 67,365, divided into infantry,
cavalry and artillery. Enlistments and new organizations rapidly followed and
work in all the departments was greatly increased. As soon as 1 began to under-
stand and appreciate the magnitude of the work in hand, I suggested to General
Wood certain changes in the organization of the department and the division of
duties, which he readily adopted and in a short time the department was
put in good running order. Books were opened, blank forms were printed and
used and a record was kept of everything done. All purchases thereafter, as far
as possible, were made after advertisements for bids made upon samjjles and speci-
War Experiences at Columbus. 171
fications furnished. Contracts for tents, clothing, bhinketSjshoosand ordnance stores
were given out to the lowest responsible bidders. From that time forward little
fault was found or complaint made of the character or quality of the equipments
furnished the troo))S except as to the guns furnished the infantry regiments. It
was impossible for the General Government to furnish a sufficient number of arms
for the various states, and we went into the market and purchased many thous-
ands of guns of different makes and quality, among them the Enfield rifles, French
and Prussian guns, some of poor quality and varying in caliber. Every regiment
wanted the best gun to be had. The Springfield musket was a favorite arm, but
could only be got through the General Government and Ohio could procure none,
01' only a very few ; hence complaints came to us often from regiments in the
field that their guns were worthless. In some cases these complaints were well
founded.
I was greatly aided in the inspection of blankets, clothing, etc., by Colonel
A. D. Bullock, of Cincinnati, who was a member of the Governor's staff and was
connected with a firm in Philadelphia largely engaged in the manufacture of army
cloth ; also by Dwight Stone, then a merchant in Columbus, and well posted in the
quality and value of all needed supplies. I had very soon contracted for over
$500,000 worth of supplies of clothing, shoes, etc., alone.
The legislature, at its session in April and May, had appropriated $2,550,000
" for the purchase of arms and equipments and for the defense of the State against
invasion and in aid of the Federal Government, for the suppression of the rebellion."
Before the fii-st of August this entire appropriation was expended, my own depart-
ment was in debt and contracts were maturing for over $500,000. The Governor's
contingent fund was exhausted and the Commissary's Department was in debt.
The credit of the State was seriously impaired and supplies from the National
Government could not be procured in sufficient quantity to supply onetenth of the
needs of the Ohio troops. Ilequisitions were daily and hourly' arriving for tents,
blankets, overcoats, shoes and every variety of equipments, none of which could be
procured on the credit of the State. No funds were on hand to meet current
expenses. The employes in my own department were without pay for more than
two months, and the prospects were daily becoming more and more gloom}'. In
the meantime I had received several promotions and been appointed (Quarter-
master-General in lieu of General Wood who had resigned.
My duties were now largely increased. The transportation of troops and
army supplies was transferred by General Buckingham to my department, and
the settlement of accounts with all of the railroad companies of the State, which had
accumulated from the first call of volunteers, and were brought into m}' office in the
form of slips of paper signed b}' some one in charge of squads oi" comjtanies of
men who had been transported over different lines of railroads to Columbus, as
volunteers. Those papers were generally signed with a pencil certifying that such
a number of volunteers had been brought in by trains to Columbus. They were
very difficult in many cases to decipher. The railroad companies had not required
volunteers, or their escort, to purchase tickets in all cases, but simply to certify the
number carried, trusting to the State to settle and i)ay for the transportation in
172 History of the City of Columbus.
the future. The claims were difficult of aiijustmeiit, and the railroad companies
were anxious for payment. There was, at this time, in the State treasury over eight
hundred thousand dollars, being forty per cent, paid back to the State on its
advance " for enrolling, subsisting, clothing, equipping and transporting troops
for the Federal Government; but not a dollar of this money could be drawn from
the treasury for want of an act of the legislature appropriating the same.
The Governor and the members of his staff besought the Auditor (R. W.
Taylor), to make partial advances to relieve the several departments and main-
tain the credit of the State, with the assurance that the legislature would, at its
next meeting, make the necessary appropriation and sustain his action. The
Auditor declined to issue his warrant and advised calling a special session of the
legislature. This the Governor declined to do.
This state of things continued and kept growing worse until about the iirst of
November, when the Governor requested me to visit Washington and urge upon
the several departments our pressing necessities and beg for some relief As soon
as I reached Washington I called on Mr. Chase, then Secretary of the Treasury,
with whom I was well acquainted, and exjjlained to him the deplorable condition
of matters at Columbus, and begged of him to furnish the State sufficient money
to relieve the present embarrassment. He claimed that it was impossible to make
further advances to the State, as he had already paid back to all the States forty
per cent, of their expenditures for the Government, and he could do no more for
Ohio than for other States. I spent nearly two hours with the Secretary, but
could not then prevail upon him to furnish any money. I called on him again
the next morning and suggested that the State had made large additional expend-
itures for the Government since the fort}- per cent, had been paid, and suggested
that another forty per cent, be paid on these expenditures. To this he agreed if I
could satisfy the Second Comptroller of the Treasury that my statement was cor-
rect, and upon a statement of account approved by the comptroller, showing the
additional advances made by the State, ho would advance forty j^er cent, on
that .sum.
1 inimediiUely set about making up an account from the data I had, and
tiie former account tiled, by which I was able to show a further advance by the
State of $444,000, to which amount the Second Comptroller certified, and Sec-
retar}' Chase irnraedialely ordered the forty per cent. (8177,000), to be paid to me.
After running the gauntlet of the War and Treasury Departments for several
hours I reached the Treasury with my warrant for the $177,600, which was paid
to me in greenbacks, filling a large mail bag. With this money I hastened to the
express office and shipped it to Mr. Deshler, then President of the Clinton Bank,
at Columbus, telegraphing the Governor the result of my efforts.
I was required to give a very lengthy receipt to the Treasurer for the money
as agent for the State, in which it was recited that the State had on a former
statement of expenditures, amounting to $2,100,000, received forty per cent., and
on the present showing of $444,000 additional expenditure I had also received
$177,000, being forty per cent, on the same ; the receipt reciting further that the
Wau Experiences at Coi.umhus. ITS
Statu liad advanced in excess of 12,500,000, on tlio wliole of wliicli the Treasurer
had paid tiie sum of forty per cent.
As this money was entirely inadequate to relieve tlie wants of tlie State, I
called the next morning on General Meigs, Quarlerniaster-General of the ITnited
States, and suggested to him that as the Government had a Quartermaster at Col-
umbus Captain Myers, and Captain Diekcrson, at Cincinnati, and they were com-
peting in the same market with me for army sup])lies, would it not be better for
the Government to assume all purchases and the State go out oC the market? To
this suggestion General Meigs readily agreed, and furnished me an order on Cap-
tain Myers to receive all my Quartermaster's stores on hand, and assume, on behalf
of the Government, all mj' outstanding contracts that were in accordance with
regulation standard.
Thus armed I rcturneil to Columbus greatly relieved. The S177,(iOO was not
certified into the State treasury, but divided between the Executive, Commissary
and Quarterniaster-Generars departments. I turned over to Captain Myers all
my supplies on hand, and he assumed ail m}' outstanding contracts, amounting to
over a half a million of <I(ill:irs. Thus was the credit of the State restored, and
my deimrtnicnt, as well as the Executive, relieved of great anxiety and a heavj'
burden.
My department was now actively employed in transporting volunteers to the
various camps of rendezvous, purchasing and procuring from the National Gov-
ernment tents, clothing, blankets, arms and equipments, and distributing them to
Ohio troops in camp, and in the field ; also in the fiibrication and shipment of
ammunition. From one hundred and fifty to two hundred hands were employed
in the laboratory, and about two millions of elongated bullet cartridges were
turned out monthly of 54, 59 and 69 caliber.
These various duties made the department still a very busy one. From this
time to the close of the year 1861, my department was actively employed in the
fabrication and sbipment of ammunition, and in the purchase and procuring from
the government arms and equipments, and distributing them to Ohio troops.
1 have already referred to the meagre supply of arms and equipments belong-
ing to the State at the breaking out of the rebellion ; not enough to equip a bat-
ter)' or arm a regiment. Some idea of the magnitude of the work necessary to
supply this deficiency and properly arm the Ohio volunteers during the first eight
months of the war may be formed from the record of issues of arms from my
department down to December 31, 1861, showing that 118,821 muskets and rifles
of different kinds were supplied to the infantry, 164 cannon to the artillery, and
15,185 carbines, pistols and sabres to the cavalry. The variety of the style and
calibre of the firearms will accountforthe complaints which came from many regi-
ments as to the character of their weapons. The State was compelled to take such
arms as could be procured, or else leave many of her troops unarmed for the time
being. The difficulty of procuring firstclass guns continued as long as I remained
in the department.
I cannot close my record for the year 1861, without speaking of Governor
Dennisou. He was my friend and cordial supporter from my entrance into the
174 History op the City op Columbus.
department until the close of his term in January, 1862. I was constantly in
communication with him and enjoyed his fullest confidence. I can bear testimonj-
to his vigilance, great industry, earnest efforts and steadfast patriotism. He was
a zealous supporter of Mr. Lincoln and his administration in their efforts to sup-
press the I'ebellion, nor did his interest in the cause cease with the close of his
term of office. He was often called upon by his successor. Governor Tod, and was
always readj' to go upon important missions to Washington, to the battlefield, or
in aid of sick and wounded soldiers. The State and National Governments owe
him a great debt of gratitude and his memory will ever be clierisiiod by all who
knew him.
18(i2 — 1863. I expected mj- service as Quartermaster-General to close with
Governor's Bennison's term, but soon after Governor Tod's election he ealle<l on
me and requested me to remain with him at least a few months, only asking that
Colonel Stoughton Bliss, of Cleveland, should be one of my assistants. This was
very agreeable to me, as Colonel Bliss had 2>reviously served in the department
with General Wood. He was an efficient officer and rendered excellent service.
One of Governor Tod's first inquiries after entering upon the duties of his office
was to examine critically' into the condition of my department; its supplies and
resources for providing arms, equipments and transportation for Ohio soldiers. His
sympathies were strongly enlisted with the administration of Mr. Lincoln and he
assumed his office fully appreciating the magnitude of the war and anxious to
perfect the organization of the Ohio troops in the best possible manner.
On January 5, 1862, he sent a patriotic message to the General Assembly
in which he presented a statement of the military preparations made by the State
up to that time and earnestly appealed for further efforts for the preservation of
the Union.
Most of the prisoners taken at Fort Donelson were sent to Camp Chase, and
the duty of building prisons, and guarding and caring for the prisoners, devolved
upon my department. This required active and vigilant work day and night.
Either Colonel Bliss or myself was at the camp constantly and the Governor often
visited there. From the time the first prisoners were taken at Fort Donelson
in March until July 22 I was charged with the duty of looking after and caring for
the prisoners, the large number of which sent to Camp Chase February 27, rapidly'
followed by other detachments of cajitives, involved the immediate erection of
increased prison barracks and quarters for the men at a season of the year when
it was difficult to provide material and labor. The building of the new prisons and
and improvement of the old ones cost over 85,000, which was paid for by the Gov-
ernor out of his contingent fund. The regulations lor the police and care of the
prisoners and their money and property were entrusted to the Governor for a
time by the War Department. One of the rules established by the Governor was
that all the prisoners having National money should deposit the same with the
Quartermaster-General to be drawn out by checks not exceeding five dollars at a
time except for clothing or other necessaries desired by the prisoners. This rule
was at first strongly objected to by the prisoners and involved what I feared would
be an unpleasant duty together with increased responsibility- upon me. But the
War Experiences at ColUiMhus. 175
arrangement became very satisfactory to the prisoners and was tiie means of mj'
forming an acquaintance with many of them who woi-e gentlemen of intelligence
and high character at home, their only fault being a hatred of the Yankees and
the National Union. Of the total amount of $14,584.47 deposited with me by them,
I did not learn of the lo.ss of a single dollar in transmission or otherwi.-ic. I was in
frequent intercourse with them, and they admitted that they were better fed and
cared for than in their own army. They were well fed and boused, and their sick
were nursed and cared for the same as our own sick. Those who were destitute of
sufficient clothing were furnished with it from donations or from government
stores.
We had three noted visitors at Camji Chase during the time the prisoners
were under my care, viz: Andrew Johnson, afterwards President; Parson
Brownlow, afterwards United States Senator and Governor of Tennessee, and
Mr. Maynard, Repi'esentative in Congress from the same State. I escorted each
of these gentlemen to Camp Chase. Mr. Johnson addressed the soldiers at head-
quarters, a part of whom were a pan of a Tennessee regiment held for parole.
He was well received and frequently cheered during this remarks in favor of the
Union. In the evening he sjioke in the Hall of the House of Eepresentatives to
the members and a large number of citizens. I visited the prison hospital with
him where he found a sick Tennessee soldier, who was not only sick in body but
in mind. He told Mr. Johnson he had been induced to join the Confederate
army under a misapprehension of the object of the war and the character of the
Northern people. He was at heart a Union man, as were many of the Tennessee
prisoners. He begged Mr. Johnson to get him paroled and sent homo. He was
ready and willing to swear allegiance to the National Government and never take
up arms against it if he could only get back to his family. He was desperately
homesick and it was a pathetic scene between him and Mr. Johnson.
Parson Brownlow's visit was quite an exciting one. There was a large
number of Tennessee prisoners in the west prison but only a few were in the east
one. His first visit was at the east prison. As the prisoners were called out to
see and hear him while he stood on the balcony, I introduced him and a few of
them clieered, but a number of Louisianians called "Louisiana Tigers" hissed and
groaned, which so enraged the parson that lie turned away and refused to speak.
But at the west prison, where were many Tennesseeans, he met with a warm wel-
come. After addressing them for a short time from the balcony he went with me
into the prison, where he met many of his old neighbors and friends vvho gathered
around him and inquired after friends at home. .Some of them had been printers
and editors. He opened his purse and distributed all the money he had among
them, so that he was compelled to borrow funds to pursue his journey. Mr.
Maynard was rather a reticent man and did not deliver a speech, but he visited a
number of prisoners whom he knew.
Nothing seemed to enlist the sympathy and zeal of Governor Tod ,so much as
the care of sick and wounded soldiers. On April 8 the news of the battle of Pitts-
burgh Lauding called for the most prompt atid energetic action by the State for
the relief of the thousands who were wounded. As soon as the news of the bat-
176 History of the City of Columbus.
tie reached Columlius the Governor ordered Surgeon-General Weber and myself
to Cincinnati to charter steamboats, which we loaded with sanitary stores donated
by the people and the Cincinnati branch of the Sanitary Commission. During
the spring and summer nine steamboats were chartered and fitted out for this
benevolent worlc. They were under charge of my assistant, Colonel Bliss, and of
George B. Sentcr and others. Colonel Bliss made five trips between Cincinnati
and the battlefields of the South. Doctor G. C. E. Weber, Surgeon -General of the
State, was very active and efficient until his health broke down from overwork,
and he was compelled to resign. Doctor S. M. Smith, of Columbus, who had been
very energetic-in aiding Doctor Weber, was made Surgeon-General and coniinued
to look after the sick and wounded in a very efficient manner. He made several
trips to the southern camjis and hosiMtals, directing the supply and equijiment
of the steamboats for their errands of mercy. He was aided by about thirty vol-
untary nurses and physicians who gave their time and experience to the work
free of charge. To mention the names of all who thus donated their services
would be impossible. There was no lack of willing hands and warm hearts for
the service. All the loyal people of the State were interested and ready to cooper-
ate. Very efficient assistance was rendered by the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincin-
nati branches of the Sanitary Commission, besides which the Ladies' Aid Societies
all over the State contributed their time and labor. Among the articles donated
and sent to the soldiers in camps and hospitals may be mentioned 5,706 blankets,
quilts and coverlets; 7,295 shirts, drawers and pairs of socks; 6-15 pillows, pillow-
covers, sheets and towels ; besides numerous articles of clothing of every variety;
boxes and barrels of canned fruit; jellies, wines, cordials, and thousands of band-
ages, lint and similar articles prejjared by the hands of loving wives, sisters and
sweethearts. In addition to these useful supplies, over 1200 in money was sent to
me to be used in tbe^jurchaseof such articles as 1 might deem most needed. More
than half of this money was given by the Warden (Nathaniel Merion), guai"ds and
employes of the Penitentiary. Many of the donations contained letters and labels
directing where and to whom they were to be sent. As far as practicable these
requests and directions were carried out.
Doctor J. M. Wheaton, at that time an assistant in my office, had charge of
the receipt and distribution of the donations. Among many singular packages
which came was a large .sack of garden seeds sent by an old lady, with no special
direction or consignment. The doctor suggested that this package be sent to the
army of the Potomac, which was " all quiet " so much of the time as to become a
byword. I made a number of visits with Governor Tod to the hospitals at Cincin-
nati and Camp Dennison and nearly every Sunday we visited Camp Chase. Too
much credit and praise cannot be given to the Sanitary Commission, which was
organized in May, 1861, and continued its good work until after the close of the
war. Three important branches, including a very efficient one at Columbus, were
organized in this State. The Commission realized and expended over a quarter
of a million dollars.
Another important aid to sick and wounded soldiers was inaugurated by Gov-
ernor Tod, and carried on through my department, by the establishment of State
t^Z/^S^^^^^^---^:'-^'^ —
War Kxi'EKiENcEs at (J(ii,u.miu:s. 177
agents whose duty it was to look after not only the sick and wounded but also the
furloughed soldiers, many of whom had not seen a paymaster for months, and
were entirely out of money. A call upon the railway companies of the State was
made to allow sick or furloughed soldiers, or those returning to their regiments in
the field, to travel at one and one half cents per mile on tickets furnished and
signed by me. All the railways of the State agreed to the arrangement ; also the
Pennsylvania, Northern Central, Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago, Ohio & Mis-
sissippi, Baltimore & Ohio and Illinois Central.
The plan adopted was to print and sign books of tickets in my oflSce, in blank,
and distribute them to the different agents of the State to be furnished by them to
the soldiers. If a soldier had no money be was furnished with tickets on credit
and the amounts were deducted from his pay. The tickets taken by the railway
companies were redeemed at my office on presentation. The state agents who
held the tickets were charged with the duty of looking after the Ohio soldiers in
their respective localities and districts and seeing that they were cared for in every
way, and especially of aiding them, when necessary, in procuring their discharge
and the pa}' duo them from the Government. The arrangement involved a large
amount of labor, but was productive of great good. The following persons were
appointed agents for the State: James C. Wetmore, Washington City; Weston
Flint, St. Louis, Cairo, Mound City and Paducah ; F. W. Bingham, Memphis ;
R. P. Baker, New York City ; Royal Taylor, Nashville ; Daniel R. Taylor, Louis-
ville; A. B. Lyman, Cincinnati ; and James E. Lewis, Columbus. Mr. Lewis was
an assistant in m}' oflSce and had general charge of the agencies besides attending
to his own duties. He was detailed to the work about the middle of July, 1862,
and in ten months of service collected over $325,000 of back pay due to over 4,000
Ohio soldiers and paid tiie same over to them or their legal representatives. In
the meantime he collected back over $8,000 for transportation furnished to soldiers
on credit. Mr. Lewis's work was a fliir sample of what the other agents did.
They were required to make weekly reports to me which were filled with inter-
esting accounts of their work. No doulit thou.'ands of theii' lives were saved or
prolonged by the efforts of these agents, and over a million of dollars collected
for the soldiers or their representatives. In addition to these agencies the Gov-
ernor sent special agents to various points to inquire into the condition of the sick
and wounded. Among such messengers was Reverend A. R. Howbert, who visited
the hospitals along the Potomac, at Baltimore, Frederick City, Middletown,
Boonesboro, Sharpsburg, Washington City and Alexandria. Tlio report of Colonel
George B. Senter, who visited Paducah, Kentucky, Mound City and Pittsburgh
Landing in charge of the steamer Glendale and brought over three hundred sick
and wounded soldiers to Cincinnati, can be seen in the Executive Document of
1862, where Mr. Howbert's report can also be found.
Additional to the duty of caring for prisoners, volunteers, and sick, wounded
and discharged soldiers was imposed upon me that of providing arms and equip-
ments for the volunteers daily arriving at the different camps in Ohio. To
promptly arm and equip the new regiments required the most energetic exertion.
Prior to the President's call for 3()(i,(l(IO vulunteers on July 2, 1862, Ohio had
178 History of the City of Columbus.
almost entirely ceased to purchase arms for infantry regiments, but still had a
contract with Miles Greenwood & Co., of Cincinnati, and with Peter Hayden &
Co., of Columbus, for cannon, artillery harness, gun carriages, etc. We were also
manufacturing over 1,400,000 cartridges for artillery and small arms monthly.
Over 16,700,000 were manufactured during the year 18(52. It was difficult to pro-
cure arms for the infantry' and cavalry regiments, and we were constantly impor-
tuning the Secretary of War and the Ordnance Department for those supplies.
On July 25, 1862, I visited Washington by direction of the (Jovernor, armed
with a letter to Secretary Stanton, suggesting inquiries and consultations as to
procuring arms and equijjments for the Ohio soldiers; as to Ohio's quotas of the
different calls for volunteers; as to filling the depleted regiments in the field ; as
to the proposed draft and the mode of conducting it; as to exchange of prisoners
and the trial of those held for political reasons; and as to the compensation of
voluntary surgeons who had rendered valuable service at the camps within the
State. I spent nearly a week at Washington in these consultations. Seci-etary
Stanton was particularly kind and courteous to me and gave prompt attention
and response to all mj- inquiries. If he was the rough and abrupt man that he
was accused of being I did not discover it during the days I spent with him. On
the contivuy I found him genial and warmhearted. He was greatly interested in
Ohio soldiers and was a warm personal friend of Governor Tod. I shall never
forget his reply to my urgent request, for more and better ai-ms for the Ohio
soldiers. " General, " he said, " if yoa will only be patient and give me time I will
supply every Ohio soldier with the best arm that is made." General C. P. Buck-
ingham, who had been our Adjutant-General, was then an assistant in Secretary
Stanton's office and rendered me valuable assistance in my mission.
The advance of Kirby Smith's Confederate army on Cincinnati early in
September, 1862, caused great alarm and excitement. On the seventh the Gover-
nor went to Cincinnati to confer with General Wallace and the city authorities,
and to aid in quieting the alarm. From there he sent orders to troops at different
camps in the State to hasten to Cincinnati. He telegraphed me for 5,000 stand of
arms and equipments, with ammunition. They were sent by express that night.
I was also called to Cincinnati by the Governor to render any assistance in my
power in arming and equipping volunteers. I soon had a company in readiness,
and in command of Major Guthrie, who led them across the river. In a few hours
the Kentucky hills opposite Cincinnati were covered with "squirrel hunters" and
other citizen soldiers. Defenses were erected, cannon planted, riflopits dug, and
every one ready aiid waiting to give Smith's army a warm reception. But they
did not come. The excitement and apprehension subsided as quicklj' as they had
ari.sen. As a slight token of their service, in addition to their regular pay, the
Governor, with the authority of the legislature, issued to each of the volunteer
"squirrel hunters " a lithographed discharge, containing a good likeness of him-
selr and Major McDowell, and his autograjjh signature. These discharges were
highly prized by many, and some of them were framed and hung in the hou-ses of
their owners. Although this was a bloodless campaign, it had a salutary effect in
War Rxi'F.RiKNOKs at ('iir.r.Murs. 170
encouraging enlistments for regiments wliicli wfrc bec<iming greatly reduced by
their losses in tiie field.
During August and September, 1S62, alarms came from different points on the
Ohio River. During the latter part of August eiglit companies of infantry were
sent to fronton and Gaiiipolis for the protection of those places. On SejJtember
7 came the report that 2,400 Confederates were opposite Gaiiipolis threatening an
attack. On the ninth, by order of the Governor, I visited the region of the Big
Sandy and Guyandotte to examine the situation and report. On tlie fourtt^enth
Governor Pierrepont visited Columbus for consultation with Governor Tod in
regard to West Virginia and expressed great anxict3' for the loyal people of his
State.
On August 4 the draft had been ordered, but at the solicitation of the Gover-
nor it was postponed in Ohio until September 15, and again until October 1.
Between August 1 and October 1, as well as through the preceding July, great
efforts were made to obtain volunteers for three months, three years or during the
war. The Government offered a bounty of $402 to veterans who had served nine
months and been discharged, and $302 to raw recruits enlisting for three years or
during the war. In many counties bounties were paid and large sums of money
were contributed in cities and towns to be offered as bounties to any who would
enlist in old or new regiments. In this way it was hoped to avoid any draft or to
reduce it to the smallest possible numbei-. On October 1 the Governor received
authoritj' from the War Department to raise three regiments of cavalry for three
years or during the war. To many the cavalry was an attractive branch of the
service, and the three regiments were soon nearly full. But still Ohio had not filled
her quota of the President's call of July 2 for 300,000 volunteers, and the 300,000
more called for August 4, and the draft had to be made. It was very unpopular
with many of the people and especially so with a large number who s\ mpathized
with the Confederates or those who claimed that the war was a failure and urged
a compromise with the rebels.
A large amount of machinery and detail was required to prepare for and exe-
cute the draft. Hon. Martin Welker was made Superintendent of the draft for
the State and managed it wisely. It required a large number of officers and
agents to prepare for and execute the draft in the several counties. It called into
service the county military committees and auditors, and the township officers. A
draft commissioner, surgeon and deputy provost-marshal were appointed for
each county, and district provost-marshals were appointed by the Secre-
tary of Wai'. Henry C. Noble, of Columbus, was appointed for the third
district, composed of Franklin and fourteen other adjoining counties. When the
draft began, the enrollment for it in the State was 425,147; the actual number
drafted was only 12,251. Seven camps of rendezvous established for the drafted
men had to be prepared and equipped by my department, and both Colonel Bliss
and myself visited the difi'erent camps. On October 3 the Governor issued an
order designating who were exempt from draft and ordering that " members of
religious denominations conscientiously opposed to military duty, who might be
drafted," should be discharged upon the payment of $200, which sum was ordered
180 History of the City op Columbus.
paid into my hands for safe keejiing and disbursement upon the order of the Gov-
ernor. The number availint;; themselves of this order was 369, from whom I
I received the sum of S73,400. The monej' received was disbursed by mo upon
orders from the Governor. It was mostly applied to payment of the expenses of
the draft. The final settlement of this fund with the Governor was not made
until January, 1865. The Governor wrote me from Toungstown that he was going
to Washington to settle the " conscientious fund," and desired a statement, which
I sent him with a draft on JSIew York for the balance in my hands. I received
from him the following characteristic letter:
Cleveland, January 9, 1865.
My dear General:
This is to acknowledge the receipt of your letter with draft of Bartlet & Smith on
National Currency Bank, New York, for $4,187.53, being balance of what was known as the
"conscientious fund," handed me yesterday.
For your fidelity in connection with this account you may have njy sincere tlianks and
are sure to receive the smiles of Heaven.
Very truly yours,
David Tod,
Late Gorernor of Ohio.
During John Morgan's raid through Ohio ] was stationed at Newark, by
order of the Governor, and gave directions to the troops arriving there, sending a
portion to Zanesville and Bellair, and some to Cadiz Junction and Steubenvillo to
be on the lookout to intercept the raiders. Major Way, of the Ninth Michigan
Cavaliy, was ordered forward and intercepted Morgan at Salineville, in Colum-
biana County, between Steubenville and Wellsville, and at ei<;ht o'clock on the
morning of July 26 made an attack upon Morgan and the remnant of his command,
killing about thirty, wounding some fifty and taking all the others prisoners. The
prisoners were brought to Columbus and lodged in the Ohio Penitentiary. I was
at the di'pot with Governor Tod when they arrived by rail. We were introduced
to Morgan and several of liis officers. They were a jaded weary looking com-
pany. Morgan insisted that he had surrendered to a militia ofiScer upon terms and
was entitled to parole, but Major Way refused to recognize any surrender except
to himself Thus ended the Morgan raid, with the loss of a few valuable lives
and a cost to the State of over a million dollars. I was appointed one of three
commissioners to investigate the claims of citizens for losses and damages by the
raid.
The sequel of Morgan's capture and imprisonment was his escaj^e from the
Penitentiary on the night of November 27, with six other fellow-prisoners. The
escape was made by cutting through the stone floors of their colls to the air cham-
ber below, then tunneling under the walls of the building into the yard and climb-
ing the wall which surrounds the prison, as could easily be done at the large gate,
and letting themselves down from the wall by means of a rope constructeil of bed-
ticking and towels braided in short pieces and tied together, making a rude but
strong rope. Great mortification was felt by the prison and State authorities at
Morgan's escape, and Governor Tod appointed his private secretary, B. P. Hoff-
m;in, Mnd myscit to in vo-^l ig.'ito tliu matter. We examined, under oath, the War-
War bjXI'EKlKNClCS at L'oi.u.m hi s. isl
den and several of tlio diroL-tors oftlio Penitentiary, also some ol the yiiard.s. It
wa« disclosed in tlio examination that some disagreement l)ad arisen between tiie
prison and military authorities as to the treatment of the prisoners; it being iield
that they wore ])risoners of war and not convicts, and were therefore entitled to more
free(hiiii and ]iiiviloges. Hence the cells of the Morgan prisoners were not subject to
rigid iiis)je(li(Mi like those of convicts, and an opportunity was afforded to the rebel
prisoners to make their escape. No blame was attached to the Warden or otiier
officers of the prison for the escape, as they really had verj^ little jurisdiction over
them exceiit Id feed and siieltor them. We found that immediately after his escape
Morgan liuardcd a Jjilllo Mianii Railway train for Cincinnati, and just before
rcaeliing ihal c iiy had left the train and crossed the river into Kentucky, where
he was aided liy liis frieiMJM in reaching llie Confederate lines. His subsef[uent
career and death while fleeing through a kitchen garden daring a morning skir-
mish in an ob.seiire village ot East Tennessee are well known matters of history.
The year 1803 was a no less stirring one than the two preceding. The
care of sick, wounded, furloughed and discharged soldiers, was kept up; steam-
boats were chartered and sent to southern iiospitals and those able to be moved
were brought to more comfortable quarters in the North. The State agei»ts were
all continued in active seiviee and relieved thousands of cases. Our efforts were
continued in |ii(jcuring aiaiisand equiimients for new recruits. On June 15 eanie
the call of the President for 1(1(1,0(10 more volunteers, and in October another call
for 500,000. Ohio's (|uola of these two calls was nearly 60,000. ValL-yidigham
had been arrested, tried and convicted in May, and sent across the Confederate
lines. The di-aft riots in New York, the great battle of Gettysburg on July 1, 2
and H, resulting in the defeat of the Confederate army, and the surrender of Vicks-
burg on July 4, gave new zeal and activity to enlistments. The loyal people of
Ohio took new hope and courage and seemed more determined than ever that the
rebellion should be put down. Work in my department was daily increasing in
the manufacture and shipment of ammunition, in procuring and shipping arms
and equipments, and in the transportation of troops. The Eleventh and Twelfth
Arm}' Corps were transported through the State in about one week. In this
work our felloweitizens, D. S. Gray, H. J. Jewett and D. W. Caldwell, who were
then in charge of the railway between Cincinnati, Columbus and Bellair, did
admirable service.
At its session of 1862-3 the General Assembly passed an act making the Quar-
termaster-General also Commissary-General and one of the Commissioners of
Claims. This devolved upon my department the duty of contracting for and pro-
viding rations for the troops at all the camps in the State and settlement for the
same. The claims commissionership required examination and judgment upon all
claims growing out of the Morgan raid. Over 60,000 claims were presented and
either paid or rejected. As though I had not yet enough to do, the Governor,
without previous notice to me, appointed me Colonel of the One Hundred Sixth
Ohio Infantry, and had me detailed for duty at Columbus in charge of the United
States Arsenal, which I began to build. In all these duties I was greatly helped
by my assistants, Colonels Stonghton Bliss, and A. D. Bullock, Lieutenant-Colonel
\S2 HiSToKY OF THE CiTV OF CoLUMBUS.
T. W. Talmadge, Major E. Penrose Jones, Thomas B. Powers, S. W. Co^pc, Doctor
John M. Wheaton, James E. Lewis, Solon H. Wilson, H. S. Babbitt, Charles W.
Parker, James Van Buren, Richard H. Lyman and many others whose names 1
do not now remember. Mau}^ of them have !<one from the earth, and all should
be remembered and recognized as good soldiers, although not exposed to the
perils of battle and siege. We were all agents of the National Goyernment,
though acting under orders and commissions from the Governor of the State.
The citizens of Columbus and Franklin County took no small part in the War
for the Union. They furnished at least one full regiment of soldiers, besides hun-
dreds of citizens who did guard duty at Camp Chase or joined the minutemen or
" Squirrel Hunters '' during the alarms and threats along the southern border.
Among the scores of gallant men who went to the field from Franklin County
was General Charles C. Walcutt, of the Fortysixth Ohio Infantry, who raised six
companies for his regiment and was twice wounded in battle. An interesting
incident in his service I deem proper to insert here. It would have been lost sight
of but for a letter which I received from him since the war, in which he says:
When stationed at La Grange, Tennessee, in the winter of 1862-3, I received an order to
mount my rogiment on any animals I could get hold of, which were the mules in the wagon
trains, and I he appearance of my regiment after being mounted was the most comical sight I
ever saw. Indeed, it was three or four days before I could look at my regiment without
being convulsed with laughter. General William Sooy Smith called them "the Mamelukes."
Much was depending on me then, too, as I was to make an extensive raid over Northern Mis-
sissippi to capture horses to assist in remounting Grierson's cavalry, before making his
famous raid throush that State. We were successful in our raiding, and, becoming .some-
what fascinated with a mounted command, I sought to have it permanently' mounted,
which I succeeded in doing for a short time. Among the regiments of cavalry stationed near
us was the Second Iowa, commanded by Colonel Edward Hatch, an excellent officer, whose
command was one of the finest I ever saw. This regiment was armed with the Colt re-
volving rifle, a magnificent, effective and handsome weapon. As my regiment was to be
mounted and I to seek glory with it, I naturally fell in love with these rifles. How to get
tbem was the next question, and I thought of my good friend. General George B. Wright,
then Quartermaster-General of Ohio ... in my old home at Columbus. I immediately
wrote him a letter. ... A quick answer came to me from General Wright, which said he
was unable to get the Colt revolving rifle, but suggested that he could get me a new gun
called the Spencer repeating rifle musket, which he thought a better gun than the Colt,
and would get tbem for me if I would send him a requisition. General William Sooy Smith
and General McPherson joined me in the requisition. General Sherman signed it, but under
protest, saying some fool contractor was trying to take advantage of the Government. But
the guns were shipped although by this time we were dismounted. . . . We were constantly
on the move ; the guns followed us but did not reach us until we arrived at Chattanooga on
our return from Knoxville, where we had gone to the relief of General Burnside. You may
be assured I was very happv and proud. They were beautiful guns, simple in construction,
and, as subsequent events showed, and as General Wright said, far superior, and in every
way better than the Colt revolving rifle. The enemy soon learned what the Fortysixth Ohio
was and heartily feared their destructive qualities.
The first battle in which the regiment used the guns was that at Dallas, Georgia, on
May 27 and 28, 1864. We were on the extreme right and I am free to say that the right was
kept from being turned by the Spencer rifles. This was known by everyone in the vicinity
War Exi'tuiENcEb at Columbus. IS'.i
wbere we were. It was known by General Sherman, and caused his opinion to chaiiiie very
materially, as he had his headquarters guard immediately armed with these guns.
The gun did most effective service in more than twenty battles on the Atlanta campaign.
The music of these guns became very panic striking to the enemy. ... At the battle of ( jris-
woldville, Georgia, November 2.S, 1864, when on the forward march to the sea, the only battle
fought on that march, when my brigade was sent to present an infantry front towards Maccm,
and when three miles away from our army we met the enemy who had come out irnui
Macon on that mornii:g, 10,000 strong, with a battery of eight guns. I had only 1,.';0U mus-
kets and two pieces of artillery. We fought them for nearly half a day, though General
Woods, who commanded our division, advised me to retreat. We whipped them most terri-
bly, killing over (iOO, wounding and capturing more than a thousand. It was a most remark
able fight and too much credit cannot be given to the Spencer rifles, handled as they were by
the brave and gallant Fortysixth Ohio, for the great success of the day, for without them the
battle could not have been won. . . . With the Spencer rifles the men knew they always had
seven loads, and when the gun was discharged it cleaned itself; never could get hot, for
when the cartridge was removed and discharged it cleaned out the barrel of the gun clear
and ciiol. ll is dilticult to give the history of the guns you so kindly sent us or the great
and iui|i<iitaiit k rvice which they rendered in all the battles in which they took part. . . .
The I'lutysixtli Ohio will always remember you with the profoundest regard and I can only
reuicmlier you with grateful affection for your thoughtfulness and goodness in sending
me the Spencers, as tht-y, together with my brave men, helped me to the stars that decorate
my shoulders.
I think- no apology need be made for giving .so much of this letter, a.s it con-
tains a great deal of war history nowhere else found. 1 iiave omitted a great
deal of flattering comment upon myself, but enough is given to show tiiat the
General appreciated my services far above their merits.
Besides the patriotism of the soldiers who went to the field from Columbus,
we can never i'lilly uiidcrstaiicl nr appreciate the faith, courage and good work of
its women, who, liy llu'ir gil'ls, and in aid s n'ieLies, suppoi'ted and encouraged our
soldici-s at the front, 'i'lie mil id' (Jhio sijldiers in the war numbered 310,654. Of
these 11,2H7 were killed in battle; 6,5t)7 were left dead on tlic field, and 13,354
are known to have died of diseases contracted in the service.
My sei-vice as Quartermaster-General of Ohio closed with Governor Tod's
term on January 1, 1864. No account of my experience during the war would be
complete without giving some of my recollections of him. 1 recall many striking
instances of his sympathy and generosity during his twoyears term in office. I
went with him to Cincinnati after the battle of Pittsburgh Landing, and visited
the hospitals there where hundreds of sick and wounded soldiers were being treated.
His words of cheei' and encouragement to nurses and patients were a tonic to all
who saw and heard him. He used to send for me to come to his office frequently,
and ask for transportation for some poor wife or mother who wished to visit and
nurse a wounded husband or son in some southern or eastern hospital. To the
transportation ticket he would often add from his own pocket sufficient money for
their own expenses if they were not already abundantly supplied, and he always
inquired as to their means. His office was daily thronged with visitors and he
had a happy faculty for promptly responding to the wants of everyone, not
alwaj-s yielding to their requests, but frankly giving his reasons for not doing so
184 llisToRv (IF THE City of Columbus.
when he refused. Few ever left his office without being happier than when they
entered it.
Among liis callers one daj- when I was in his office was a Metliodist minister
whom he did not at first recognize, but as soon as he did he welcomed him warmly
and said : "I have not seen you since you preached the funeral sermon of my
good mother. She is in Heaven now, and I expect to be with her again." After
a few moments conversation with the reverend gentleman, and learning that he
was, like most ministers of the Gospel, poor in this world's goods, he ordered his
Secretary to fill a bank check for one hundred dollars, which he signed and
handed to him, bidding him " goodbye and God speed."
Another instance of his liberality occurred on the evening of the day when
he had been Governor just six months. We were on our waj- home together as
was our usual custom, and on reaching the rotunda of the Statehouse we heard a
band pla3-ing in front and went out to see what was going on. Quite a crowd was
gathered and Hon. Samuel Galloway was addressing ihem and calling for sub-
scriiJlions to the bounty fund which the citizens were raising to induce enlist-
ments in regiments in the field. We listened for a few minutes while several sub-
scriptions were handed up ; among the number was one by Doctor Goodale of
one thousand dollars and another by Mr. Deshler of the same amount, I think.
Whenever a subscrijjtion was announced the crowd would cheer and the band
would play for a few minutes; then Mr. Galloway would have a few more wittj'
words and call for another subscription. As soon as a lull occurred the Governor
requested me to announce his subscription of nine hundred dollars. As soon as I
had done so tiie crowd cheered and the band struck up '■ Hail to the Chief," and
we left. On our way home I asked the Governor why he made a subscription of
nine hundred dollars. "That," said he, "is just my salary as Governor up to this
day." The salary of the Governor at that time was 81,800 a year. It is now
SS^OOO.
He was always in a pleasant humor and fond of a joke or story. I visited
Washington with him in 1862, just before Mr. Lincoln's nomination for the
second term. As we entered Mr. Lincoln's private room we found Mr. Seward
alone with him. After introductions and salutations the Governor said: "Mr.
Lincoln, how many candidates are there in your cabinet for nomination for Presi-
dent?" Mr. Chase, then Secretary of the Treasury, was an announced candidate
for the nomination, and Mr. Seward was warmly urged by his friends as the
pi'oper man to succeed Mr. Lincoln, who replied with a smile : "Tod, that reminds
me of an incident which occurred when I was practicing law in Illinois. A rather
greenlooking man came into my office one day with a bundle under his arm and
asked to see me privately. I took him into my back room and he told me he had
invented an augur to bore with a crank, and he wanted me to apply for a patent ;
I asked to see his machine. After promise of profound secrecy he opened his
bundle and disclosed the machine. I procured a plank and requested him to
bore ; he set the machine and began to turn the crank, but he found he had set
the screw the wrong way, and instead of boring itself in it bored itself out." We
WaK KXI'EKIENCES AT UOLCJIBI-S. 1 Sf)
saw iho |ioiiit ninl made oui- own application with a hearty huii;ii all aroiunl. A
story from Secretary Seward and one from Governor Tod ended the interview.
A more serious and important interview between the President and the Gov-
ernor occurred the next day, when the affairs of the nation, the conduct of the war
and the policy of the administration were fully discussed. They were warmly
attached to one another and the President never had a more ardent friend than
Governor Tod. When many of his old Democratic friends were speaking disjiarag-
ingly of Mr. Lincoln and criticising his administration, 1 never heai'd the Governor
indulge in a word of eriticisim or faultfinding. He would always say: "Lincoln
is all right, and if we sustain him he will put down the rebellion and establish the
Union on a firmer basis than ever." The President's confidence in Governor Tod
was evidenced by his tender to him of the headship of the treasury on the with-
drawal of Secretary Chase, which he declined on account of his health.
The Governor never for a moment seemed to doubt the ultimate result of the
war. Ho often said to me: "What a glorious country and government we will
have when this war is over and the Union reestablished." Throughout his term
of office he was vigilant and active in sustaining the National Government and
looking after the interests of Ohio soldiers, whether in the field or in the hospital.
Few, if any, men in the .State had clearer views or more practical business judg-
ment than he had. He was impulsive and confident in his opinions and judgment,
and his patriotism was of the highest order. The greatest injustice was done him
when theEepublican party failed to renominate him for a second term ; but his con-
duct at the nomination of his successor, John Brough, and his address at the con-
vention and promise to do all in his power for the success of the ticket was char-
acteristic of his noble nature and brought tears to the eyes of many of his friends,
as well as not a few regrets to those who had fiiiled to vote for his renominalion.
The foregoing sketch is in no sense intended as a history of Ohio in the War,
but is simply a part of my own personal experience and observation .luring the
period referred to.
CHAPTER XV.
OLD GUARD AND NEW.
The interest in military organization and association has been more active
since the war tiian it ever was during any previous time of peace. This has been
due, in part, to the improvements whicli have been made in the militia laws and
the encouragement given by the State. It has also been due to the military spirit
which the war diffused among the people and the military experience and training
whicii so many thousands of citizens derived from it. Resulting from that experi-
ence a great many societies have been organized, foremost among which, in num-
bers and chronological precedence, is the Grand Army of the Republic. Of the
Ohio De]mrtment of this order, General B. F. Potts then Provisional Commander,
a convention was held at the hall of the Vedettes in Columbus on January 30, 1867.
The resolutions adopted on that occasion disclaimed any political or partisan pur-
pose, favored the Schenck bill for the equalization of bounties, publication of the
record of Ohio soldiers in the Civil War and the location of a National Soldiers'
Home in Ohio, and declared that the office of pension agent should not be made a
mere football for politicians. Thomas L. Young was elected Department Com-
mander. Another convention of the Ohio Department was held at the Vedettes'
Hall on Town Street, June 20, 1867, Commander T. L. Young presiding. On Jan-
uary 19, 1870, the Ohio Department, Commander J. W. Keifer presiding, held its
Annual Eucamj^ment at Naughton Hall. Officers were elected and delegates were
appointed to represent the Department at the National Encampment to be held at
Washington City the ensuing May. The Fifteenth Annual Encampment of the
Department was held at tiie Fourteenth Regiment Armory on Town Street Janu-
ary 25, 1881. John S. Kountz, of Toledo, was chosen Commander. Post Number
One, now known as the J. C. McCoy Post, in Columbus, was organized January 7,
1881. It takes its name from Captain J. C. McCoj^, of the Fiftyfourth Ohio Infan-
try, who served with distinction as an aid to General Sherman at the battle of
Pittsburgh Landing, during which lie was severely wounded. Joshua M. Wells
Post, Numbei- 451, of the Department of Ohio, was organized June 19, 1SS4, and
named in memory of Captain Joshua M. Wells, of the One Hundred Thirteenth
Ohio Infantry, who was mortally wounded July 20, 1863, in the battle of Chicka-
manga. Elias J. Beers Post, Number 575, takes its name from a gallant soldier of
the One Hundred Thirteenth Ohio Infantry. It was oi'ganized July 5, 1889. A
[186]
Old Guard and New. 1S7
branch of the Woman's Eelief Corps adjunct to the Wells Post, was orgaiiizfd in
January, 1885. The Womans' Soldiers' Aid Society, organized in 1S81, (■(HipurateB
with the McCoy Post.
In the summer of 1882, Dennison Camp of Sons of Veterans was incor-
porated by E. H. Gilkey, L. M. Boda, G. M. Grant, A. Z. Boda, W. C. Wikoff
and William Neil.
In 1878, the Ex-Soldiers' and Sailors' Association of Franklin County had
about two hundred members. On December 2 of that year it elected the following
officers: President, W. Neil Dennison; Vice President, S. W. Gale; Secretary,
Luke Clark; Treasurer, Andrew Schwartz; Secretary, C. M. Morris. During the
winter of 1879 its regular meetings were held monthly', and were usually the
occasion for some appropriate military exercise. On July 3 of that year it erected
a flagstaff on the soldiers' lot in Greenlawn Cemetery. A national reunion of
Soldiers which wiis held in Columbus in 1883, and of which more will be said in
another place, had its origin with this association. In 1881 it purchase<l with its
own funds some attractively situated lots for the interment of soldiers in the
Greenlawn Cemeter}-, and in October, 1883, it inaugurated a movement looking
to the oroction of a suitable monument on these lots. By the efforts of the associa-
tion in pursuance of this project a special act of the General Assembly was passed
Februarj' 28, 1886, by which the sum of ten thousand dollars was raised by taxa-
tion in Franklin County for the erection of this monument. The work was dedi-
cated in 1891. The association has held numerous annivci-sarics and reunions of
an interesting nature
Soon after the war closed a revival of the various military companies which
preceded it took place and sevei'al new ones were organized. Meetings of the
llaydeii Guards are mentioned in 1865, and of the Meade EifJes and Coldstream
Zouaves in 1866. In 1867 the military companies of the city, five in number, were
the Sherman Guards (German), Captain Henry Heinmiller ; the Emmett Guards
(Hibernian), Captain E. T. De Lany ; Capital City Guards (boys from fourteen to
seventeen years of age), Captain Wesley Stephens ; Coldstream Zouaves, Ca])tain
Jacob Albrighl, and llie National Union Guards, Captain A. T. Zeigler. Mention
of a conlpan^ of cnhjred men calling itself the Columbus Guards is made in 1866.
Additional comjianies composed of men of African descent have appeared as fi)l-
lows: 'f he Columbus Grays, organized in March, 1867; the Poe Light Guards,
Cajitain Edward Brown, 1878; the Palmer Guards, Captain Brown, 1879; the
Foster Guards, organized in September of that year, and the Columbus Light
Guard, organized iMay 26, 1882. A German company, Captain Emil Selbach, was
organized in 1874. The Tluirman Light Guards, Captain A. B. Coit {Company
B, Fourteenth Ohio National Guard) dates its organized existence from the sum-
mer of 1878. On April 17, 1884, Hon. Allen G. Thurman, in whose honor this
company was named, conveyed to it as a gift, by deed, a valuable lot in Deshler &
Thurman's Addition in the southern part of the city. The Walcutt Battery, Cap-
tain E. G. Donaldson, was organized September 14, 1882.
On July 28, 1866, the Columbus Vedettes were reorganized with about forty
active members; Captain, G. M. Basconi; First Lieutenant, A. S. McDonald;
188 lIlSTliRY OF THE ClTY OF COLU.MISUS.
Second Lieuteiiiint, T. R. Thrall; Third Lieutenant, T. C. Donaldson. Their
armorj' was in the Carpenter Building, on Town Street. At the reorganization
meeting G. M. Basconi was chairman, and George D. Freeman Secretary. The
Pugh Vedettes, so named in honor of Hon. John M. Pugh, gave their first annual
ball at the City Hall February 22, 1878.
The Columbus Cadets, consisting of boys under twenty years of age, was
organized January 25, 1874, under the supervision of General C. C. Walcutt. In
December, 1875, this movement resulted in the formation of a battalion of two
companies of Cadets — A and B — under Major Wade Converse. The officers of
Compan_y A were: Caj)Uiin, William Waggoner; First Lieutenant, Newton
Anderson; Second Lieutenant, George Hardy; Company B: Captain, Martin
Gemiinder; First Lieutenant, M. Armstrong; Second Lieutenant, Charles Corn-
stock. On January 28, 1881, the Cadets, alter some rumors of dissolution,
reached the point of giving their seventh annual ball.
The Ex-Prisoners of War Association was organized December 28, 1882, with
the following officers: President, J. T. Harris; Vice President, Eobert Dent;
Secretaries, David Bragg and S. W. Gale; Treasurer, D. S. Wilder; Chaplain,
E. C. Beach. The State Association of the prisoners met at the Neil House March
17, 18(56, and elected: President, A. W. McCormick ; Vice President, J. T. Harris ;
Treasurer, E. C. Beach ; Secretary, W. H. Rosevelt.
A company of veterans of the Civil "War was organized in August, 1880, with
sixtyfive members enrolled. Its purpose was " mutual benefit and support;"
officers: Captain, E. A. Selbach ; First Lieutenant, A. F. Donnell ; Second
Lieutenant, John B. Miller.
The Governor's Guard was I'eorganizcd August 8, 1877, with the following
officers: Captain, Frederick Phisterer; First Lieutenant, L. R. Doty; Second
Lieutenant, Henry Corastock; Treasurer, Harry Turney. On November 15,
1877, the Guard, with other companies, was reviewed by Governor Young and
gave an evening reception at the Citj^ Hall. Various social entertainments under
the auspices of the company were subsequently given; among these, on February
3, 1879, a farewell banquet to Captain Phisterer, at the American House. In
July, 1879, the Guard held its annual encampment at Green Springs, Ohio; in
July, 1882, at Deer Park, Maryland. In January, 1884, the Adjutant-General wa.s
requested to disband the compan}-, which had by that time practically' ceased
to exist, and took steps to close up its business. The following contemporary
comment on this result was doubtless equally appropriate to all organizations of
this kind :
The gradual decline of the Governor's Guard is owing to a number of circumstances
the most prominent being probably the later admission of younger members who were not
susceptible of the discipline or inclined to those rigid business qualities which characterized
the company in its earlier days, and when the membership was composed almost exclusively
of men. The late tendency of officers to resign and the inability to tind others competent
to fill their places liad a demoralizing influence until the active [members] had been
reduced to twentyeight, five below the minimum allowed by law. While quite a large
number had more recently applied for and received discharges, there are a number who
would gladly have disconnected themselves, but could not do so with heavy dues hanging
Old Guard and New, 189
over them and cannot be honorably discharged until these matters are properly arranged.
This will probably put an end to the business of unattached companies in the Capital
City, as the history of the Cadets and Guard have clearly shown that discipline and busi-
ness management lose their furce outside the Ohio National Guard. i
On November 12, 1888, preliminaiy steps to organize the Governor's (lunrd
Veteran Association were taken, and on February 27, 188'J, the fir.st annual banquet
of that association was held.
On July 3, 1878, a well-attended meetinii; was held to organize a Veteran
Soldiers' and Sailors' Club of Central Ohio. No pei'maneut result came of this
effort.
On August 2, 1866, a meeting to organize an association of surviving mem-
bers of the State Fencibles, Company B, was held at Aiubos Hall, IT. Z. Mills,
chairman, and John G, Thompson, secretary. In October, 18(17, a constitution
of the State Fencibles Association of Columbus was adopted and in pursuance of it
the following officers were elected : President, Theodore Jones : Vice Presidents,
H. Z. Mills, John Geary and Samuel Thompson ; Secretary, T. J. Janney ; Treas-
urer, James M. Howie; Trustees, R. P. L. Baber, S. Loving and John Miller. On
November 21, 1878, the Association was reoi'ganized and those officers were
chosen: President, Theodore Jones ; Vice President, James H.Neil; Secretary,
A. O. Mitchell; Treasurer, J. K. Jones. On January 13, 1879, the first annual
reunion banquet of the Association was held. These reunions have since taken
place regularly, once a j'ear. The Association has also annually |jaid a touch-
ing tribute of remembrance and respect to its deceased members by decorat-
ing their graves with flowers. In this ceremony, which comprises religious exer-
cises and an address, the Fencibles have been fraternally joined by the Vedettes,
Governor's Guard, Meade Kifles and other associate or contemporary organ-
izations..
Under the auspices of the Grand Army of the Republic, Memorial Day, in
honor of the dead of the National armies of the Civil War, has been regularly
observed in Columbus, with more or less ceremony, since 1869.
On May 22, 1885, a certificate of incorporation of the Columbus Memoral
Association was filed with the Secretary of State. Its charter members were
H. M. Neil, Edu-in C. Beach, C. C. White, George M. Smith, N. B. Abbott, John
G. Mitchell, Charles T. Clarke, C. N. Bancroft, George Cunningham, James De
Wolfe, John H. Grove, John Beatty, George D. Freeman, W. M. Armstrong, Alonzo
B. Coit and George K. Nash. On January 18, 1886, a board of twelve directors
was chosen. The purpose of this movement was to commemorate the services of
Franklin County soldiers in the suppression of the rebellion by the erection of a
building which would serve as a depository for war records and relics, provide an
armory for the Columbus Battalion of the National Guard and contain a hall
suitable for the meetings and reunions of local military societies. At the April
election in 1887 a vote was taken on the proposition to levy a tax to provide
a fund of $100,000 for the erection of such a building and resulted In its approval
by 1,440 yeas to 796 nays. The sum thus authorized being deemed insufficient,
the j(.int' cOmmiUce having charge of the mailer decided, December 21, 1.SS7, to
190 History of the City of Columbus.
ask for a new law providins: for $75,000 additional. Much controversy ensued as
to the location of the building and in consequence of this, and of legal informal-
ities in the vote taken, the enterprise failed. In March, 1886, the Princess Rink,
on West Spring Street, was leased and arranged as an armory for the militarj'
companies of the city.
In May, 1869, the bodies of deceased Union soldiers, Ibrtynine in number,
then lying in various places of interment about the city, were collected and
reinterred on the grounds consecrated to the soldier dead in Greenlawn Cemetery."
The Confederate dead, including ninetythree bodies lying in the graveyard south-
east of the city, and those at Camp Deunison, were also collected and buried in the
Confederate Cemetery at Camp Chase.
On May 4, 1885, the General Assembly passed an act appropriating five
thousand dollars to erect a memorial to the Ohio soldiers who died upon the battle-
field of Gettysburg. For consultation as to the best means of accom])lishing the
purposes of this act a meeting of Ohio soldiers who took part in the battle was
held at Columbus July 4, 1885, and the conclusion was then reached that the act
as it stood was practically woi-thless. Further legislation was therefore asked for,
and on April 21, 1886, a law was passed making an additional appropriation of
$35,000, and creating a commission consisting of the Adjutant-General, Secretary
of State and Auditor of State, whose dut}- it should be to obtain sites and erect on
the battlefield suitable memorials to all the Ohio organizations there engaged.
On September 7, 1886, this Commission publicly invited designs and bids for these
memorials, and on October 14, same year, the designs were presented by bidders
and selected by the Commission in consultation with committees representing the
different organizations interested. On December 9, Alfred E. Lee, of the Eighty-
second Ohio Veteran Infantry, was appointed Secretary of that Commission.
During the next ensuing months contracts for twenty memorials were negotiated
by the Secretary and closed, on forms prepared by him, with the approval of the
Commission. So rapidly did the work progress that within less than a year from
the time the first proposals were received the memorials were completed and
dedicated. The ceremonies of dedication took place on the battlefield at Gettys-
burg September 14, 1887, and were participated in by Eon. J. B. Foraker, Gov-
ernor of Ohio, Hon. James A. Beaver, Governor of Pennsylvania, tlie Ohio Mem-
orial Commission, and a large number of visiting Ohio soldiers and citizens. The
principal visiting organization was the Fourteenth Eegiment of the Ohio National
Guard, Colonel George D. Freeman, which proceeded directly to Gettysburg from
its annual encampment at Lancaster, Ohio, and from Gettj-sburg after the
ceremonies there, proceeded to Philadelphia, where it took part, September 15-17,
in celebrating the centennial anniversary of the adoption of the National Con-
stitution.
On August 22, 1887, a Cyclorama of the Battle of Gettysburg was opened to
the public on East Long Street. It was contained in a large octagonal building
erected for that purpose by a company of capitalists and since replaced by a family
apartment building known as Ln NonnamJIe.
Old Guard and New. 191
The Cincinnati Light Guards halted at Columbus June 6, 1S7(!, on their way
to the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, and wore escorted through the city
by the Capital City Guards. The Chickasaw Guards, of Mcm])his, Teunossoo,
Captain S. T. Cariies, visited (Jolumbiis October 25, 1878, and were escorted by the
Governor's Guards, the Poe Guards and the Columbus Cadets.
On April 4, 187 7, a convention of officers ot the Ohio National Guard was
held at the City Hall. About one hundred delegates were present. Another con-
vention of this kind was held at the same place March 12, 1878. At a similar
meeting held in Columbus May 4, 1883, the National Guard Association was
organized with the following officers : President, Adjutant-General S. B. Smith ;
Vice Presidents, George D. Freeman and E. J. Pocock ; Secretar}-, U. A. Axline ;
Treasurer, John C. Entrekin. On March 6 and 7, 1884, a State Convention of
National Guard officers was held at the Fourteenth Regiment Armory, and the
following officers chosen ; President, Adjutant-General E. B Finley; Vice Presi-
dents, George B. Freeman and C. B. Hunt; Secretaries, O. J. Hopkins and J. C.
L. Pugh ; Treasurer, J. C. Entrekin. During the week beginning August 12,
1884, the Second brigade O. N. G., Colonel George D. Freeman commanding, held
a successful encampment at the County Pair Grounds. Additional state conven-
tions of National Guard officers were held at Columbus on January 15, 1885, and
February 15, 1887. In August, 1888, a State Encam|)nient of the National Guard
was held on the Fuller and Cook farms, comprising about three hundred acres, on
the Worthington Eoad nortii of the city. The encampment, under the direct
command of Adjutant General H. A. Axline, was named Camp Phil. Sheridan.
About six thousand of the militia were brought together on this occasion, which
was further memorable for the conspicuous and creditable part taken by the
whole body in the parade incidental to the opening of the Ohio Centennial Expo-
sition September 4.
An encampment of the colored National Guard was held at the County Fair-
grounds August 14, 15 and !(!, 1882. The Palmer Guards took an active part in
entertaining the. guests. A parade of the visiting and local companies attending
the encampment took place August 15. Among the companies in attendance were
the McClellan Guards, the Bluff City Rifles and the Memphis Zouaves, of Memphis,
Tennessee; the Attucks and Sumner Guards, of St. Louis; an I the Georgia
Cadets, of Atlanta, Georgia.
On March 29, 1884, the Governor's Guard, Duffy Guards (colored), ami Four-
teenth Regiment, O. N. G., Colonel George D. Freeman commanding, were
ordered to Cincinnati by Governor Hoadly to assist in quelling a formidable and
destructive riot. Incensed by the acquittal of notorious murderers, and par-
ticularlj^ of one Berner, public opinion in Cincinnati passed the line of forbearance
and manifested its resentment in paroxysms of uncontrollable popular rage. This
highly excited state of feeling was not long in developing a furious mob, which
practically took possession of the city, defied its authorities, set on fire and
destroyed the Hamilton County Courthouse, and undertook to demolish the
county jail.
192 History of the City of Columbus.
The Fourteenth was one of the first of the summoned regiments to respond
to the Governor's call. One of the accounts of the service it performed saj's :
The Fourteenth Ohio National Guard arrived upon the ground at twelve o'clock, and
deploying on Main Street fired westward on Court The first volley killed five people and
wounded many more, as could be distinctly seen by a Commercial Gazette reporter. Just the
result of the succeeding volleys, fired at longer and longer range as the mob fell back and
scattered, could not be determined, but as the fire was delivered with precision there must
have been many more casualties. The net result was that at one o'clock the military and
police were in at least temporary possession of the battlefield and the firemen were permitted
to £0 to work unmolested on what was left of the burning courthou.se. There were several
militiamen hurt, but none killed outright in this battle.^
During tiie fighting with the rioters, Leo Voglegesang, of the Fourteenth, was
killed. After the battle was over, Israel S. Getz, of the same regiment, was mort-
ally wounded bj' the accidental discharge of a musket. The remains of these
young men were brought back to Columbus, their place of residence, and buried
with military honors. The Fourteenth -Regiment remained on duty, skirmishing
with the rioters and guarding property until the trouble had subsided. It then
returned to Columbus, where the reports of its gallant behavior had awakened
much enthusiasm, and insured for it a very cordial reception. All the military
organizations of the eitj^ took part in this reception, which was made further
notable by the profuse decoration of buildings and the assembly of great
crowds of people on the streets and at the railway station to welcome the
returning soldiers. In the station building, while a heavy rain was pouring with-
out, some welcoming remarks were made by Hev. A. G. Byers and were responded
to by Colonel Freeman. The regiment was then escorted to its armory, in the
Osborn building, where a more formal reception took place, and welcoming
addresses were delivered by Rev. W. E. Moore and General C. C. VValcutt.
Of the militarj' reunions which have taken place in Columbus since the
war, mention may be made of those of the Ninetyfifth Ohio Infantry, December
16, 18G7 (when a permanent association was organized), and December 16, 1886 ;
of the One Hundred Thirteenth, August 23, 1877, August 30, 1878, August 11,
1881 and September 21, 1886 ; of the Ninth Ohio Cavalry, December 16, 1869 ; of
General Fuller's Ohio Brigade, October 3, 1878; of the Third Ohio Infiintr3',
October 10, 1878; of the One Hundred Thirtythird, August 16, 1872 and August
20, 1873; of the Fortysixth, July 28, 1881; of the Sixth Ohio Cavalry, July 3,
1885 ; of the Thirtysecond Ohio Infantry, September 2, 1885 and August 31, 1887 ;
of the Regular Brigade, Fourteenth Corps, September 2, 1885 and August 31,
1887; and of the First and Fourth Ohio Cavalry, Augu.st 17, 1887. Meetings of
the Mexican War veterans took place February 22 and August 20, 1879, and Feb-
ruary 28 and September 12, 1888. A meeting of surviving soldiers of the War of
Independence and the War of 1812 was held at Judge Taylor's office August 15,
1883. The attendance was small. The Army of the Cumberland held a reunion
at Columbus September 16 and 17, 1874, and again in 1891. Meetings of the
Society of the Army of West Virginia took place during the National Encamp-
ment of the Grand Army of the Republic at (lolnmhns in ISSS, and again in 1SS1>.
MUNSELLS-CONX
Old Guard and New. 193
A company called Iho Union Light Guard, comprising one man from eacli county
in Ohio, was organized bj- Governor Tod just before the close of his administra-
tion, and was tendered as an escort to President Lincoln, which service it per-
formed until the close of the war. This company held a reunion at Columbus
August 27, 1879.
Beginning August 10, 1880, a reunion of soldiers of the Civil War from Ohio
and adjoining States was held under the auspices of the Franklin County Ex-
Soldiers' and Sailors' Association at the County Fairgrounds, which, for the occa-
sion, tooli the name of Camp Columbus. This was the first great meeting of the
volunteers held in Ohio after the war closed. The attendance, variously estimated,
seems to have reached twentj- or twentyfive thousand. Fifteen thousand are said
to have marched in the parade. Among the distinguisliod visitors present were
President Hayes and Generals W. T. Sherman, W. B. Hazen, Upton, Carroll and
Devens. The Presidential party arrived August 11, and was formally escorted
from the station by the Columbus Cadets, the Governor's Guard, the Palmer
Guards, the Fourteenth 0. N. G. and a squad of regulars. On August 12 a great
i-eunion meeting at which Governor Dennison presided was held at the Pair-
grounds. It was addressed by President Hayes, Governor Foster and Generals
W. T. Sherman, W. B. Hazen, John Beatty, W. T. Wilson and W. H. Gibson.
Keunions of a large number of the Ohio organizations of the war took place.
The parade, organized and led by General C. C. Walcutt, was the lai'gest and
finest which up to that time had ever taken place in the city. Its movement was
from Broad and Third streets south on High to the residence of W. B. Hayden,
and then by countermarch back to and eastward on Town Street. The spectacle
was witnessed by tens of thousands of people crowding the streets and buildings.
After the parade was dismissed the enthusiastic veterans were addressed at the
managing committee's headquarters on State Street by President Hayes and Gen-
eral W. T. Sherman. The Executive Committee which organized and managed
this reunion was appointed by the Ex-Soldiers' and Sailors' Association Septem-
ber 14, 1889 Its members were: W. G. Deshler, John Beatty, H. T. Chittenden,
R. Burr, Theodore Butler, F. C. Sessions, Henry Lindenberg, L. D. Myers, Joseph
Gundesheimer, P. Egan, M. Halm, W. N. Dennison and Theodore Jones.
The next great reunion in Ohio took j^l^ce in Columbus beginning J uly 24,
1883, and was also held under the auspices of the Ex-Soldiers' and Sailors' Asso-
ciation of Franklin County. As a preliminary step the Association, on March 2,
1882, appointed a committee to raise, by pledge of citizens, a guaranty fund of
f 5,000. The members ot this committee were: W. B. Hayden, H. T. Chittenden,
F. C. Sessions, A. D. Eodgers, C. Huston, J. A. GundBsheimor, J. Kershaw, C. P.
L. Butler, M. Halm, C. D. Firestone, F. Jaeger, O. G. Peters, George D. Freeman,
S. S. Rickly, J. C. Briggs, L. D. Myers, George H. Tyler, A. B. Cohen, P. C. Hensel
and Conrad Born. On September 22 this committee reported subscriptions to the
amount of $3,800, and, in conjunction with the Association, decided that the
reunion should be national in its character. Camp Governor Dennison was
laid out at the Fairgrounds under command of General John G. Mitchell, who
was assisted by a numerous staff. The officers of the Association at this time
13*
104 History of the City of Columbus.
wore as follows : President, Henry M. Neil ; Vice President, S. S. Peters ; Secre-
taries, J. W. Myers and D. M. Brelsford; Treasurer, Andrew Schwarz; Chaplain,
W. E. Moore.
The Commander-in-Chief of the reunion was Henry M. Neil; Chief of
Staff, J. W. Myers; Chief of Staffto Commander of Camp, Moses H. Neil.
The following committees of the reunion were appointed :
Executive: S. S. Peters, chairman; D. M. Brelsfoi-d, secretary; A. T. Wikoff,
F. C. Hensel, Eaymond Burr, C. N, Bancroft, G, W. Snyder.
Grand Army of the Republic: C. T. Clarli, David Lanning, Joseph Amos,
J. C. Donaldson, Moses H. Neil.
Sailors and Gunboat : Symmes E. Brown, John Heinmillcr, Christian Heyde.
Finance: W. B. Hayden, James Kershaw, M. Halm, Joseph Gundesheimer,
Conrad Born, C. D. Firestone, H. T. Chittenden, W. H. Slade, S. S. RicUly,
E. C. Hensel, A. D. Eodgers, Theodore F. Butler.
Decoration: James Kershaw, W. R. Kinnear, John W. Lilloy, J. H. Brelsford,
C. Jensen, G. W. Snyder, J. L. Stclzig, V. E. Hanna, J. T. Harri.s, Homer
Henderson.
Invitations : S. S. Peters, A. T. Wikoff, H. M. Neil, C. T. Clark.
Entertainment of Invited Guests: George W. Sinks, George K. Nash, J. M.
Westwater, W. Y. Miles, Alfred Kelley, H. C. Taylor, W. L. Scott, T. C. Menden-
hall, E. L. Hinman, John Joyce.
Press: B. R. Cowen, E. G. Orebaugh, George Tyler, E. O. Eandall, Jacob
Eeinhard, Goldstein, Samuel Shaeffer, J. F. Clegg, H. L. Conard, F. W.
Snell, Claude Meeker, George W. Meeker, Will C. Turner, W. F. Felch, S. S.
Peters, S. B. Porter, W. S. Furay, W. J. Elliott, W. A. Taylor, L. Hirsch, A. H.
Isler, W. P. Brown, S. J. Flickinger, G. F. Ketchum, M. J. Haley, E. K. Rife,
J. H.Bowman, J. B. K. Connellj-, S. C. Chorlton, L. C. Collins, J. H. Putnam.
National Guard: George D. Freeman, J. C. L. Pugh, Andrew Schwarz,
A. B. Coit, B. F. Payne.
Entertainments and Fireworks: S. W. Gale, J. W. Chapin, J. K. Jones.
Bailway Transportation: J. N. Champion, J. J. Archer, B. Monnett, B. T.
Affleck, F. M. Caldwell. James De Wolf, S. B Porter, W. H. Harrison, W. B.
Reppert, W.Camnitz.
Hotels and Intelligence: C. M. Morris, Romeo Gregg, H. T. Judd, S. N. Field.
Stands and Privileges: W. J. Camuitz, Robert Dent, A. R. Keller, George
Donaldson.
Police: Samuel Thompson, D. W. Brooks, B. McCabe.
Halls and Assignments: W. R. Kinnear, J. N. Champion, R. H. Rownd,
W. J. Camnitz.
Printing : L. D. Myers, J. C. Briggs, George T. Spahr.
Badges: C. H. Lindenberg, J. W. Myers, J. F. Earhart.
Music: S. B. Porter, R. B. De Butts, H. A. Axline.
Speakers : George K. Nash, J. F. Oglevee, A. T. Wikoff, C. C. Walcutt.
The first day — Tuesda,y, July 24 — was devoted to the reception of arriving
comrades, registration and preliminary organization. On the second day— Wednes-
Old Guard and New. 105
day, 25 — regimental reunions took place and a formal welcome of the visiting
comrades was given. A grand display of fireworks took place on the Capitol
Square in the evening. Thursday was set apart as the Grand Army of the
Republic Day, its principal event being a parade of the Grand Army organizations
at two o'clock p. M. A " campfire " was held at the Fair Grounds in the evening.
On Friday, twentyseventh, a grand general parade was held, beginning at ten
A. M. On each day a morning, midday and evening artillery salute was fired.
The arrivals on Wednesdaj^ were continuous, throughout the day, and the
city, gaily decorated, resounded with martial music as thousands after thous-
sands marched to their places of rendezvous. At ten a. m. welcoming addresses
were delivered at the Capitol by Major H. M. Neil, Mayor C. C. VValcutt and Gov-
ernor Charles Foster. In the afternoon a large meeting at the Fair Grounds was
addressed by Ex-President E. B. Hayes, Governor Charles Foster, Ex-Governor
E. F. Noyes, General W. H. Gibson, General M. D. Leggett, Hon. George Hoadly
and Hon. J. B. Foraker. In the evening the streets were gorged with people,
particularly in the neighborhood of the Capitol Square, where thedisplaj' of pyro-
technics took place. Over the western entrance to the Capitol the word Greeting
was emblazoned in huge letters. The newspapers of the twentyseventh expressed
the belief that the city had never before contained so many people at one
time.
The Grand Army parade of Thursday took place in four divisions led by H.
A. Axline, J. B. Allen, J. H. Grove and O. G. Daniels. General S. H. Hurst was
the Chief Marshal. Countermarching on High Street, at Livingston Avenue the
procession returned northward and passed the reviewing stand which had been
erected at the western entrance to the Capitol Square, and on which General
Hayes, Governor Foster and many other prominent persons had taken tiieir
positions.
The general parade of Friday under Major H. M. Neil, was still larger and
more interesting. Much to their delight the veterans were permitted to carry the
flags which their regiments had borne during the war and had dejjosited in the
custody of the State. An imitation ship of war under Symmes E. Brown was
drawn in the column by a traction engine, and was mounted with a mortar, from
which, at intervals bombs containing various curious figures and emblems were
discharged into the air. The divisions were led by George D. Freeman, S. S.
Peters, Andrew Schwarz and John G. Mitchell. Starting from Broad Street the
column took its line of march south on High Street to Town, east on Town to
Fourth, south on Fourth to Friend, west to Third, south to Frankfort, west to
High, north on High to Naghten, and then by countermarch back to Broad. The
streets and buildings on this route were crowded with people, who fully shared,
with the men in line, the enthusiasm of the occasion. When the procession had
passed the reviewing stand Ex-President Hayes offered to the crowd the following
resolution, which was adopted with loud and unanimous acclaim:
The ex-Union soldiers and sailors of Ohio, assembled at their fourth annual reunion,
wish to express their grateful appreciation of the magnificent reception and generous
hospitality which have been extended to them by their comrades and the whole people of
the patriotic City of Columbus.
History op the City of Columbus.
NOTES.
1. Oltio Stdle Journal, January 16, 1SS4.
2. Prior to this collection the distribution of the bodies was as follows ; Thirtyfour at
the Clinton Chapel Graveyard, four miles north of the city ; three in the Union Clinton
Graveyard, five miles northwest of the city ; six in the City Graveyard, southeast of the city ;
and six in the Old Graveyard near the Union Station.
3. The following extract from the official report made to Governor Hoadly by Colonel
George D. Freeman, Fourteenth Ohio National Guard, explains in detail the operations of
the troops under his command :
" On arriving at Cincinnati depot, we were met by General Ryan, of your stafl, also by
a deputy Sheriff with written orders from Colonel Hawkins, Sherifi of Hamilton county, to
report at once with my command at the county jail. The command was immediately formed,
and before leaving the depot, after loading, twenty rounds of cartridges having been issued
to each man while in transit, sjiecial orders were given to each Company to be cool and
especially careful not to fire unless absolutely necessary, and then only on command. Under
escort of the Deputy Sherifi' and General Ryan, we marched to the jail in the following order
and without music : Two companies platoon front, half distance, two companies column of
four, covering the right flank of the second company, tw-o companies column of four, cover-
ing the left fiank of the second company, the remaining companies in column of platoons,
half distance. The battery gun, with the drummers, were ordered to place in the center
rear of the second company. We were not molested en route, while on the march, further
than by the throwing of stones and firing of revolvers in the vicinity of the rear guard, with
plenty of swearing and abuse from bystanders. On reporting to Sheriff Hawkins at the jail,
he directed me to place the battery gun, with a support at the barricade, on Court Street in
front of the jail, then held by the Second Battery of Artillery, acting as infantry ; and to
clear Main Street of the mob. To support the battery gun I detailed Companies H and K ; I
then directed Colonel Liggett to take Companies A, F, D and C, climb the north barricade,
and march by the way of North Court to Main and drive the mob from that part of Main
Street between North Court Street and the canal bridge, and hold the position. Also directed
Major Schwarz, with Companies B, Fourteenth Regiment, B and F, Thirteenth Regiment,
B, Ninth Battalion, and the Governor's Guard, to march by the waj' of Ninth Street and
clear Main Street from that point to Court Street, and hold the position, and that I would
join him at South Court and Main.
" On reaching Main Street, Colonel Liggett ordered Company A to form Company front,
and supported by Co. D, to move forward by column right, and press the mob north over the
canal bridge ; this was done at the point of the bayonet, after hard and patient work. Also
directing Companies F and C to face south and hold the mob in front of the Court House in
check. As soon as Companies A and D had completed the task assigned them, they, with a
detail from Company C, utilized a lot of salt in barrels and built a barricade across Main
Street at the bridge. While this work was being done by Colonel Liggett's wing. Major
Schwarz marched by the way of Ninth Street to Main, where he ordered Company B, Four-
teenth Regiment, to form company front and to move north on Main to South Court to clear
the street and hold their position ; at the same time ordering Companies B and F, Thirteenth
Regiment, and Company B, Ninth Battalion, to form across Main Street and hold the crowd
from getting in the rear of his other detachment. Company B, Fourteenth Regiment pushed
forward, driving the crowd before them at the point of the bayonet. When nearing South
Court the first manifestations of the mob were made to resist further progress of the soldiers.
The Governor's Guard were immediately ordered to the support of Company B. The mob
in Court Street in front of the Courthouse, pressed forward, throwing stones and using fire-
Old (iiiAKi) AM) New. 1:i7
arms, and after repeated warnings by myself and other ollieers to tliem to fall baek ami not
advance, as they would do so at tlie peril of their lives, they repeated their demonstrations
and started to press down on the soldiers. When, seeing there was no other alternative, the
command was given to the first platoon to fire. This checked them, and they fell back into
Court Street. One person, the leader of the party, was killed, and several wounded. I
immediately hastened to Colonel Liggett's command, and caused Company F to be detailed
to move forward and assist in clearing Court Street; they advanced at once, in column of
fours, until Court Street was reached, when they formed on right into line. To extend the
line the lileclosers were ordered to the left flank. I then ordered Company B, Fourteenth
Kegiment, and the Governor's Guard, to their support, which they executed on double time.
The column moved west on Court Street to the first alley, and halted, the crowd falling back
in front of them. After seeing that all the positions were being held, and leaving Colonel
Liggett in comniaud, I hastened to the jail to notify Sheriff Hawkins that the square was
cleared, and that he coulil order the tire department to resume their labors ; and to telephone
Colonel Church, at the Mi:inii (U'lmt, that he might advise you by telegraph of the situation.
While at the telephone, ;ni oriU-rly arrived to advise me that the mob had advanced to the
point where Court Street widens, and under cover of the buildings had pelted the soldiers
with stones and fired on them, wounding Colonel Liggett, Captain Slack, and eight others,
and that then the command was given to the first platoon of Coiupany F to fire, but with
what results to the mob he could not say. He also asked if material could be had to build a
barricade I immediately detailed Company H, and with a detachment of police, gathered
such material as was at hand, and carried it to Court Street and built a barricade.
"The mob had retreated to the markethouse and contented them.selves with firing revol-
vers and muskets from that point. I have reasons to believe that a portion of the rioters left
at this time to engage in mischief elsewhere, in their efforts to secure arms and ammunition-
About 2 A. M. word came that the mob had got into Music Hall, and had captured three brass
cannon belonging to the Second Battery Soon after, a telephone message was received from
Colonel Church, saying that a mob of about 200 had three brass cannon at the corner of
Fourth and Vine streets. I ordered Companies H and K, with the battery gun, to accom-
pany Sheriff Hawkins and myself in their pursuit. Chief Reilly, of the police, detailed one
company of his command to lead the advance. The police, being able to move much faster
than the soldiers, who had the guns to shove over the cobblestone pavement, were enabled to
get there first, and had the honor of capturing the guns, which they pulled by hand to the
jail. Farther than to take a detachment to go to the rescue of a member of Company D,
who had accompanied a captain of the Veteran Guards to their armory on Walnut Street, to
secure overcoats for the soldiers, and an occasional shot exchanged between the rioters and
the Guard, nothing of importance occurred during the remainder of the night. Surgeons
Guerin and Gunsaulus secured Burdsal's drug store, 409 Main Street, as a temporary hos-
pital, where they attended the wounded soldiers and did good service.
"Sunday morning we were reinforced by Colonel Picard, of the Thirteenth Kegiment,
with Company A of bis aommand, bringing with him from the Miami depot 10,000 rounds of
ball cartridges. During the forenoon, a barricade was built at the corner of Main and Ninth
streets. Nothing of importance occurred to note. The crowds continued to increase at
Ninth and Main, Ninth.and Sycamore, at the Canal on Main Street, and especially on Court
Street. During the afternoon, threats were made and many became unruly, and numerous
arrests were ma<ie by the police, under cover of the soldiers and the barricades. The roughs
in front of the Court Street barricade succeeded in covering themselves by pushing forward
all the women and children to the front, but fortunately for all, they contented themselves with
venting their wrath in swearing vengeance when night should come, and occasionally hurling a
stone and firing a revolver. At Main Street and the canal, under cover of the bridge, stones
were continually thrown at the soldiers, and many were hit, and it was with the greatest
effort that the mob were restrained from advancing on the bridge and firing at the guards.
198 History of the Citv of Columbus.
At last, one fellow advauced, brandishing his revolver'and defying the guard, hurled a stone,
and hit the lieutenant in command. He was fired upon by the guard, and fell. His friends
carried him away. The shot had the desired effect, stopping all further disturbance at this
point. Between 2 and 3 p. ji. the Fifth Battery, Captain Sintz commanding, arrived and
were assigned position ; also 115 officers and men of the Fourth Regiment.
" In consultation with Sheriff Hawkins and Colonel Hunt, it was deemed advisable to
move forward, and strengthen the barricade on Sycamore and Ninth streets ; also the one on
Court Street, facing the canal. As night approached, the crowds diminished, and those
drawn by curiosity left the ground. At dusk the positions of the companies were changed
from what they were the night previous. All was comparatively quiet, until between ten
and eleven o'clock, when the mob, which had gathered at the markethouse on Court and
Walnut, commenced firing from this point, protecting themselves by the stands at the mar-
kethouse, and by buildings on the corners. No response was made by the soldiers at the barri-
cade for some time. When the aim of the mob became too accurate for endurance, it being
evident by the balls striking the barricade and Courthouse beyond, that larger weapons than
revolvers were being used, it was thought best, at last, to give the mob the benefit of one case
of cartridges from the battery gun, by firing it into the markethouse ; but before doing so,
due warning was given by the officers that it would be done, if ttie firing did not cease.
Oaths and volley from the mob was the response ; then the twenty shots were fired from the
gun. A number of casualties was the result. This caused the mob to scatter for the time
and with the exception of random shots from them, there was comparative quiet until about
midnight. Orders were received from General Finley and the Mayor, ordering a detachment
to be sent to Walnut Hills, to guard the powder magazines at that point. Colonel Pii-ard, of
the Thirteenth Regiment, with three companies of his regiment, was detailed for that pur-
pose, and remained there until about five o'clock a. .m. After the firing of the battery gun
at eleven o'clock, positive orders were issued against the firing of any single shots by the sold-
iers, and that no firing should be done, unless some soldier was shot, or the mob endeavored to
charge the works. Near one o'clock it became evident that another attack would be made.
The soldiers were directed to keep down and quiet. I took my station at the corner of
Court anil Main, in company with Sheriff Hawkins, Colonel Hunt, Major Schwarz, Captain
Sintz, and other officers, and in speaking distance of the officers in charge of the barricade.
A fusillade was opened by the mob, from their old position, at the corner of Walnut and
Court. No response was made by the soldiers, and after perhaps fifteen minutes, and over
fifty shots had been counted striking the Courthouse, others having hit the barricade, the
mob became bold and decided to charge, and, as they expressed it with oaths, " clean out
those blue coats." The soldiers, obeying orders, remained quiet, and not until the mob came
forward, firing and yelling, was the order given to fire, when two volleys, by company, in
quick succession, were fired. Five persons were known to have been wounded. This was the
last firing done, and gradually all became quiet."
CHAPTER XVI,
THE GREAT ENCAMPMENT.
On April 25, 1887, a proposition to invito tiie Grand Army of the Re])ubiic to
liold its Tvventysecoiid National Encampment at Columbus was broached in the
Board of Trade. Several speeches favoring it were macle, and a coTnmitteo of citi-
zens and Grand Army men was appointed to solicit an endorsement of the
scheme by the State Encampment to be held on April 27, at Springfield. This
committee was entirely successful in its efforts, and a delegation fully committed
to Columbus as the place for holding the National Encampment of 1888, was
appointed to represent the Ohio Department at the National Encampment of 1887,
to be held the ensuing September at St. Louis. To make sure of proper consider-
ation of the claims of Columbus at St. Louis, several prominent citizens visited
that city at the time of the encampment and labored assiduously to secure its next
sitting at the capital of Ohio. Their efforts were crowned with success ; Colum-
bus was chosen, among several formidable competitors, as the place for holding
the Twentysecond National Encampment.
By this resTilt a prodigious task and commensurate resiionsibility were
imposed. The decision in favor of holding the encampment at Columbus had
been made, in part, because of its central position both geographically and with
respect to the location of the great mass of the Union volunteers. Another and
very influential consideration was the fact that all the Western States had been
extensively peopled from Ohio, particularly Ohio soldiers, and that tens of thous-
ands of these who had not revisited their Ohio friends since the war desired the
opportunity to do so which the location of the encampment at Columbus would
afford them. It was therefore evident from the beginning that the attendance at
the encampment, both Grand Army and miscellaneous, would be immense, and
would lay an unprecedented claim upon the resources and hospitalities of the
city. Should this claim be fully and satisfactorily met, the good name of Colum-
bus would not only be enhanced but disseminated far and wide.; whereas, should
failure or even misadventure en.sue in fulfilling the extraordinary demands of the
occasion the result would be disastrous both to the reputation and the welfare of
the city.
These facts were fully realized, and preparations for the creditable fulfillment
of the obligations they imposed began at once. As the Board of Trade had taken
[199]
200 History of the City of ColUiMbus.
the initiative, so by its action were the preliminary arrangements for the enter-
tainment of the National Encampment made. The first step in these arrange-
ments was taken by the appointment of a general committee which met Novem-
ber 10, and selected a special committee to report a plan of organization. The
members of this special committee were Messrs. C. D. Firestone, chairman ; C. T.
Clark, representing the J. C. McCoy Post, G. A. R.; N. B. Abbott, representing
the J. M. Wells Post, G. A. R.; H. T. Chittenden, representing the Ohio Centen-
nial Commission ; and Philip H. Bruck, Mayor of the City. At a subsquent
meeting of the genei'al committee held December 27, the special committee
reported a plan which was adopted in the following form :
Ji'iVs;.— The Centennial Joint Committee, consisting of the Board of Trade Committee,
the Maj'or of the City, and committees appointed by the City Council and two Grand Army
Posts, shall, at the earliest date possible, elect by ballot a chief executive officer, who, for
convenience, shall be officially known as Chairman of the Joint Executive Committee. Tlie
Chairman can make such appointments of staff officers as he may require.
Second. — The Centennial Joint Committee shall divide up the work into sixteen divisions,
or departments, and provide for each division of the work to be performed by a committee
consisting of not less than three nor more than nine persons, as shall be deemed proper by
the General Council to be hereinafter provided.
Third — It shall be the duty of the Chairman of the General Council, within two weeks
after due notice of his appointment, to nominate a chairman for each of the sixteen commit-
tees provided for in the second section ; these nominations to be subject to the approval of
the Centennial Joint Committee. If any of tlie nominations are unsatisfactory to a majority
of the Centennial Committee, it shall be the duty of the Chairman of the General Council
to make other nominations until all the positions shall have been satisfactorily filled.
Fourth — The sixteen persons appointed as chairmen of the several committees, shall,
with the Chairman of the General Council, who shall be ex-offieio chairman of the Board,
constitute an Executive Board, which Board shall, for convenience, be known as the General
Council. The General Council, when it shall have been properly organized by the selection
of one of its members as Vice-Chairman, and by the selection of a Secretary (the Secretary
may or may not be a member of the General Council), shall have full power and control of
all matters pertaining to the entertaining of the Grand Army of the Republic, their powers
being unlimited, except in respect to the expenditure of money, as hereafter provided
Fifth— The Cliairman of each of the several committees shall nominate as many persons
to be members of his committee as the General Council shall deem proper (not less than
three nor more than nine, however), and if said nominations are approved by the General
Council, the appointments shall be confirmed, otherwise other nominations shall be made
until the committees shall have been satisfactorily filled.
Sixth — The several committees shall have the management of the details pertaining to
their parts of the work, subject, however, to the general direction of the Chairman of the
General Council, and shall each report to the General Council, without unnecesary delay, a
detailed estimate of the amount of money required.
Seventh — It shall be the duty of the General Council to provide the Chairman of the
General Council with a suitable office in which to transact business, and such clerical help
as may be required to perform properly his duties.
Eighth— Each of the several committees shall appoint one of its members Secretary.
Such appointee shall keep a correct record of all meetings of the committee, and of the work
done, and of the correspondence had, and keep the Chairman of the General Council fully
informed of the action of the committee. When the work of the committee shall have been
completed, the records of the committee shall be transmitted to the Chairman of the Gen-
The Great Encampment. 201
eral Council, and by him turned over with the records of the General Council to the Sec-
retary of the Columbus Board of Trade, which organization shall be the custodian of, and
carefully preserve these papers.
i\'?'H(7i— Subject to the approval of the Disbursement Committee hereafter to be selected
by the .subscribers to the Centennial Fund, the General Council may place in the hands of
the Chairman of the General Council asum of money not exceeding five hundred dollars as a
contintient fund, which fund may be used at the discretion of the Chairman of tlie Gen-
eral Council when it shall not be convenient to first pass upon the expenditure by the Gen-
eral Council. The Chairman of the General Council shall keep a correct reconl of such
expenditures and report the same at the next meeting of the General Council.
Tenth — No expenditure of money other than as provided for in the Ninth Section,
shall be made, nor shall any contract be made involving the expenditure of money until
such contract or expenditure shall have first been submitted and approved by the General
Council.
Eleventh — It shall be the duty of the General Council, at the earliest date practicable,
to make up a statement and submit same to the Centennial Finance Committee, showing in
detail, as far as may be feasible, the sum or sums of money that will be required by the
General Council in the proper performance of the duties devolving upon them.
Twelfth— Money shall be paid out only by a warrant drawn on the Treasurer of the
Centennial Finance Committee, and such warrant shall show what the money is paid for,
and shall be signed by the Chairman of the committee in charge of that part of the work for
which the debt was contracted, and must be attested by the Chairman of the General
Council.
Thirteenth — The General Council may add any additional sub-committees and such
other rules for their government, or for the government of the several committees as they
shall deem desirable, such rules not being in conflict with the rules herein provided.
Fovrtee}ith — The General Council may, by a twothirds vote of all the members thereof,
remove the Chairman of any committee. For incompetency, neglect of duty, or for other
good cause, the General Council, by a threefourths vote of all the members thereof, may
remove the Chairman of the General Council. Should a vacancy occur in the office of
Chairman of the General Council or chairmanship of any committee, either through death,
resignation or removal, the General Council is authorized to fill the vacancy by an election
by ballot when a majority of all the votes of the Council shall be required to elect.
Fifteenth — Suggestions for committees for G. A. E. — 1, Committee on Finance ; 2, Pro-
gramme, Entertainments, Parade, Camp-flres, etc. ; 3, Reception of Guests ; 4, Decoration and
Reviewing Stand ; 5, Music, Vocal and Instrumental ; 6, Printing; 7, Badges, Emblems, and
Souvenirs ; 8, Camps and Barracks ; 9, Fireworks and Illumination ; 10, Relief Corps
(Woman's); H, Hotels, Boarding-houses and Private Accommodations; 12, Halls and Head-
quarters; 13, Registration; 14, Railroad Transportation; 15, Horses and Carriages; 10, The
The body which received and ratified this plan immediately, at the same
meetiii.EC, elected Colonel A. G. Patton, a leading business man of the city and a
soldier of brilliant record, as Chairman of the General Council. Meanwhile on
December 9, the National Council of Administration of the Grand Army, and its
Commander-iu-Chief, Hon. John P. Eea, had held a conference at Columbus and
had chosen the second week in September, 1888, as the time for holding the
Twentysecond National Encampment.
On January 16, 1888, the general committee again mot, and received ColoTiel
Patton's nominations for chairmen of the subcommittees, these chairmen, in pur-
.suance of the plan adopted, to constitute the members ot the General Council.
2(t2 History of the City of Columbus.
Aftei- some transfers and changes which took place in the original nominations,
this body, constituting a supreme executive committee representing the city, com-
prised the lollowing members: A. G. Patton, Chairman; D. S. Gra3-, C. D.
Firestone, John G. Mitchell, A. D. Eodgers, Henry C. Lonnis, Charles T. Clark,
Moses H. Neil, N. B. Abbott, David Launing, Carl N. Bancroft, E. M. Rownd,
Gilbert C. Hoover, Emerson McMillin, Theodore H. Butler, Andrew Sehwarz and
W. D. Brickcll.
At its first meeting, held on January 17, the General Council completed its
organization by electing C. D. Firestone as its Vice Chairman, and — on nomina-
tion of Colonel Patton — Alfred E. Lee as Secretary. Eegular meetings were hold
thereafter on Saturday of each week until the end of the Encampment.
In the course of business the members of the General Council, as provided in
its organic act, selected the associate members of their respective committees, and
submitted their selections for approval. The committees as thus constituted,
organized and approved, were as follows :
Finance— T>. S. Gray, Chairman ; W. Y. Miles, Vice-Chairman ; Alexis Cope, Secretary ;
George W. Sinks, John Joyce, Theodore Rhoads, Walter Crafts. George M. Peters, William
B. Hayden.
Parade, Camp-fires, etc.—C. D. Firestone, Chairman; W. F. Burdell, Vice-Chairman;
S. N. Cook, Secretary ; S. H. Hurst, James De Wolfe, D. F. Pugh, Alexis Cope, E. C. Beach.
Reception— John G. Mitchell, Chairman; James Kilbourne, Vice-Chairman; William
Neil, Secretary ; Walter Martin, Alexis Keeler, A. V. R. Patton, H. L. Rownd, W. F. Good-
speed, H. T. Chittenden, A. W. Young.
Decoration- A. D. Rodgers, Chairman ; George D. Freeman, Vice-Chairman ; E. R.
Vincent, Secretary ; James De Wolfe, E. N. Hatcher, H. A. Linthwaite, Phil. Clover,
C. Jensen.
Music Henry C. Lonnis, Chairman; George H. Cless, Vice-Chairman; E. W. Seeds,
Secretary; B. F. Reinniund, Fred Krunim, Charles Huston, A. A. Thoman, Frank N.
Beebe.
Printing— Charles T. Clark, Chairman; John P. Slemmons, Vice-Chairman; W. A.
Miles, Secretary; John H. Grove, C. M. Morris, R. D. McCarter, A. N. Ozias. William Wolf,
S. Hambletoii, Frank A. Davis.
Badges— Moses H. Neil, Chairman ; J. J. Barber, Secretary; L. T. Guerin, J. M. Elliott,
W. J. Camnilz, John H. Recs, E. C. Beach, Joseph Amos, Charles H. Neil.
Camps and Barracks— 'N. B. Abbott, Chairman: E. C. Beach, Secretary; W. A.
Mahony, O. R. Brake, Joseph Amos, J. T. Harris, H. Heinmiller, George Cunningham,
L. N. Bonham.
Illumination— David Lanning, Chairman; E. W. Poe, Vice-Chairman; J. M. Batterson,
E. A. Parr, Robert Dent, N. Gundesheimer, Charles A. Klie, A. E. Mayer.
Woman's Relief Corps —Carl N. Bancroft, Chairman ; J. K. Jones, Vice-Chairman ; John
W. Chapin, Secretary ; W. H. Halliday, Charles H. Parsons, G. W. Early, W. H. Slade,
Annie B. Chapin, Caroline Lotiand.
Hotels and Boarding— R. M. Rownd, Chairman; A. H. Fritchey, Secretary; Andrew
Sehwarz, D. D. Bolenbaugb, S. N. Field, S. N. Cook, R. Albritten, John N. Champion, Wil-
liam Fellon, Fred. Krumm.
I Mis and Headquarters — Gilbert C. Hoover, Chairman; James H. Xeil, Vice-Chairman;
James M. I.orcn, Secretary; W. O. Tolfurd, Frank N. Wells, Adolph Theobald, Frank J.
Rcinhard.
The Great Encampment. 203
iJejisira/i'o/i —Emerson McMillin, Chairman ; John Siebert, \'ice Chairman ; C. II. Lan-
der, Secretary ; D. S Wilder, Andrew Gardner, Charles H. Durfey, E. Kiescwetter, George
N. Smith, John H. Grove, Thomas Jeffrey, S. F. Robinson.
Transportation.— Theodore H. Butler, Chairman; W. W. Medary, Vice-Chairuian ;
Charles G. Lord, Secretary ; W. E. Reppert, C. F. Evans, H. J. Falkenbach, S. H. Church,
J. J. Archer, W. W. Medary.
Horses and Carriages. — Andrew Schwarz, Chairman; Joseph A. Webb, Vice-Chairnian I
Fred Lazarus, Secretary; Theodore Riddle, J.M.Bennett, David Lakin, G. J. Schiidinger,
Thomas J. Dundon, E. J. Pocock.
The Press.— W. D. Brickell, Chairman; W. J. Elliott, Vice-Chairraan ; Leo Hirsch,
Treasurer; C. E. Bonebrake, Secretary; S.J. Flickinger, F. J. Wendell, O. C. Hooper, H. A.
Reinhard, S. B. Porter.
An additional committee representing the Society of the Array of West Vir-
ginia, and having its office at the Headquarters of the General Council, was sub-
sequently appointed and organized as follows : J. M. Rife, Chairman ; J. P. Slem-
mons, Secretary; John G. Mitchell, C. C. Walcutt, S. S. Mathers, Fred Krumm,
Alexis Cope, C. M. Bethauser, N. B. Abbott, W. A. Walden, E. E. Ewing.
The following sub-committees to the Committee on Parade, Camp-fire.s, Pro-
gramme, etc., were, at a later period, appointed by the Chairman of that Com-
mittee :
Parade.— Emerson McMillin, Chairman; C. D. Firestone, A. G. Patton, A. E. Lee.
Campfires and Entertainments.— S. N. Cook, Chairman ; David F. Pugh, David Lanning,
John H. Grove, W. J. Elliott, J. K. Brown, C. C. White, William Felton, J. W. Patterson,
James De Wolfe, E. C. Beach.
Naval Display.-Symmesi E. Brown, Chairman ; N. C. Reed, J. W. Keen.
At the request of the General Council, the following Grievance Committee to
hear and adjust complaints incident to the Encampment was appointed by the
Centennial Committee of the Board of Trade : Walter Crafts, Chairman ; H. C.
Godman, F. C, Hubbard, A. B. Coit, D. E. Putnam, William Felton, John T.
Gale.
On the eleventh of February, the Headquarters of the General Council were
transferred from the Board of Ti-ade Room, in the City Hall, to the Ambos Build-
ing, on High Street, opposite the State Capitol. The Headquarters remained as
thus established until the sixth of May, when, by courtesy of Hon. John C. Brown,
Treasurer of State, the General Council was proffered free of charge, and occu])ied
a very commodious and agreeable room in the Capitol, adjacent to tiie State
Treasury. Here the meetings of the General Council were held, and its Head-
quarters remained, until after the Encampment, when, on the first of October, it
returned to the Board of Trade Room.
Early in 1888, it became manifest that the attendance at the Encampment
would be very large; accordingly, on February 22, a circular was issued from the
Headquarters of the General Council, announcing its organization and prelimin-
ary plans. In this circular the assurance was explicitly given that the city of
Columbus would pi-ovide ample accommodations for all who might come, however
great their numbers. In the spirit of this pledge the General Council and all its
adjunct committees fell to work with energy. The work was systematically
204 History of the City of Columbus.
appoi'tioiiud in all its details, and estimates of the expenditure necessary to the
proper execution of the plans laid out were made.
From careful consideration of these estimates it was soon perceived that,
entirely exclusive of any expenses incidental to the Ohio Centennial Exposition,
or the Annual Encampment of the National Guard, for both of which the support
of the city was pledged, the sum of about seventy thousand dollars would be
needed. The General Council was therefore confronted, at the beginning with
the ver}' serious question whether such a sum, additional to S25,000 already prom-
ised to the Exposition and §3,000 to the National Guard, could be obtained by
contribution from the citizens of Columbus. No government aid, either State or
National, was suggested or thought of The responsibility of raising the neces-
sary funds did not rest with the General Council, that function having been
reserved by the Board of Trade ; nevertheless, upon the solution of the question
whether the needful financial support could be had would depend the success of
all the efforts put forth. Confronted by this unsolved problem the General Coun-
cil addressed itself to its great task, confiding unreservedij- in the people of Colum-
bus to do all that could be reasonably asked of them. This confidence was not
misplaced.
At an early day an arrangement was made with the railways for a passenger
rate of one cent per mile, and free return of camp equipage, to all persons attend-
ing the Encampment. A halffare excursion rate out from Columbus and return
was also obtained.
That entertainment might be sj'stematically apportioned and the extent to
which it could be furnished be ascertained, a thorough canvas of the city was
made, and its results recorded. At the same time a pledge not to advance the
ordinary prices (or lodging and meals was obtained from the proprietors of all the
important hotels. With the accommodating concurrence of the officers of the
Stale, arrangements were niiide for locating the headquarters of the Grand Army,
and of nearly all of its forty different departments, in the legislative halls and
public oflSces of the Capitol. By similar courtesy on the part of the Board of
Education the u.se of the public school buildings and grounds for holding reunion
meetings was secured. For the same or similar purposes, a considerable number
of suitable rooms was placed at the disposal of the General Council, free of charge,
by the oflScers of the City, County and National Government; by benevolent,
military and political clubs and societies, and by private citizens. In none of such
cases was anj' charge made unless, exceptionally, that of a moderate fee to the
janitor for taking care of t,he rooms. The church societies, equally generous,
placeii their edifices at the disposal of the Woman's Relief Corps for its national
conferences, and for the headquarters of its various departments. For its national
headquarters it was favored with the gratuitous use of the Masonic Temple. For
the meetings of the National Encampment of the Grand Army the Metropolitan
Opera House was engaged and the sum of $750 was paid. A desire on the part
of the Society of the Army of West Virginia to hold its Twelfth Annual Reunion
at Columbus contemporaneouslj- with the encampment was accommodated, and an
arrangement to that effect made. This arrangement involved the purchase and
The Great Encampment. liOf)
shipment from VVlieoling of the Society's mammoth tent, ut a co.st, iiniuiliiiif
freight charges and a quantity of decorating materials, of about $1,500. Tiie tent
was pitched upon admirably chosen open grounds on Broad Street, opposite the
southern extremity of Jefferson Avenue. Its interior space was sufficient for seat-
ing about 10,000 persons.
Applications for camping room and accommodations began to be received in
March. The selection of camping grounds, of which numerous offers were made,
was therefore a subject of early con.sideration, which led to the conclusion to
locate the camps centrally, with a view to the convenience of the veterans in
exchanging visits, taking part in the parade, having access to ihe headquarters of
their respective departments and passing to and from the railway station. In
respect to the equipment of the camps decision was made in favor of tents as
being cheaper and in other respects more desirable than barracks. Contracts
were therefore closed, as early as March 17, for the use of tents sufficient to
accommodate fifty thousand men, and a preliminary appropriation of 120,000 for
the expenses of the Camp Committee was recommended. The use of the tents of
the State to be pitched by the National Guard during its annual encampment
north of the city was obtained by resolution of the General Assembly. These
were sufficient to shelter about three thousand men.
During the latter part of April plans were matured for the two principal
camps, known as North and South Noil, located on an open tract of ground
lying west of the United States Barracks, between Mount Vernon Avenue and the
railways. These two camps, being about fifty acres in extent, were deemed ample
for the accommodation of 40,000 men Besides systematic numbering of the
tents, and their arrangement in streets, with reserved spaces for dining halls,
open air meetings, and an extensive and admirable system of water closets, the
plans embraced the sewerage and water supply of the camps, and their illumina-
tion at night by electricity. Early in May plans were matured for two additional
camps, one to be known as Hayden Camp, located in an open sjjaee known as the
Hayden tract on Nineteenth Street, between Bast Broad and Long streets, and
the other to be known as Deunison Camp, situated at the corner of Neil Avenue
and Goodale Street. Hayden Camp was designed to accommodate 8,000 men, and
Dennison Camp 5,000.
The plan of making applications for camp accommodations through the
authorized officials of Grand Army posts. County battalions and Department
organizations was encouraged and generally adopted The assignment to quar-
ters in camp was referred to the Camp Committee by which, as soon as the appli-
cations were sufficiently numerous, a roster showing the assignment of each
organization was printed and distributed. Before the middle of May delegations
representing the Departments of Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Ind-
iana, Michigan, Kentucky and West Virginia, had visited Columbus and arranged
for camp accommodations for their respective Departments. Numei-ous applica-
tions being received for camp lodgings for ladies belonging to the families of
soldiei-s, and to the Relief Corps, a part of the Hayden Camp was reserved for
their accommodation. Grand Army organizations desiring to do their own cook-
20G History of the City op Columbus.
iiig were assigned to the Noi'th Neil Camp. All camp accommodations, excepting
only the ladies' section of the Hayden Camp, were reserved for members of the
Grand Army, and were furnished, ineliisive of light, water, fuel and straw for bed-
ding, free of charge. The sale of intoxicating liquors on the camping grounds was
forbidden.
A large quantity of buckeyes collected by the Grand Armj- Posts at the sug-
gestion of Captain William Felton of the Board of Trade was turned over to the
General Council, and placed at the disijosal of the Committee on Badges. At a
moderate expense 100,000 of those buckeyes were strung singly upon loops of cord,
and distributed gratuitously during the Encampment week. A delegate badge of
original and beautiful design was also prepared under the direction of the Badge
Committee, and furnished without charge to the officers and delegates of the
National Eucanipment, in accordance with custom. This badge was in great
demand as a souvenir, and was not surpassed, if equaled, by anything of the kinil
which had preceded it.
About the first of May, intimations were received that the Grand Army dele-
gation from the Department of California desired to obtain accommodations for
an exhibit of the fruits and minerals of that State. Accordingly, the City Hall
was engaged bj' the Hall Committee for that purpose, and in due time arrange-
ments were perfected for what proved to be a very attractive exposition of the
products of California, under the joint direction of the Grand Army delegation
and Board of Trade of that State. A similar exhibit of the products of Oregon
was made during the Encampment week in rooms obtained for the purpose on
South High Street.
At the suggestion of C. O. Hunter, Esq., the Secretary of the General Council
was directed to make an effort, by correspondence, to obtain for the Encampment
week a loan of the locomotive engine known as The General, then owned by the
Western & Atlantic Eailway Company, of Georgia, and famous for having been
captured and used by the Andrews raiding parly in 1862. The Secretary suc-
ceeded not only in obtaining the loan of this engine, but in having it brought to
Columbus and returned to its owners free of charge. Its guardian while it
remained in the city was Captain S. B. Porter, to whose company of the Second
Ohio Infantrj- several members of the raiding party belonged. Under Cajjtain
Porter's supervision it was sidetracked by the Little Miami Railway conveniently
for exhibition, was handsomely decorated and was carefully guarded.
Owing to its limited financial resources the General Council undertook no
general decoration or illumination of the city, but, under the joint direction of its
committees on illumination and decoration, eleven gaslight arches were thrown
across High Street, at regular intervals, between the Union Station and the
Courthouse. After the encampment, during which they added greatly to the
evening beauty and enlivenment of the street, they were relegated to the disposition
of the City Council. The Capitol was decorated on the outside at the expense of
the State, under the direction of Adjutant-General Axliue. The buildings and
grounds of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb were handsomely dressed for
The Great Encampment. 207
the occasion, as were otlicr |niblic edifices, most of the business Iiduscs ami inanv
private residences.
Despite its limited resources, the Music Committee contributed a ijroul deal
to the attractiveness of tiio encampment. Under its direction, a male ciioi-us of
300 voices was organized, and also a children's chorus of about 1,500 voices. The
concert given by these choruses on the eastern terrace of the Capitol during
Wednesday afternoon of the Encampment week was magnificently sublime and
impressive. The children, arrayed in the national colors, and .so arranged upon
the terrace as to represent the American flag, were aceonip;inied in their singing
by the Grand Army Band, of Canton, Ohio. The concert was listened to by a
vast concourse of people, crowding the roof, porticoes and grounds of the Capitol,
and the streets adjacent.
The journalists who received the hospitalities of the Press Committee num-
bered 281, and were admirably entertained. Complete registration of all the vet-
erans attending the Encampment was meditated, but, after careful consideration,
was not attempted. The difficulties of executing such a project, never previously
executed successfully, were found to be insurmountable.
Application for rooms and halls suitable for holding military reunions began
to come in early, and were very numerous. Reunion meetings were hold by about
one hundred and twenty different military organizations during the Encampment
week, and a large proportion of them were numerously attended. The assign-
ment of these reunions to appropriate places of meeting was made bj' the Secre-
tary of the General Council, with the concurrence of its Chairman. The National
and Department headquarters of the Grand Army wore assigned in the same
way.
Timely measures were taken to secure suitable police, medical antl hospital
service during the Encampment Week. The good order of the city was well
provided for by the Mayor and Chief of Police, by the organization of a special
force of watchmen and detectives. The amount of disorder was very small, how-
ever, considering the vast crowds which thronged the city. Comparatively few
arrests were made, and these exclusivelj" for petty offenses. The commanders of
the camps were expected to preserve order within the limits of their respective
jurisdictions, and had no difficult j- in so doing. Their reports showed no infractions
of the rules, and no complaints. Special mention should be made of the excellent
guard and semi-police service performed during the Encampment Week by the
Fourteenth Regiment, Ohio National Guard, Colonel George D. Freeman, under
instructions from the Headquarters of the General Council. A Volunteer Medi-
cal Corps, under the direction of Doctor Normau Gay, was organized for the
Encampment Week by the physicians of the city. To this Corps tents were
assigned b3- the Camp Committee. The Corps was also reenforced by the medical
force and hospital equipment of the Fourteenth Regiment, Ohio National Guard,
generously tendered to the General Council. The invitation of distinguished
persons to attend the Encampment as the guests of the General Council was
referred to its Chairman and Secretary, and the Chairman of the committees on
208 History of the City of Columbus.
Parade ami Eoception. Invitations were extended to numerous eminent men
and women.
As finally completed and equipped the camps had an aggregate capacity to
shelter not less than 55,000 men. As early as June 30 applications had been
made for camp room for 41,000 men, and by September 1 the applications
reached an aggregate of over 70,000 men. By vote of the General Council the
Camp Committee was directed to discount the applications by twenty per cent, in
order to cover shrinkage in estimates; nevertheless there was apparently good
reason to believe that there would remain, beyond the capacity of the camps, a
large body of men who would have to be sheltered under roof
How the great army in camp was to be fed was a serious problem. In May
the Camp Committee advertised for proposals at not over thirtyfive cents per meal,
but the lapse of a month brougiit no responses. At this juncture Messrs. Butler,
Crawford & Co., who were Camp purveyors of experience during the late war, and
business men of wellknown personal and financial responsibility, came forward
with a proposition to provision the camps, provided suitable dining halls,
kitchens, lunch counters and other conveniences of a certain capacity should be
furnished them, and provided further that, with the exclusive privilege of fur-
nishing provisions in camp, thej' should be permitted to charge at the rate of
fifty cents per meal. Should these proposals be accepted, Butler, Crawford & Co.
proposed to pay to the General Council ten per cent, of their gross receipts, out
of which sum it was hoped that the eating houses, estimated to cost, gross, about
$22,000, might be paid for. Before these proposals could be accepted, it was
necessary, on account of the shortage of funds at the disposal of the General
Council, that sufScient guaranty should be given for the net cost of the eating
houses in case that ten per cent, of Butler, Crawford & Co's gross receipts should
fail to pay for their erection. This guaranty to the amount of $14,000 was
promptlj- furnished by twentyone responsible gentlemen, several of whom were
members of the General Council. Thereupon the Camp Committee (on the four-
teenth of July) closed its contract with Butler, Crawford & Co., and began at once
the erection of the eating houses, pursuant to agreement. By the tvventyfifth of
August the buildings, twentythree in number, were all under roof, and by the
eighth of Sei^tember they were entirely completed. They were of great extent,
were admirably arranged, and were illuminated by gas and electric light.
On the twentythird of June camp commanders were appointed, and at a later
date rules for the government of the camps were adopted. The commanders of
the several camps were as follows: Neil Camp [North and South), Moses H. Neil ;
Hayden Camp, E. J. Pocock ; Dennison Camp, Thomas Jeffrey ; Army of Wvst
Virginia Camp, 5. M. Eife.
By the eighteenth of August BOO tents had been pitched, and by the ninth of
September the great camps were fully completed and ready for occupancy. The
tents were all provided with an abundance of fresh, clean straw, a large part of
which was donated by the farmers of Franklin County. A humorous parade of
wagons bringing in contributions of straw took place on the sixth of September.
B>-.a-l Piil; Co Cm D
/^"l^^-^t^-^
^.^,
The Great Encampment. 209
Applications for hotel, l")ardinghou80 and residence lodgings began ccmiing in
early in the year, and continued coming, in increasing proportion, until the date
of the Bncam])ment. During the six weeks next preceding that date they were
received in great numbers. The work of receiving, distributing and escorting the
arriving organizations was performed by the Reception Committee. During the
Encampment Week, and for some days preceding, the chairman of that committee,
and his organized corps of helpers, wore on duty, by reliefs, day and night, at the
Union Station.
The prompt and orderly conveyance into and out of the city, by the railways
centering here, of the vast crowds of people attending the Encampment, although
a task of stupendous magnitude, was performed without accident, or cause of seri-
ous complaint. By joint action of the railway companies, extensive tem-
))orary buildings were erected for the exchange of tickets, and the care of baggage,
and sidetracking amply sufficient for the great mass of sojourning special trains
was provided. ProbabI}- no city on the Continent could have received and dis-
charged such a crowd with more alacrity, or less inconvenience to all concerned.
The crowning event of the Encampment was the parade. Custom requires
that this proceeding, which is supposed to signify the arrival of the Grand Army
of the Republic, should take place not later in the week than Tuesday. It was
confidently expected that a larger body of men would take part in this demon-
stration than had participated in any similar event since the review of our return-
ing armies at Washington, and this ex]jeetation was fully realized. The im-
promptu formation of so large a column, and its prompt, unbroken and orderly
movement, without confusion or serious fatigue to the participating veterans, pre-
sented very great difficulties, which were overcome onlj- by diligent effort and
thorough preparation.
The Chairman of the General Council being charged with the command of
the parade, appointed as his Adjutant-General the Secretaiy of the Council, who
proceeded at once to organize a uniformed geiicrul staff of fifty men. Eugene F.
Weigel, of St. liouis, was appointed First Assistant Adjutant-General ; with this
and a single other exception the members of the Staff were all citizens of Columbus.
The city being held responsible for the organization and success of the parade, as
indeed, of the entire Encampment, the Staff, like the General Council, in whose
immediate behalf it should act, was chosen so as to represent the varied interests
of the city, as well as the Grand Army. As fully completed and organized, the
Staff was as follows:
GENERAL STAFF.
Adjutant- General, Alfred E. Lee.
Assistant Adjutant-General, Eugene F. Weigel.
Second Assistant Adjutant-General, J. P. Sleminons.
Aides de Camp. — First Section.
Subdivision 1— W. D. Hamilton, Samuel Bachtel, Alexis Cope, Starling Loving.
Subdivision 2— Andrew Schwarz, Robert L. Sweeney, CTeorge K. Nasli, Henry C.
Lonnis.
14*
210 History of the City of Columbus.
Subdivision 3— J. M. Rife, A. G. Byers, George W. Bright, Amasa Pratt.
Subdivision 4— George M. Peters, James H. Neil, A. G. Gault, R. W. Stevenson.
Subdivision 5— Isaac B. Potts, Fred. W. Herbst, Emory Huff, S. S. Mathers.
Subdivision (> -James D. Harris, D. D. Bolenbaugh, J. B. Osterhause, George W. Early.
Second Section
Subdivision 1— Eugene F. Weigel, J. P. Slemmons, M. C. Lilley, James De Wolfe,
C. H. Lander.
Subdivision 2— George B. Simons, A. V. R. Patton, John J. Lentz, Edwin Eberly.
Subdivision 3-T. Long.-streth, C. O. Tracy. J. B. K. Gonelly, John Beatty, Junior.
Subdivision 4— G. K. Jenkins, D. E. Bushnell, A. F. Emminger, David Greene.
Subdivision 5 -J. P. McOune, Winfleld S. Huff, S. U. HutsinpiUer, W. H. Ualliday
Subdivision 6 -Charles R. Wheeler, H. S. Abbott, Charles S. Lilley, William H Roney.
By request tind with the concurrence and advice of Mr. C. D. Firestone, chair-
man of the Parade Committee, Chairman McMillin, together with the Commander
and Adjutant-General of the parade, proceeded to prepare a plan for the organ-
ization and movement of the parading column. The limited space as well as time
available for systematizing and moving such an immense body of men suddenly
brought together from all points of the compass, made it necessary' that tliis jjlan
should be worked out with extreme care in all its details, and that its execution
should bo directed with trained intelligence, and watched with the utmost vigi-
lance. There were also questions of courtes}- and precedence, some of them quite
unsettled, which had to be managed with tact and delicacy.
After careful examination of the whole ground, it was deemed most advisable
to mass the column by divisions on Broad Street, and the streets leading into it
from the north, in the eastern part of the city. The reviewing stand was then
located on the south side of Broad Street, just east of the north gate to the Capitol
Square, and a line of march 2.65-100 miles in length, was adopted as follows:
West on Broad to Third, south on Third to State, we.st on Stale to High, .south on
High to Fulton, by countermarch north on High to Naghten, by countermarch
south on High to Broad, east on Broad to Third and north on Third to Cray,
Long, Spring; Chestnut and Naghten, where the parade would be dismissed. The
advantages of this arrangement were these : It would afford a short, plain and
direct route fiom the principal camps to the place of rendezvou.s. It would place
the divisions, while awaiting movement, upon wellshaded, pleasant streets. The
column would move on streets which were wide, smooth and agreeable for march-
ing, and upon which an immense number of people could comfortably witness the
parade. The two long countermarches on High Street would afford the partici-
pants in the parade excellent opportunities for seeing each other. The review
would take place upon a broad and ample streetspace, where it could be witnessed
by a vast multitude of spectators occupying the Capitol Square, and the streets
and buildings adjacent. The parade would be dismissed at or near the camps,
whilher many of the men would naturally desire to go after the march was over.
In its organization the column comprised eighteen divisions constituted and
]iost(.'d for movement as stated in general orders issued by the Commander and
Adjutant-General of the parade. To these divisions commanders were appointed as
The Great Encampment. 211
follows: First Division, N. B. Abbott; Second, C. D. Fiieslono; Tliird, Mosus 11.
Neil; Fourtb, Emerson McMillin ; Fifth, John G. Mitchell; Sixth, Thcinas B.
Van Home; Seventh, W. D. Hamilton ; Eighth, Charles T. ChirU ; Ninth, David
Lanning; Tenth, W. L. Kellogg; Eleventh, Robert N. Rownd ; Twelfth, Eugene
Powelh Thirteenth, John C. Brown ; Fourteenth, J. F. Oglevee ; Fifteenth, Gil-
bert C. Hoover; Sixteenth, David F. Pugh ; Seventeenth, Horace Parli^; Eight-
eenth, E. VV. Poe.
The Ninth Division was compo.sed, in part, of the Naval Squadron, under
Symmes E. Brown, Esq., Chairman of the Subcommittee on Naval Disi-lay. The
Squadron represented one ironclad gunboat, one war sloop, one monitor, two mor-
tar boats and five cutters, all mounted on wheels, and appropriately manned. The
ironclad and monitor were propelled by steam, and were provided with mortars
from which pyrotechnics were tired during the movement of the squadron. The
naval display proved to be one of the most interesting and attractive features of
the parade. The Eighteenth Division was composed exclusively of members of
the order of Sons of Veterans.
In accordance with custom which gave precedence to the Department iii
which the Encampment was held, the Department of Ohio held the right of the
line, comprising the first nine divisions, all led by Department Commander Joseph
W. O'Neall.
Prior to the Encampment maiiy of the veteran soldiers ol Ohio had made
known at the headquarters of the General Council their very earnest wish that the
Union battle flags, in the custody of the State, should be carried in the parade.
In pursuance of this wish the survivors of each organization to which the flags
originally belonged were requested by the Secretary of the Council to select not
more than five of their number to carry the flags, permission for which being first
obtained, in the usual form, from the Governor and Adjutant-General of the State.
Captain J. B. Allen, of the Adjutant-General's office, who lost an arm in the ser-
vice of his country, was appointed to command the battalion thus formed, which
comprised about 500 men, many of whom had borne the flags they now carried in
the battles of the late war. This battalion was given the place of honor, preced-
ing the mam column, and immediately following the Commander-in-Chief of the
Grand Army and his staff and escort. This exhibition of the old flags, and of the
veterans who had carried them through the smoke and flame of battle, was one of
the most impressive sights ever seen in a parade.
Following the Battleflag Battalion, and preceding the First Division, marched
a battalion of soldiers' and sailors' orphans from the Home at Xenia, commanded
by Major Noah Thomas. This battalion, together with the other orphans of the
Home, who occupied a platform erected for them near the Reviewing Stand, fur
uished an object lesson of the war such as has been seldom seen.
Bach division was followed by an ambulance accompanied by a physician of
the Volunteer Medical Corps, for the benefit of any marching veterans who might
be overcome by heat, illness or fatigue. *The streets along the line of march were
kept clear partially by ropes stretched along the curb line, but chiefly by the diligent
efforts of the Fourteenth Regiment, Ohio National Guard. That regiment, about
212 History of the City of Columbus.
500 strong, was detailed for tliis service by Governor Foraiier, at the request of
-the General Council, and contributed very materially to the success of the parade
by the efficient manner in which it performed the duties with which it was
charged. A signal corps for the parade was organized of veterans of that service
by Colonel Samuel Bachtel, of the General Staff, and was prepared for active
duty, if needed. Owing to the admirable manner in which the streets were
cleared, it was found practicable to communicate orders along the line much more
readily than was anticipated, and the corps was not brought into requisition.
At ten minutes past eleven o'clock, a. m., the formation of several of the lea<l-
ing divisions being complete, and that of the remainder assured, command was
given to fire the signal for the start, and the march began. From this moment
until the last battalion passed the reviewing stand at fifteen minutes past five,
p. M., the movement was continuous, steady and unbroken. The sidewalks and
open spaces along the entire line of march were crowded with tens of thousands
of spectators, as were also the windows, balconies and roofs of buildings. The
correspondent of the Cincinnati Daily Enqiiiiri' wrote thus in description of the
scene :
This country has never witnessed but one parade of uniformed men equal to that of the
Grand Army veterans today. That was the review of troops in Washington just after the
close of the war. The procession which inaugurated the Twcntysecond National Encamp-
ment was a magnifioent and incomparable spectacle. It brought together not only fifty
thousand men wlio fought the battles for the Union, but one hundred thousand people came
there to witness the splendid array of warriors and rejoice with them in celebrating their
achievements.
The Grand Army of the Republic had today the most notable gathering in its history.
The parade, in all probability, will never be equaled by that order again, and the marvelous
multitude of marching men was a sight which will be recalled as one of the notable events
in the lives of those who participated and those who were only spectators. It was a perfect
day. Not a cloud obscured the sun, which beamed benignly, and not too warmly, on the
devoted heads of tlie fifty thousand patriots. Such delightful weather contributed greatly
to the numbers and success of the parade. The arrangements for the affair could not have
been more complete, nor more admirably carried out. Among the vast crowds of men,
women and children there was no disorder, confusion or accident. The citizens of Colum-
bus proved themselves equal to the occasion, and no city in America could have managed
an affair of such magnitude with more smoothness and order.
The Capital City was in holiday attire. Every dwelling, though ever so humble, bore
some mark of respect to the veterans. On the priijcipal streets all the business houses and
private residences were decorated. It seemed that there was a spontaneous effort to make the
visitors feel that they were welcomed, and among the c juiitless throng not one word of com-
plaint was heard. . . . During the entire parade there were no blockades, no delay, and all
the <livisions passed the reviewing stand promptly and in perfect order. The veterans
marched with firm step, and in the ranks were many soldiers who would answer the call to
war ;igain if the country needed their services. . . . All estimates agree that there were as
many old soldiers in the city who did not take part in the parade as there were on the line
of march.
The Xaflunal Trihinn; of Washington, 1). ('. — national organ of the Grand
Army — relcrring to the same subject, said :
The Great Encampment. 213
The Twentysecoiul National Encampriient of tiie (iraiul Army of the Repulilic is now
history, and it isdifficnlt to write that history in cool, teniiierate phrase. The temptation
is almost irresistible to go ofl' into panegyric— to use nothing but superlatives. . . . The
parade was a pageant, the like of which has not been seen since the grand review in l.S()5,
and probably will not be seen again in this generation. The lowest estimate by competent
observers of the number of veterans in line was 40.000, and from that the estimates range to
70,000. The lowest figures make a host more numerous than the army which Grant com-
iiiamleii at Sliiloh, or Rosecrans at Stone River. It was nearly four times the men that Scott
lid ill triumph from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico. Hosts much smaller in numbers, and
inferior ill warlike spirit, have frequently overturned kingdoms, and changed the course of
the worhl's history. . . . The arrangements were perfect; and were carried out as ordered
in every detail. There was not a liitch, or a failure of any kind to mar the perfection of the
programme, and as a result tliere were no long breaks in the procession, nor waits to make
the crowd impatient, but an almost unbroken succession of mounted aids, playing bands,
and the solid tramp of files of inarching veterans in blue. ... It would be useless to pro-
tend to give H detailed descripiion of a spectacle of such magnitude, and of evervarying
character. There was a constantly changing appearance to the line, owing to the numerous
bands, the specially uniformed companies, the banners and devices carried by the men.
There had been issued 630 tickets of invitation to the reviewing stand.
Among its most prominent occupants additional to the reviewing officer — Com-
mauder-in-Cbief Rea — and his staff, were Ex-President R. B. Hayes, Mrs. Hayes
and daughter ; General W. T. Sherman, Governor J. B. Foraker and Mrs. Fora-
ker; Mrs. General John A.Logan, Hon. Austin Blair, Hon. Allen G. Thurman,
Colonel F. D. Grant, Hon. Jeremiah M. Rusk, Governor of Wisconsin ; Hon. John M.
Thayer, Governor of Nebraska ; General Thomas J. Wood, U. S. A.; General B.
F. Kclley, of West Virginia; General Lucius Fairchild, of Wisconsin; Mrs.
Rebecca M. Bonsall, Hon. J. H. Outhwaite, Hon. Russel A. Alger, Past-Gomman-
der-in-Chief John S. Kountz, General R. P. Buckland, General J. M. Duval, Gen-
eral J. W. Keifer, Hon. Warner Miller, General John C. Lee, General E. B. Kim-
ball, General N. M. Curtis, and others.
The dismissal of the parade, which presented one of its most serious problems,
was accomplislied smoothly and promptlj', without obstruction to the marching
column.
Opinions naturally differed much as to the iiumbor of men in the line, but
those who had the best means of information concurred in the belief that the
aggregate was not below fifty thousand. The time occupied by the column in
passing a given point was four hours and fortyfive minutes, and tests by actual
count indicated that not less than two hundred men passed per minute. The
divisions were intended to average about four thousand men each, and some of
them exceeded that number, while others were much below it. The long wait
which some of the later divisions were obliged to undergo before reaching their
turn to march naturally caused the men to scatter, and it is quite true, as stated in
the remarks above quoted, that there seemed to be as many men in Grand Army
uniform looking on as there were who took part in the parade.
Estimates also differ very much as to the number of strangers in the city on
the day of the parade. On this subject the National Trt^i/ne remarked :
214 History op the City of Columbus.
The attendance was unprecedented in the histor.v of the Order [G. A. R.] Never since
the war-seasoned veterans of the Armj' of the Potomac, and those who had followed when
Sherman marched down to Sea, swept through Washington in resistless tide of armed power
had there been seen such a gathering of citizen soldiery. To say that there were 100,000 old
soldiers in the city, and 1.50,000 of their wives, children and friends, does not seem a high
estimate to those who were there and saw the immense throngs which filled the acres of
tents, the streets, the hotels, the private houses and public buildings of the city of Colum-
bus. The railroads reported 2.50,000 tickets sold up to the Saturday night before the Encamp-
ment met, and this did not represent the attendance by many thousands. There was a
constant sup'ise at the numbers which had come from great distances. It was naturally
expected that there would be an immense turnout from the country within easy reach of
Columbus, for nearly 1,000,000 soldiers went to the front from the region, within a day's ride
of the Ohio Capital, but far off California, Oregon, Montana, Dakota, Texas, Florida and
Maine were represented by strong battalions.
The same paper truthfully remarks that "the people of Columbus entertained
all comers with a generous, far-reaching hospitality that loft nothing to be wished
for. They comprehended in advance the magnitude of the occasion, and made
their provisions with wise liberality."' Some hearsay declarations the opposite
of thi.s, made by a few envious newspapers directly after the Encampment, excited
uuiversal indignation and protest from all parts of tlie country. Not only were
all comers entertained with a generous hos])itality which "left nothing to be
wished for," but there was no time during the Encampment Week when the Gen-
eral Council was not prepared to provide with food and lodging not less than
2.5,000 more people than had applied for such accommodations. It should also be
stated that while the capacity and readiness of the city to entertain were far in
excess of the demand made upon them, the prices charged were almost without
exception moderate. Indeed many of our people charged nothing at all for enter-
taining the guests whom they accepted. The Grievance Committee had practical-
ly nothing to do — it was the only committee of which that may be said — and the
only serious complaints which readied the General Council are those of per-
sons who fitted up comfortable lodging places which were not nearly filled. The
camps were full but not crowded. The oflBcial programme for the week, of which
125,000 copies were printed and distributed was, in brief, as follows :
Monday— Reception and escort of guests. Grand Army posts and other visiting organiz-
ations. Parade of Sons of Veterans at 6:30 p. m., and evening mass meeting under the
auspices of that organization at the Big Tent. Meeting of the National Association of Naval
Veterans at the Capitol.
Tuesdaj/ — Parade of the Grand Army at ten a, m. General reception to the Grand
Army at the Big Tent. Reception addresses and responses by Governor J. B. Forakeri
Mayor J. P. Bruck, Commander-in-Chief John P. Rea, Ex-President R. B. Hayes, General
Stewart L, Woodford and General S. H. Hurst. " Campfire " meetings in all the camps,
Reception to the Woman's Relief Corps in the parlors of the halls of the Institution for
the Deaf and Dumb.
Wednesday — Opening of the National Encampment at the Opera House. Opening of
National Convention of the Woman's Relief Corps at the Second Presbyterian Church.
National Convention of Ladies of the Grand Army, at Elks' Hall, Commercial Building.
Twelfth Reunion of the Society of the Army of West Virginia, Big Tent, on East Broad
Street. National Reunion of Naval Veterans, Sullivant School Building. Reunion meet-
The Grkat Encampment. 215
ings; open air concert, 4::>0 to ti i'. M., by the Children's Centennial Chorus, 1,5(11) voices, at
the East Terrace of the Capitol; VV. H. Lett, Musical Director. Evening canipfire of the
Army of West Virginia, at the Big Tent, East Broad Street, Hon. R. B. Hayes presiding.
Evening campflre at the East Terrace of the Capitol. Evening camptires at Camps Neil,
Hayden and Dennison.
Thursday — Business meetings of tlie National Encampment of the Grand Army and
National Convention of the Woman's Relief Corps. Reunion meetings of all organizations.
Closing reunion meeting of the Army of West Virginia, at the Big Tent. Campfires at all
the camps.
i''ndCT// — Concluding business meetings of the National Encampment and Convention.
Reunion meetings pursuant to adjournment. Last day in camps.
In the course of the week reunion meetings were held by the following organizations:
Ohio Infantry liegimenU — First, Second, Third, Eleventh, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seven-
teenth, Eighteenth, Twentytirst, Twentysecond, Twentyfourth, Twentyfifth, Twentysixtli,
Thirtieth, Thirtysecond, Thirtythird, Thirtysixth, Fortieth, Fortyfourth, Fortyseventh,
Fiftieth, Fiftyflrst, Fiftysecond, Fiftyfourth, Fiftyfifth, Sixtysixth, Seventyfourth, Seventy-
sixth, Seventyeiglith. Seventvninth, Eightieth, Eightyfirst, Eightysecond, Ninetieth, Ninety-
fourth, Ninetyseventh, Ninetyeighth, Ninetyninth, One Hundred and First, One Hund-
red and Second, One Hundred and Fourth, One Hundred and Twentieth, One Hund-
red and Tweiityeiglith, One Hundred and Thirtythird, One Hundred and Sixtyfourth, and
One Hundred and Eiglitieth.
Ohio Cavalnj -Fourth and Fifth Independent Battalions; First, Second, Sixth, Seventh,
Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Twelfth and Thirteenth Regiments.
ATtilh-ry ~Fi\st Ohio Liglit Artillery (Regiment); First, Second, Eighth, Tenth, Twelfth
and Seventeenth Independent Batteries ; Battery E (Edgarton's), First Ohio Volunteer
Light Artillery ; First Ohio Heavy Artillery.
/ffi/(0'> -Twentyfourth. Thirtyfifth and Fortyseventh Infantry.
/?irfmna — Thirtyeighth and Eightyeighth Infantry and Fourth Cavalry.
Minnesota —First Independent Battery.
Missouri — First, Second and Seventh Cavalry.
West rirsmia— Eleventh West Virginia Infantry and Second and Seventh West Virginia
Cavalry.
Wismnsiyi — Tenth Infantry.
Brigade Reunions— First Brigade (Carroll's), Third Division, Second Corps ; First Brigade
(Cruft's), First Division, Fourth Corps ; Second Brigade (Keifer's), Third Divison, Sixth Corps ;
Thirteenth Corps Brigade; Second Brigade (McLean's), First Division, Eleventh Corps; Sec-
ond Brigade (Mitchell's), Second Division, Fourteenth Corps; Second Brigade (Scott'.s), Third
Division, Seventeenth Corps; Regular Brigade, Fourteenth Corps; First Brigade (Harrison's),
Third Division, Twentieth Coips; Third Brigade (Robinson's), First Division, Twentieth
Corps; First Brigade (Pardee's), Third Division, Twentieth Corps; First Brigade, Fir.st Divis-
ion (Twentyfourth Corps); the Sherman Brigade ; Streight's Brigade; Schenck's Brigade.
Division AV"«ioris — Sheridan's Division (Second, Fourth Corps); First Division (McArtli-
ur's), A. J. Smith's Detachment, Army of the Tennessee; A. J. Smith's Division (Second
Division, Thirteenth Corps) ; ^hields's Division.
Until the engagement to contribute $25,000 to the Contciiiiial Kxpo.silion IkuI
been fulfilled nothing could be obtained from the general subscription for the use
of the General Council; its first fourmonth.s work was therefore performed practi-
cally without funds. Nor was the amount of its available resources known until
after June 1 ; by careful sifting of subscriiotions it was then ascertaiued to bo not
in excess of $42,500. Apportionment of this sum was made to the different com
21G History of the City of Columbus.
mittees as follows: Headquarters of the General Council, $1,500 ; Finance, 850;
Campfires, Parade, etc., S1,000; Eeception, S200 ; Decoration, §2,000; Music,
$1,500; Printing, $1,000; Badges, $1,500; Camps, $28,000; Illumination, 81,000;
Woman's Eelief Corps, $750; Hotels and Boarding, $500 ; Halls and Headquart-
ers, $1,000 ; Registratiou, nothing; Horses and Carriages, $500 ; The Press, $1,000 ;
Army of West Virginia, $1,000. Total, $42,500.
From the.se appropriations all the committees had a residue over their expen-
ditures, excepting those on Printing, Badges, Camps, and Horses and Carriages,
and excepting the deficit of the Camp Committee there remained a net residue
over expenditures of $226.73. The aggregate gross expenditures of the Camp
Committee amounted to $54,057.18. The total expenditures of the other commit-
tees reached $14,900; making $68,907.13 as the total cost of the Encampment.
This, however, was the gi-oss cost. From sales of materials and other sources the
Camp Committee realized about $5,000, thus reducing the actual cost of the
Encampment to say $64,000. The Committee also realized a considerable amount
by donations, and rebates on bills, so that its deficit, as it stood on the sixth of
October, was, approximately, $21,413.56.
For the purpose of assisting in the liquidation of this deficit, arrangement
was made with the management of the Centennial Exposition by which a certain
proportion of the net receipts thereof for one day, to be called Columbus Bay,
should be so applied. The suin realized in this way was disappointing, but was
so far reenforeed by donations, rebates of account and further sale of materials as
to reduce the deficit by December 15 to the sum of $11,188.77.
The Camp Committee's excess of expenditure over its appropriation was due,
in part, to contingent necessities naturally unforseen in an undertaking so novel
and so great as that with which the Committee was charged. In this connection
special mention should be made of the immense water closet arrangements, and
amount of sewerage required which were as necessary for the sanitary welfare of
the city as for that of the camps. Another important cause of the deficit was the
sweeping and disappointing failure of the camp eatinghouses to realize the finan-
cial results expected of them. From the pledge of ten per cent, of the sales of
Butler, Crawford & Co , the Committee realized but $979.87 instead of the net
sum of $17,000 which the eatinghouses cost. This delinquency was simply the
accident of a new and untried business venture for which no one could be blamed.
The task of extinguishing this debt devolved almost entirely upon the General
Council, the members of which had already contributed "liberally of their means
as well as of their time and labor; but by persistent effort, generously responded
to by citizens — conspicuous among whom by reason of his large and redoubled
donations was Mr. William G. Deshler— the entire remaining deficit was finally
covered.
Probably no similar body ever undertook a more responsible and difficult task
than that which was thus completed. The magnitude of the work undertaken
and of its peculiar difficulties, some of the most serious of which were not known
to the public, fully justifies the remark that only men of a very high order of
executive and business capacity could have achieved the brilliant .success which
The Great Encamtment. *217
crowned tliu efforts of the General Council. The Columbus Biicampinent has
boon studied as a model by the managers of those which have followed it. The
Ijeauty, variety', promptness and smoothness of its parade the greatest of the kind
which has yet taken place on the American Continent — were commended in
enthusiastic terms by General Sherman. Throughout the vast host which Colum-
bus had been called ujion to entertain there was but one voice as to the hospitali-
ties bestowed, and that was the voice of unstinted praise.
Throughout its great work the General Council acted in perfect harmony.
No serious difTerences ever disturbed it. When difficulties arose they were met
with an undivided front. When work was to be done, no matter how exacting,
willing and capable hands were ready to perform it. From beginning to end
clearness of judgment and promptness of execution characterized every proceed-
ing. The Chairman, whose great energy and rare executive ability were equal to
every emergency, was seconded with like zeal by men of like qualities. The
result was one of the finest achievments in the annals of Columbus.
The Metropolitan Period.
CHAPTER XV
CURRENT EVENTS SINCE 1865.
While the Civil War made a great drain upon the commercial and industrial
population of the country, it imparted a corresponding stimulus to industrial and
commercial progress. In the capital of Ohio the pulilic expenditures incident to
the war were necessarily large, and the flush times of 1812 were reproduced on
an immensely greater scale. Improvement was in most respects rapid, and large
acquisitions in wealth and population were made. The streets were neglected ;
many of them were about as bad as they could be; but new buildings were
erected bj- the score and manj- venerable reinnants of tiio past gave place to hand-
some edifices of recent type. One of the most interesting events of this kind is
thus recorded under date of March 21, 1865 :'
Among the many changes in our city none will be more apparent than the demise of
the Clinton Bank Building which, in the last few days, has become a thing of the past.
That peculiar old house, standing on the most conspicuous and valuable corner in Columbus,
whose walls for the last ten years have been more like a huge billboard than the outside of one
of the most successful monied institutions of the State, was the first threestoiy brick building
erected in this city. It was built about the year ]S14, l)y Mr. John L. Barr, of Baltimore,
under the direction of the late Samuel Barr, the brickwork of the, at that time, wonder of
the town being done by " old Billy McElvaine," as he was familiarly called by the original
settlers.
Mr. Samuel Barr occupied it as a store wherein all kinds of goods were to be found for
either "cash or barter," until about 1817. He was succeeded by Osborn & Leiby. Mr.
Osborn, the father of the wellknown merchant James Osborn, and Mr. Joseph Leiby, who
is yet a rtsident of this city, composing the firm. After them came Neil & Evans — Mr.
William Neil and Mr. Harvey D. Evans, two of the most enterprising of Columbus men of
those days. In 1830, the property was purchased and octupied by D. W. Deshler as a store
until lS3i), when he sold it to the Clinton Bank ; since which time up to the day before the
workmen commenced its destruction it has been continuously occupied as a banking house.
In 1863, the property was purchased by W. G. Deshler, the present owner, who will erect
upon its site a modern banking house for the use of the National Exchange Bank.
On August 29, 1865, Governor Brough died at his residence in Cleveland.
While his funeral was in progress in that city, September 1, minute guns were
fired in Columbus, business was suspended from nine o'clock a. m. to three p. m.,
and demonstrations of respect were made by the German societies then attending
a Siingerfest in the city.
[221]
222 History op the City of Columbus.
On May 25, 1867, Colurabus was visited by a party of Phihidelpliia officials
then niakinf^ a tour to gather information which might be usefully applied in the
expenditure of one million dollars which their city had appropriated for the erec-
tion of school buildings. The party visited and inspected the school buildings of
the citj', was dined at the Neil House in the afternoon, and was given a social
reception in the evening at the residence of Mr. John L. Gill.
In 1868, the northward growth of the city began to be notable, and many
striking improvements in that quarter are referred to. Among the finer residences
mentioned were those of W. B. Hubbard, E. L. Hinman, J. R. Hughes, H. Win-
terhotham, John Short, P. Fisher, J. J. Eickly, H. N. Neil, S. Doyle, S. V. E. Car-
penter and L. Hillery. Progress in the erection of B. E. Smith's elegant resi-
dence, now the Columbus Club House, on East Broad Street, receives mention in
June, 1869.
Twenty members of the Philadelphia City Council visited Columbus Septem-
ber 27 to 29, 1869, and were entertained by the city authorities and prominent
citizens at the Neil House. Twelve members of the Indiana legislature were in
like manner received and banqueted February 28, 1871. Another party of Phila-
delphia officials was received and publicly entertained July 27, 1873. Governor
J. D. Williams and several other officials of the State of Indiana, visited Colum-
bus May 22, 1879. They were intercepted by Governor Bishop at Springfield, and
upon their arrival were escorted to the Park Hotel. During their sojourn they
visited the public benevolent institutions and the State University. A party of
Philadelphia Councilmen sojourned briefly in the city August 26, 1879.
The North End Markethouse was completed in 1876. The present City Hall,
on State Street, was begun in 1869 under engagement for its completion by Janu-
ary 1, 1871, at an aggregate cost of $124,400. Its actual cost when completed was
about $175,000. Its formal opening took place March 28, 1872. The building is
an expensive failure, of dismal interior, bad arrangement and nondescript archi-
tecture. It will doubtless give place in due time to one worthy of the city.
Bids for a new iron bridge over the Scioto at the foot of State Street were
opened August 6, 1868, but a writ of injunction against the location of the bridge
was immediately served and stopped for the time being all further proceedings.
The enjoining parties desired to have the bridge located at the foot of Eich Street.
Their petition contained the following statements:
The bridge will cost $25,000, and the Commissioners have not submitted the question as
to the policy of such outlay or expense to the qualified voters of said [Franklin] Count}',
either at a spring or fall election. . . . State Street is 658 feet south of the National Road
bridge. The Harrisburg bridge is .3,110 feet south; Town Street 1,066 feet south, and Rich
Street 1,5363^ feet south, and a bridge at either Town or State street is more in accordance
with the purpose and intent of said law.
After much tedious legal contention the bridge was completed and opened for
travel July 11, 1870, Samuel Doyle, contractor. Its cost up to that date was
stated at $39,000.
A contract for the socalled Infirmary Bridge over the Whetstone was let
April 20, 1870. It was intended to furnish access to the County Infirmary, the
Current Events Since 18(;5. 223
location of which, west of the Whetstone, was then proposed. The cost of this
hridge was about $19,000.
A contract for the superstructure of the (ireon Lawn Avenue hridi^e was
awarded by the County Commissioners November 12, 1875.
Tiie movement which resulted in the construction of the present iron bridge
over the Scioto at the foot of Broad Street had its beginning August 31, 1880, on
which date a committee of citizens represented to the County Commissioners the
importance of such an improvement. The members of the committee were F. C. Ses-
sions, A. D. Rodgers, W. B. Hawkes, William A. Piatt and James Clahane. Pre-
liminarj- plans for the bridge were at the same time presented b^' County Sur-
veyor B. F. Bowen. The bridge was erected in 1883-4.
In tlie spring of 1891 a substantial iron bridge was thrown across liie railway
tracks on North Fourth Street. One of the finest iron bridges in the county is
that over the Scioto on Mound Street. It was built in pursuance of an act of the
General Assembly passed March 21, 1890, and was o])ened for travel February
13, 1891.
The cost and dates of completion of the different bridges within the corpora-
tion limits, as shown by the official record are as follows:
State Street, new superstructure, built in I88S ; cost $18,000 ; $20,000 bonds issued for
this purpose and repair of foundation. Broad Street, 188t; cost $148 000, bonds $52,000.
Third Avenue, 1890 ; cost $25,000; bonds $18,000. Dodri.lge Street, 1890 ; cost $35,000; bonds
124,000. Rich Street, 1891 ; cost $50,000 ; bonds $35,000. .\Iound Street, 180 L ; cost $40,000;
bonds $38,000. Lane Avenue, 1891 ; cost $25,000 ; bonds $23,000. Fifth Avenue, 1892; cost
$47,000; bonds $35,000. Leonard Avenue, 1802; cost $70,000; bonds $45,000. Town Street,
to be built soon, $50,000 appropriated. Alum Creek, East Rroad Street, to bo built soon,
$50,000 appropriated. Fourth Street Viaduct, <'ompleted June 17, 1891 ; total cost $134,175.01.
High Street Viaduct, now in construction ; estimated cost $413,000, of which the railways are
to pay one half.
The disappearance of an "old landmark" is thus recorded, under date of
September 8, 1879:'
The oldest brick building on. High Street, located just north of Councilman Freeh's new
threestory building, corner Mound and High streets, has been torn down to give place to a
new threestory business block. It is owned by Michael Karrer, of Dublin. The old build-
ing was erected in 1823 by Doctor Asltbury, wliose son is residing at the present time in
Worthington.
On October 29, 1879, the following, communication signed by several scores of
representative citizens, was forwarded to General Ulysses S. Grant, Ex-President
of the United States, then traveling eastward from San Francisco on his return
from his journey round the world:
Sir— The undersigned, on behalf of the citizens of Columbus, have the honor of tender-
ing you a cordial invitation to visit their city at such time as may suit your convenience.
Trusting that your arrangements will not prevent your acceptance of this invitation, we
remain your obedient servants.
A committee, of which George W. Manypenny was chaii-man, was appointed
to convey this invitation to General Grant at his home at Galena, Illinois. This
action was directly followed by a meeting of citizens, at which a resolution was
224 History op the City of Columbus.
passed authorizing its presiding officer, Colonel George W. Man^-penny, to appoint
an Executive Committee of fifteen, of which he should himself be a member and
chairman, to prepare a programme of reception, raise funds for expenses and
appoint additional committees. In pursuance of this resolution the following
committee was named : George W. Manypenny, chairman ; William G. Deshler,
William B. Hayden, John Short, D. W. Brooks, EI. T. Chittenden, William W.
Medary, Theodore Comstock, W. N. Dennison, P. W. Huntington, S-. S. Rickly,
C. C. Walcutt, Samuel Thompson, A. D. Rodgers and P. M. Wagenhals. To
cooperate with this body representing the citizens a committee of three was
appointed by the City Council. The Executive Committee completed its organ-
ization by naming David W. Brooks as its secretary, and apportioned among its
members the chairmanships of the subcommittees as follows: Keception and
Entertainment, George W. Manypenny ; Programme, William G. Deshler; Finance,
P. W. Huntington ; Military, C. C. Walcutt ; Invitation, W. N. Dennison; Decor-
ation and Illumination, H. T. Chittenden ; Societies and Organizations, A. D.
Kodgers ; County and City Officials, W. B. Hayden; Instrumental Music and
Salutes, Theodore Comstock; Vocal Music, P. M. Wagenhals; Schools and Clergy,
S. S. Rickly; Railways and Carriages, W. W. Medary; Press and Printing, John
Short; Capitol and Police, Samuel Thompson ; Auditing and Secretary, David W.
Brooks. The committees appointed by the chairmen were very large, that on
reception containing about one hundred and fifty members. On November 27
General Grant telegrajihed from Galena as follows to Hon. William Dennison :
1 will expect to reach Columbus Friday, early in afternoon, December 12. Nobody
with party but Mrs. Grant and self. Mrs. Grant prefers quiet dinner at hotel so as to be
rested for evening entertainment. Will sleep in car to be prepared to start any hour Satur-
day morning. I will be entirely at command of the committee during our stay.
After receipt of this message preparations lor the reception were carried on
with great alacrity and zeal. The entire population of the city seemed to be
helpful in the work, regardless of partisan differences. Arrangements for excur-
sion trains and rates were made with the railways, and a general programme was
prepared and announced by the committee on that subject. General C. C.
Walcutt, chairman of the Military Committee, was appointed Chief Marshal of
the parade, and selected a numerous staff? The escorting procession, it was
announced, would move from the railway station south on High Street to Fulton,
then countermarch and move north on High to Broad and ea8ti)n Broad to Third.
Arrangements were made for a dinner in the Portrait Room of the Executive
Office in the Capitol at 7:15 P. m., and for a grand reception ball at the City Hall
in the evening. The ball was to be given under the auspices of the Governor's
Guard, and was to be accompanied by a supper served in the rooms of the Tyndal
Association. Prominent parts in the programme were assigned to the musical
societies of the city and to the jjublic schools. The rendezvous appointed for the
school children was the High Street sidewalk, east side, west of the Capitol. The
pupils of the Deaf Mute Institution were also to assemble there. After the pro-
cession should pass, going south, the children were to proceed to the Capitol, and
there await its arrival. Opposite the Capitol General Grant would leave the
w. ^
Current Events Since 18fi5.
s^o
column ami be formally received by Governor Bishop at the West I<'roiit. Mrs.
Grant, it was arranged, should be driven directly to the Neil House, where the
rooms reserved for her were handsomely trimmed with flowers by the Ladies'
lleception Committee, the members of which were Mrs. Doctor Carter, Mrs. J. A.
Wilcox and Mrs. W. N. Dennison.
In honor of its distinguished guest the city was handsomely decorated.
Business houses and residences in all its streets were profusely draped with the
national colors, and otherwise appropriately adorned. The portrait of General
Grant was everywhere displayed. The Evening Dispatch thus described the
decorations of the Capitol :
In the rotunda the adornments were simple and tasteful, but not elaborate. Flaf;s from
the flagroom were crossed on a bar under each of the four arches leading to the rotunda.
Most of these are regimental tlatis, tattered and torn in battle Silk banners and small flags
decorated the painting of Perry's Victory, and a handsome silk banner was stretched behind
tlie white bust of Lincoln which surmounts the sculpture of the surrender of Vicks-
burg. . . The exterior decorations of the Capitol are more elaborate. Immense strings of
evergreen were entwined about the great columns at the western portico from pillar to base,
and festooned across the top from pillar to pillar in graceful style. Immediately over the
entrance are the words, " All Hail to Ohio's Pride." An immense eagle, painted upon can-
vas, cut down to the lines and placed upon board, was arrayed between the central columns.
The effect is very pleasing. Flags wave and flutter upon the roof, dome and windows.
Over the north landing in the rotunda where the singing societies were to
be stationed, an ornamental arch of gas lights was raised. For the reception
exercises within the rotunda a decorated stand was placed at tbe northwest
periphery. In the Portrait Room the tables for the banquet were laid in the form
of the letter U, the bend of which, as the place of honor, was spanned overhead
by a beautiful floral arch with the name U. S. Grant inwrought. The walls of
the room were handsomely draped, and bore, for the occasion, several paintings
additional to the portraits of the Governors. The caterer for the banquet was
Hobert Dent. The interior of the City Hall was decorated for the recejition ball
under the supervision of an artist. Homer Henderson. Its adornments were thus
described in the Ohio State Journal:
Upon the right of the hall is an Oriental pavilion with graceful roof of alternate red,
white and blue. The luxurious interior is illuminated with the soft rays of an alabaster
lamp. [On entering the hall General and Mrs. Grant were to be conducted to a position
under this pavilion]. The stage is transformed into a miuature summer garden from which
arise the mossy arches of a Gothic pago la, upon whose apex rests the bir.l of our country,
resplendent with golden wings. Military emblems are mingled with arbors and the heavy
evergreen arches. All the columns are decked with festoons The floor is to be covered
with moss giving it the appearance of the vernal woods, and more agreeable to the eye than
the most gorgeous tapestry. Bronze ornaments and floral vases stanil in relief to the exqui-
site product of the conservatory. . . . Flags of all nations combine to give a bannery relief to
the beautiful frescoed ceiling. . . . Opposite the pavilion is displayed a gigantic cartoon, by Mr.
Henderson, representing Ohio bestowing the wreath upon and bidding welcome to her illus-
trious son. . . . The face of tbe gallery is gracefully festooned in beautiful bunting, the flags
banging from a dress centre, which has the spread eagle of the armory, who was once a real
live bird, measuring eight feel from tip to tip of wings. But perhaps the most unique and
226 History of the City or Columbus.
daiing innovation of the artist is the hanging of the caller for the dances in the centre of the
hall in a most exquisite hanging casket, fresh with rosebuds and delightful green. . . . The
caller will be suspended in the air under the centre chandelier like a bird in a cage.
Early on the twelfth the different railways began to pour throngs of visitors
into the city. Streets and hotels were soon crowded. General Grant was
expected to arrive from Cincinnati aboutthree o'clock p. m. ; the jirocession to the
Union 8t;ition was therefore ordered to form at 1:30 P. m. on East Tow}i Street.
It] was organized in three divisions, the first, comprising most of the niilitaiy,
being led by the Chief Marshal, General C. C. Walcutt. General Theodore Jones
had command of the second division, and George K. Nash, Esq., that of the
third. The staff officers of the first division were Moses H. Neil, Charles E.
Palmer, Sidney McCloud, Edward Pagles, Charles Klie and Patrick Bii'an ; of the
second, H. M. Neil, Harvey Cashatt, D. Iv. Watson, Alexis Cope, David Lanning,
Edward Dowdall and J. M. Conrad. The participating military organizations
weie: The United States Barracks troops under Colonel Thomas M. Anderson ;
College Cadets, Colonel Lomia ; Palmer Guards, Captain Brown; Columbus
Cadets, Major Hardy; Fourteenth Regiment O. N. G., Colonel George D. Free-
man ; Cleveland Grays. Captain Frazee. The Ex-Soldier.s' and Sailors' Associa-
tion of Franklin County followed the Grays, in the second division. The third
division consisted chiefly of officials, committees and others in carriages, followed
bj' the City Fire Department under Cajjtain Heinmiller.
At ten A. M., December 12, members of the subcommittee of reception, quitted
the city by the Little Miami Express for Xenia, there to meet General Grant
accompanied by Governor Bishop, and journey with him to Columbus. The train
from Xenia was under charge of conductor A. H. Cole; engineer, John Kline.
Its approach to Columbus was announced by a signal whistle, which was immedi-
ately followed by a grand chorus of steam whistles, bellringing and the boom of
cannon. When the train arrived at High Street many thousands of people had
assembled in that vicinity. Immediately upon alighting, Mrs. Grant was received
by the Ladies' Committee, and conducted in a carriage to her apartments, already
mentioned. General Grant was met and briefly welcomed by Mayor Gilbert G.
Collins, who referred in his remarks to the exceptional growth and prosperity of
the city since the last visit of its present illustrious guest. Amid prolonged cheer-
ing the General responded :
I thank the citizens of Columbus, and the State of Ohio, for the cordial greeting I am
receiving at their hands. Ohio has been, from its first admission into the Union, an ener-
getic, growing and prosperous State. I am very glad to hear of the additional prosperity
wliich has come upon the State in the last few years, and to know that the prosperity is
becouiing general throughout the country. If we can have it extend over the whole of this
broad land, it will go far towards diminishing the political asperity that has kept us at least,
I think, uncertain as to our future. Nothing has a greater tendency to produce conservatism
and good citizenship than general and ditfused prosperity. I hope that what Columbus has
been experiencing in the few years that you have spoken of may extend to every foot of our
great country. Nothing else is wanted but unity of sentiment among our people to perpetu-
ate what we are now, the greatest and best country for a man to live in. Mr. Mayor, I thank
the citizens of Columbus for this pleasant greeting.
Current Events Since ISfiS. 227
At tlio conclusion of his remarks General Grant was conilnctoil to a cai'rin^'e
and the procession escorting him began its movement uji High Street, tlio side-
walks, windows and roofs of which were crowded witii people. Said the Evening
Dispatch :
As the processsion passed the Statehouse Square, where the school children were con-
gregated upon the sidewalk, a general demonstration occurred. There was a sea of waving
handkerchiefs, while shouts and cheers rent the air. General (irant gracefully acknowledged
the ovation as he rode along. The scene was one of the grandest in the history of Columhus.
The enthusiasm was unbounded.
When Broad Street was reached, says another account, " there were acres of
people awaiting it. . . . The way was cleared with great difficulty, and the police
had almost to resort to force to keep the children from being tramped on."*
The procession countermarched at the Opera House, on South High Street,
giving the school children, numbering about twelve hundred, scarcely time, before
its return, to take their positions in the rotunda. From the street General Grant
was escorted to the West Front by the Governor's Guard, Cleveland Grays, and
Ex-Soldiers and Sailors. After entering the rotunda by the western portal, he
was addressed and welcomed to Ohio, and its capital, by Governor Bishop. Speak-
ing deliberately and in a low tone of voice, he replied :
Governor — It is very pleasant for me to see and meet the kind expressions of the people
of the capital city and the Slate. I cannot fail to appreciate the kind greetings which I am
receiving, when I think of the inclemency of the day, which has not prevented an army of
people from filhngthe streets. I shall not, on this occasion, make any extended remarks, as
speaking is not only laborious but a great embarrassment to me, though it would not do for
me to be silent and thus indicate that 1 do not appreciate this hearty reception. It has been
my fortune to engage with and lead men, and hold public position, and this demonstration
today is a tribute to the men who bore arms with me. Governor, I thank the people of Ohio,
and thank you for this hearty welcome.
When these remarks had been concluded twelve hundred school children sang,
under the leadership of Professor Scarritt, the following song of welcome which
he had composed for the occasion ;
The cannon tells your coniing with loud resounding roar ;
The people wait the echo, with shouts from door to door ;
In song we youthful Buckeyes, beneath our Buckeye dome,
Greet our grand old Clermont boy, with a Buckeye welcome home.
From town and farm come thousands, the Boys in Blue are here,
To hail our Buckeye Chieftain with ringing cheer on cheer ;
Victor — whose great deeds are shared in History's grandest tome
By our own brave boys who fell —take their mute welcome home.
From Occident to Orient, you've circled earth around,
The Nation's fame exalting, with princely honors crowned —
Swordless, rank First Citizen, till, fate with duty come.
Our Boy, and Chief and Citizen, a Nation's welcome home.
228 History of the City of Columbus.
Then boys let welcome ring,
Welcome we girls do sing
Let echo from the dome
Crown our chieftain, welcome home.
After the singing and review of the school children a brief reception took
place, during which General Grant took bj- the hand a great many children,
teachers, clergymen, students and others who were presented to him. At the
banquet, which followed this reception the General was welcomed by Chairman
G. W. Manypennj-, and responded briefly. Toasts wei-o then proposed and
responded to as follows: Our State, Governer R. M. Bishop; the Capital City,
Mayor G. G. Collins; The Nation, Governor-elect Charles Foster; Civil Author-
ity, Chief Justice Gilmore; Foreign Eelations, Hon. Stanley Matthews; The Army
and Navy, Colonel T. W. Anderson ; The Press, W. S. Furay ; The Citizens of
Columbus, Hon. William Dennison.
From the banquet. General Grant was conducted to the rotunda where a gen-
eral reception took place, and a steady throng of people passed by from 7;30 until
9;15 P. M. Handshaking was on this occasion dispensed with. In passing, the
people nodded their greetings, which were reciprocated. In the meantime a vocal
musical programme was rendered by the Miinncrchoi-, led hj Professor Carl
Schoppelrei; the LieJcrkranz, under Professor Herman Eckhardt; the Amphion
Club, under William H. Lott, and the Vulcan Glee Club, under J. R. Reynon. In
the opening chorus, Home, Sweet Home, all four of the societies joined under the
leadership of Professor Eckhardt. During the evening the city was handsomely
illuminated, and a fine display of fireworks took place on the Capitol grounds.
The ball at the City Hall worthily crowned the honors paid to General and Mrs.
Grant. They arrived at the hall at nine p. m., but owing to the General's weari-
ness, withdrew at eleven, and returned directly to the special train which brought
them to the city. During the night they took their departure for Philadelphia.
The system of standard time, first adopted by the railways in November,
1883, and by resolution ot the Board of Education, was also applied to the public
schools of Columbus, beginning on Monday, November 19, of that year, but after
a week's trial was discarded.
The Franklin County Courthouse, completed for use in 1840, as already
recorded, was at that time considered a very appropriate and elegant edifice of
its kind. It occupied inlots 358, 359 and 360 on the southeast corner of High and
Mound streets. Two of these lots were purchased and donated by the people of
the South End ; the third was afterwards acquired with publicfunds by the County
Commissioners. The aggregate original cost of all three was 81,556.04. The
cost of the old Courthouse exclusive of the ground on which it stood was about
§41,000. An annex to the original building, to be used as a Common Pleas court-
room, was erected in 1852.
Long before the beginning of the metro])olitan period the need of a larger and
more convenient temple of justice began to be seriously felt. The destruction of a
large part of the public records by fire on March 31, 1879, impressively illustrated
CruuENT Events Since 1SU5. 2:^lt
lliis iR'ud. Its ]ii-iicLicul i-ouoi^^iiitioii by the voters and laxpaycr.s of l''i-unklin ("ininty
liusfjivoii to the city the finest piece of public iirehitocture yet witli in its limits. 'I'lir
histoi')- oflhis beautiful buildini^ belongs ratiier to that of the connty lliun df ihi'
city, but may bo briefly stated. On Jul}- 4, 1885 — the date on wiiicli its i-orner-
stone was laid — the following accounl iifllio cii-ciinislanfcs of its origin, was con-
tained in the Ohio Staff Jovrnnl :
The old courthouse became more and more iusullicient for tlie business of the county,
as that business increased, and for some years prior to the spring of 1.SS4 the question of
tearing it down and erecting a new one was agitated in a quiet way, tliough nothing dertnite
was done until Monday, February IS, 1,S84. On that day a numerously signed petition was
filed with the County Couimissioners requesting them to submit to the people tbe question
of building a new structure for county purposes. It was ordered by the board that, in view
of this pftition, and "whereas the present courthouse and jail is becoming every day more
insecure [is] wholly insufficient in accommodation, and [is] endangering the lives and health
of the people and officials transacting the public business therein, the question of erecting a
new one be submitted at the next spring election.
In the meantime measures had been taken in the legislature to have bonds issued in
case the jieople wanted the courthouse. The following law passed March 1.5, 1S8-3 [prepared
by Hon. 11. C Noble], was managed by representative Caspar Liiwenstein.
" 1. That the Connty Commissioners of Franklin County, Ohio, be and the same are
hereby authorized and empowered to issue bonds not to exceed $500,000 of said county, to be
known and designated as new courthouse building bonds, in sums not less than |100 nor
more than $1,000 each, with or without coupons attached, payable to bearer, at the county
treasury of said county of Franklin, or at such agency in New York City as may be estab-
lished by the County Commissioners, the name of which agency shall be inserted in said
bonds with interest at the rate of not exceeding six percent., said interest to be payable semi-
annually and the principal of said bonds to be paid at such times within fifteen years after
date as the county commissioners shall prescribe. Pai<l bonds so to be issued shall be for
the purpose of procuring the money and means, and defraying the cost and expense of erect-
ing a new courthouse building for said county of Franklin. Said bonds shall not be dis-
l)osed of for less than their face value with accrued interest thereon. Said bonds shall be
signed by the said county commissioners, or any two of them, and countersigned by the
auditor of said county; provided that the proposition and policy of erecting and building
such new courthouse shall be by said county commissioners first submitted to a vote of the
voters of the said Franklin County, at the regular annual spring or fall election for then-
approval in accordance with the provisions of the statutes in such case made and provided.
"2. This act shall take efiect and be in force from and after its passage."
The vote was taken April 7, and resulted: Yes Sl,350 ; no 5,922. On April 14 the Com-
missioners accordingly made the following order :
Whereas, the question of building a new courthouse and the question of building a new
jail, and the purchase of ground for the same having been submitted to the voters of Frank-
lin County at the last spring election, Monday, April 7, 1884, and a majority of the persfins so
voting having voted in favor of the question so submitted ; it is therefore ordered that the
necessary steps be taken at once by this board to carry out the wishes of the majority, as
thus expressed at the polls; and it is further ordered that said new courthouse be built on
the lands now occupied by the old courthouse, to wit: The southeast corner of High and
Mound streets, in the city of Columbus, Ohio, known as inlots 358, 3.59 and 360, in the city of
Columbus, as the same is designated and delineated on the recorded plat of the said city of
Columbus.
The Commissioners at once began operations and April 24 appointed George H. Matzel
architect to prepare plans for the new building. Henry C. Noble was appointed by the Com-
230 History of the City op Columbus.
mon Pleas judges to act with tbe Commissioners and the county officers in the approval of
plans to be submitted by the architect. The first meeting for this purpose was held May 1 , 1884,
though nothing was done at the time except to request the various officers to make sugges-
tions as to the amount of space required for their respective offices. This was done, and in
due time the plan of the architect was presented and approved. Prior to this, however, con-
demnation proceedings were instituted for the purpose of securing more land adjoining the
old courthouse lot on the south. This lot was numbered inlot 361, the north half of inlot
362 and inlots 381 and 382, respectively. These proceedings were finally successful, though
only after much trouble.
It was not until September 22, 1884, that the plans were finally approved and accepted.
On September 29 the first contract toward the new work was let [for] removing the mound
on which the old coiirthouse had stood and leveling the site for the new courthouse to the
plane of the streets. The work was not complete, however, until March of the present year.
October 9, 1884, the issue of bonds which had been authorized by the legislature in the act
quoted above was begun. One hundred thousand dollars of bonds were issued to mature as
follow^s: ?20,000 November 1, 1889; $20,000 in 1891 ; $20,000 in 1893; $20,000 in 1895; and
$20,000 in 189". These were taken up at once, and the Commissioners have had plenty of
money since that time.
On February 6, 1885. the contracts were let for the building as follows: Excavation,
Carper & Blaise, Circleville, $880 ; stone masonry and concrete for foundations, same, $15,325 ;
cut stonework, Hibbard & Schaus, of Newark, (afterwards given to Whitmaier Brothers),
$96,000; brickwork, Frederick Fornoff, $32,000; tiling (marble), Aston & Hutf, $6,105; tiling
(encaustic), same, $3,188.25; slate and copperwork for roof, W. R. Kinnear & Co., $13,980 ;
terra cotta tiling. Pioneer Fireproof Construction Company, Cliicago, $8,300 ; tin and galvan-
ized ironwork, W. R. Kinnear & Co., $19,980; plastering and stucco work, William Gulick,
$5,3.50 ; carpenterwork and hardware, John Rouzer & Co., Dayton, $32,587.90 ; painting and
glazing, Lewis Fink, $19,700; gas piping, I. B. Potts, $572.25; frescoing, B. B. Crane, $4,650;
steamheating, Kelley & Co., $6,742 ; plumbing, Andrew Schwarz, $1,963; wroughtironwork,
Hough, Ketchum & Co., Indianapolis, |75,000.
Work on the excavations and foundations was begun as soon as the weather would per-
mit this spring, and has been pushed as rapidly as possible. The foundation is now com-
plete, and part of the iron joice for the first floor are in place. It will require two or three
years to complete it, and when it is completed it will be one of the finest structures of the
kind in the West. . . . Mr. George Bellows is superintendent of construction. . . . The lay-
ing of the cornerstone will be the climax in the proceedings, and from it will date tihe pro-
gress of future work. The stone is in the northwest corner, and is made of granite. The
High Street face is inscribed : County Commissioners, William Wall, Joseph M. Briggs, Richard
Z.Dav)son: County Auditor. Frank J. Reinhard. The face on the Mound Street side presents
the following: Chairman Committee on Plans, Henry C. Noble, July 4, 1885. Architect, George
H. Mdtzel.
Pending the erection of the new building the county courts and otficers were
provided with temporarily rented quarters in buildings of the immediate neigh-
borhood.
On July 4, 1885, the ceremony of laying the cornerstone was impressively
celebrated. A civic and military parade, with conspicuous industrial features,
preceded the formal exercises of the day, which took place in tbe presence of a
large multitude. After music by the St. Cecilia band, an invocation by the Eev.
B. N. Spahr, and additional music by the Fourteenth Regiment band, Hon. Allen
G. Thurman, orator of the daj^ was presented by Hon. Casper Lowenstein, and
delivered a very appropriate and able address. The combined musical societies
OURRENT KVENTS SlNCE ISdS. 2;!!
of the cily naii^ tlio /SV((/- Spmii/ln/ liiiiuwr, and I'urlliur i'oiiiarkn woro iiuulo bv
Goveriioi- George lloadly and Mayor C. C. Walcult. 'IMieso exercises were fol-
lowed by tlie laying of the cornerstone, in a cavity of which, prejjared for the
purj)ose, were deposited the following articles: Original of Judge Thurman's
address ; programme of the exercies of the day ; list of officers of the occasion and
contractors of the courthouse; County Commissioners' report; list of count}- offi-
cers; National Treasury statement of June 3(1, 1885 ; specifications for the court-
house; annual reports of the Board of Education, City Clerk and Board of Trade ;
list of conli'ibutors to the donation of the original site; Pictui-eof the St. Paul's
Lutlioi-an Church; programme of the centennial celebration of 1876; City Diroc-
t<ir\- fur 1S85 : copies of the various newspapers and pei-iodicals published in
Columbus.
The oi'eetion of the building proceeded rapidly, and on May 11, 1887, the
boai'd of Courtlidiise Commissioners adopted the following, offered by Mr. Noble:
Whereas, the thirteenth duy of July next will be the centennial anniversary of the pas-
sage of the Ordinance of 1787, for the government of the territory of the United States nortli-
west of the Ohio Kiver ; and whereas, that ordinance has been justly regarded not only as
the grfat charter of liberty for the millions of people who settled and inhabit this vast terri-
tory, but also as containing many of the fundamental principles of government and law that
have made the States created therefrom (Ohio, Indiana. Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin),
great among the .States of the Union, and for these reasons an appropriate occasion for the
dedication of a courthouse at the capital of Ohio ; and whereas the architect, G. H. Miitzel,
is of the opinion that the new courthouse will be substantially completed on that date,
therefore
Kesolved, that we appoint Wednesday, the thirteenth of July, 18S7, for the formal dedi-
cation of the new courthouse to the uses for which it has been built by suitable public cere-
Tho entire cost of the building as completed and furnished was as follows :
Additional ground, I3S, 750 ; courtli.ousc and boilerhouse, $420,000 ; furniture and
equipments, $50,000 ; jail, 8165,000. The amount of courthouse bonds issued was
$300,000; of jail bonds $164,000.
On July 4, 1889, the foundation stone of a monument to the poet Schiller was
laid in the City Park. The occasion was signalized by an extensive and interest-
ing parade of the German societies and addresses at the Park by Governor J. B.
Forakor, Hon. Henry Olnhausen, Mayor P. H. Bruck and Hermann Determan.
The addresses were interspersed with music by the Miinnerchor and the Four-
teenth Regiment Band. The monument was dedicated on July 4, 1891. when
another impressive parade took place, consisting largely of devices emblematic of
the life and works of Schiller. Hon. Henry Olnhauson was on this occasion
President of the Day, and opened the exercises at the Park with a very eloquent
and thoughtful address in the German language. Other addresses were delivered
by Governor James E. Campbell, Mayor George Karb, Hermann Determan,
Alfred E. Lee and Joseph Dauben. The Declaration of Independence was read
by F. F. D. Albery. Some appropriate pieces of vocal music were rendered by a
selected choir of the German singing societies, led by Professor Hermann Eck-
hardt.
232 History of the City of Columbus.
This beauiiful monumeut is a gift to the city by the German Americans of
Columbus. It consists of a granite pedestal, surmounted by a bronze statue of
Schiller, cast in Munich. The statue weighs 2,640 pounds; its cost was $3,000.
The total height of the work above the surface of the ground is twentyfive feet, its
total cost was S6,500.
An act of Congress which was passed and became a law in January, 1888,
established an office of the United States Customhouse in Columbus, for the direct
delivery of imported merchandise. This arrangement is regarded as a valuable
convenience by numerous merchants and manufacturers.
In 1888 the construction of a new markethouse on the West Side was begun,
and on March 29, 1889, the building was formally opened. Addresses were deliv-
ered at the opening by Mayor P. H. Bruck, J. E. Robinson and D. J. Clahane.
The progress of Columbus in population since its original settlement in 1812
may now be briefly stated. According to an enumeration taken in the spring of
1815 the borough then contained about 700 inhabitants. Since then the population,
as shown by the decennial census, has been, 1,450 in 1820 ; 2,437 in 1830 ; 6,048 in
1840; 17,822 in 1850; 18,629 in 1860; 31,274 in 1870 ; 51,647 in 1880; and 88,150 in
1890. In 1863 the municipal area was increased from 1,600 to 2,700 acres; in 1871
it was raised to 6,752 acres. In 1890 the area comprised within the corpora-
tion limits was about twelve square miles and the total length of streets belonging
to the city proper was 166.09 miles.
Further details and comparisons as to the material growth of the city are
reserved for the topics and chapters to which they are more especially germane, and
the general bistorial narrative, which has now been carried down from the pri-
mary settlement at Pranklinton in 1797 until 1890 — almost a century — will here
close.
NOTES.
1. Ohw Stale Journal.
2. Ibid.
3. No complete and accurate list of those who actually served on the staff appears either
in the newspaper reports or the committee minutes. Apparently some of the persons
appointed were not really mounted or in service.
4. Ohio Stale Journal.
CHAPTER XVIIl
RAILWAYS.
BY JOHN .7. .lANNEY.
I shall never furget tlie walk I took with my father [Lucas Snllivant in 1S2:;] on his way
to inspect the work at the mill. lioth of us had been restless and sleepless the night before
and neither was well. The symptoms of the fever were manifesting themselves and both
were soon after prostrated. He took ine around on the brow of the ridge in the west end of
Franklinton, where he halted. On the west all the broad bottom for two miles out and, with
a few insignificant clearings, the country even to Darby Creek was covered with a heavy
forest; so also was all across the river in the forks of the Whetstone, and on the eastern side
of the Whetstone across the bottoms where now are the Waterworks, the iron furnace,
Goodale Park, the Penitentiary, the railroad depot and so on out to Alum Creek. From the
point where we stood the spire of the old Statehouse and the scattered houses of the new
town were visible. 1 never could determine whether my father was addressing me or only
involuntarily speaking out his thoughts, for he said in a low tone of voice as he turned him-
self around looking westward: I would like to come back in fifty years and stand on this
spot. I would not be surprised to see steam wagons running across these bottoms." In far
less than fifty years I have again stood on the same spot and seen the steam wagons, with
their huge trains, rushing along over these bottoms at a rate of more than twenty miles an
hour.— Joseph Sullivant in the SuUirant Family Memorml.
On September 15, 1825, George Stephenson opened the Stockton >S: Darlington
Railway in England. The first train which passed over it comprised thirtyfour
vehicles and one engine, Stephenson himself being the engineer and a signal man
being sent on horseback in advance. The train moved off at the rate of ten miles,
and attained a speed of fifteen niiles^ per hour, on favorable parts of the line.
This railway was constructed for mineral and goods traffic alone, but in
response to ptiblic demand the company, in October, 1825, began running what
must have been a curiously constructed daily coach called the Experiment, carry-
ing six passengers inside and fifteen or twenty outside, and making the journey
from Darlington to Stockton and back, twelve miles, in two hours. The fare was
one shilling, and each passenger was allowed not more than fourteen pounds of
bas^gage. The rate of transportation of merchandise was reduced by this enter-
prise from five pence to oncfifth of a penny per ton per mile, and the i)rice of
coals at Darlington declined from oigliteen shillings to eight shillings and si.x
L233]
234 History of the City oi' Columbus.
j)oiicc i)ur ton. Five years later Steplien.sou secured the premium offered by the
Liverpool & Birmingham Eailway for the best engine, by the production of his
machine called the Rocket. It had eigiitinch cylinder.? with a sixteen-and-a-iialf
inch stroke, and driving wheels four feet eight and a half inches in diameter. The
weight of the Eorkd was something over four tons.
The success of these experiments attracted attention in this country. Ohio
had just begun her sy.stem of canals and popular as it was at that time persons
were not wanting who foresaw that steam carriage would supersede them. Among
such person.s was Colonel James Kilbourn, who wrote and published on Dec-
ember 29, 1825,' only three months after Stephenson's successful experiment, a
communication from which the following is taken : " By the lucid reports of the
committee of the British Parliament and their Board of Engineers it is manifest
that railroads are altogether preferable to canals at any time, and can be used at
all times, as well in icinter as summer." Mr. Kilbourn suggested railway lines in
Ohio as follows; "From Portsmouth to Sandusky Bay; from Middletown on the
Big Miami to the same point on the north ; from Marietta to a proper point at or
near Cuyahoga Summit to meet the canal, saj' at Akron ; from the northwesterly
bend of the Ohio, near the south line of the State, by Warren to Grand River ;
a branch road from Lancaster in the Hocking Valley, to intersect the Scioto
line at a convenient point; and a lateral road from Zanesville by Columbus to
Dayton, connecting the three principal lines." In subsequent communications of
February 23 and 26 Mr. Kilbourn suggested that "the adoption of this system of
internal improvements in place of canals would greatly encourage the manufac-
ture of iron and the development of the mineral sections of the State."
A meeting of the citizens of Columbus and other interested localities, held in
the Slatehouse January 9, 183(3, with Governor Lucas as chairman, declared by
resolution its '• highest satisfaction " with a movement then contemplated to con-
struct a railroad from Cincinnati to (Charleston, South Carolina. At this meeting
delegates to a convention to be held at Knoxville, Tennessee, Julj' 4, 1836, were
appointed. On November 26, 1846, Asa Whitney, the projector and untiring
advocate of a railway to Oregon, delivered a lecture in the United States Court-
room at Columbus. Samuel Medarj- was chairman and Walter Thrall secretary
of this meeting, which, in the course of its proceedings adopted resolutions com-
mendini^ to the attention of Congress the project of a railway from Lake Michigan
to the Pacitic Ocean. This scheme had been proposed bj' citizens of Oregon a
year earlier.
On February 4, 1830, the legislature of New Jersey incorporated the Camden
& Amboy Eailway Company, with a capital of one million dollars, and authority to
construct a railway from Camden, opposite PJiiladelphia, to some point on Raritan
Bay. It was stipulated that the charges should not exceed eight cents per ton per
mile for Ireight or ten cents per mile per passenger, the company to pay the State,
ill lieu of all other taxes, a transit duty of ten cents per passenger and fifteen
cents per ton of freight.'-' The company ordered a locomotive from George and
Robert Stephenson, which was shipped January 11, 1831, and reached Philadelphia
the tbilowing August. The whole amount of track completed at that time was
Railways. I'S,")
iiboiit Ihreequarters of a milo from Bordentown. The loeomotivu was liaulcil in
wagons (i) tlic track ami there put together. A tender was made of a whisky
hogshead nidiiiitcd on a fourwheeled platform construction-car and connoctod with
the pump of the engine bv a leather hose fitted by a shoemaker of Bordentown.
Steam was raised September 15 and several trips were made before the jiublic
trial took ])lace JSIovember 12, 1831. On that trial K. L. Stevens was conductor,
Lsaac Dripps engineer and Benjamin Higgins fireman. The locomotive weighed
ten tone. Its cylinders measured nine by twentyonc inches. The machine had
one pair of drivingwhoels four feet six inches diameter, and one pair of wheels not
connected, the hubs being of east iron and the remainder, except the iron tires, of
wood. The New Jersey State Gazette of November 19, 18:-51, gave the following
account of the trial trip :
On the twelfth instant an experiment was made by the managers of thu now railroad
now constructing from Bordentown to South Amboy with their locomotive machine and two
or three coaclies attached thereto. About a mile and a quarter of the rails had been laid and
the experiment succeeded, it is said, to the satisfaction of all present. A large number of
members of the legislature and others attended and were highly gratified with the exhibi-
tion. The machine to which the coaclies were attached drew them with great velocity along
the road and it is calculated that when the road is completed to Amboy, the whole distance
can be performed at the rate of a mile in two minutes, and some say less.
The track consisted of castiron rails laid on stone sills three feet apart. It
coat about $18,000 per mile, and was completed to South Amboy in February, 1833.
Horses were used for drawing the trains until September, 1833, when the locomo-
tive, commonly known as the John Bull, which had been lying idle since its trial,
was put into use with one of the three daily trains and continued to be so used
until 18t)6. It was exhibited at the Centennial Exposition and is now in the
National Museum at Washington. A monument is to be erected at the point from
which it first started, one mile below Bordentown. The shaft of this memorial
will be bound with some of the rails and spikes used in construction of the orig-
inal track.
The first railway chartered in Ohio was the Milan & Newark Railroad, which
was incorporated by an act passed Februaiy 7, 1832. According to this statute
the road was to commence at the head of the Milan Canal, at Milan, in Huron
County, and extend southwardly through Norwalk, Mansfield, Mount Vernon and
Utica to Newark on the Ohio Canal. At that time Knox and Richland counties
formed the great wheatgrowing region of Ohio, and Milan was one of tlie most
important grain markets of the State. The road having its two terminal points
on the canal, it was intended to furnish an outlet for the grain districts which it
penetrated. It will thus be seen that railways held at that time a place secondary
to that of the canals. It seems to have been thought that the canal could furnish
the railway with all the busine.ss it could do. Among the first i-ailwai's operated
in the State was one from Sandusky City to Monrocville, which was in oiicration
December 14, 1838. Its advertisement, printed July 19, 1839, was accompanied by
a picture of a train of cars built in the form of a .stagecoach, which seems to have
been the ideal model of that day for all passenger-carrying vehicles.
236 History of the City of Columbus.
On February 8, 1832, the first railway touching Columbus ^ the Columbus,
Marion & Sandusky. — was incorporated by Lincoln Goodale, Gustavus Swan,
Joseph Ridgwaj', Daniel Upson and Aurora Buttles, of Franklin, and sundry
others of Delaware, Marion, Crawford and Huron counties. Its capital stock was
one million dollars. Its charter provided that if two hundred shares should not
be subscribed within the first five years after the opening of the books the act of
incorporation should become void ; also, that the stock migiit be doubled, and that
the State might after twenty years purchase it at ten per cent, jjremiura. On
March 4, 1844, this charter was amended with William Neil, A. Chittenden,
Orange Johnson, Daniel Kellogg, Charles Stanbcry and William A. Piatt, of
Franklin Countj', as commissioners instead of those first named. The same author-
ity was conferred upon these commissioners as upon their predecessors. It was
required that the road should be commenced within five and finished within ten
years, its route to extend from Columbus to Worthington, and thence via Delaware,
Waldo, Marion and Little and Upper Sandusky, until it should intersect the Mad
Eiver & Lake Erie Railway. The charter contained this further provision :
" That said company and the corporators and the stockholders thereof shall be
subject to all regulations, restrictions and individual liabilities of an act entitled an
act instituting proceedings against corporations not possessing banking powers
and the visitorial powers of courts, and to provide for the regulation of corpora-
tions geneially."
The Milan & Columbus Railroad Company was incorporated February 11,
1832, with James Robinson,- John Bishop and A. V. Payne, of Franklin County —
so the record states — and others of Huron, Marion and Delaware counties as com-
missioners, with a capital stock of one million dollars, to construct a double or
single road or way from the head of the Milan canal, through Milan, Norwalk,
Peru, New Haven, and Mount Gilead to Columbus. If the capital stock should
be deemed insufficient for the purpose of the act the president and directors, or a
majority of them, were authorized to increase it not exceeding one million dollars.
Section twenty of the act reads ;
They shall have power to charge for tolls and the transportation of persons or goods,
produce, merchandise or property of any kind whatsoever transported by them or by others
along said railway, any fum not more than the tolls charged on the Ohio canals on the same
kind of goods, merchandise, produce and property of any other description, or passengers,
going in the same direction ; and it shall not be lawful for any other company or any person
or persons whomsoever to transport any persons, merchandise, produce or property of any
description whatsoever along said road or any of them or any part thereof without the
license or i>ermission of the president and directors of said company.
If the road should not be commenced within five years and finished within
fifteen j-ears the act was to become void, and after twenty years the State was
authorized to take possession of the property at cost. The provisions of this
charter, as of a large number of others enacted during many subsequent years,
show that the sympathies of the legislature were on the side of the canals, and
that it was not intended to permit the railways to have free competition with
them.
Railways. 2:!7
The Coluiiibus, Delaware, Marion & Upper .SanduNky liailroad ('i)iiipaiiv was
incorporated February 8, 1832, witii Joscpii llidifwaj', William Noil, J. N. Cliaiu-
pion, Lyne Starling, Junior, Wray Thomaa, Robert Brotlierton and Moses II.
Kirby, of Franklin Countj-, and other.s of Delaware, Marion and (Ji'awford counties
as commissioners, with a capital of $500,000 wliicii minlil be dnubled il necessary.
If thirty thousand dollars should bo subscribed witliin tluee years the conipanj'
could organize. The road was to run from Columbus rid Delaware and Marion
and "as near b^' Little Sandusky " as might be "found advantageous," to inter-
sect the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad at or near Ujjper Sandusky. The
charter provided that whenever the company's dividends should exceed six per
cent, jjcr annum the legislature might impose such reasonable taxes on tiio
amount of said dividends as might be received from other railroad companies.
This charter was amended March 4, 1844, by making William Neil, A. Chittenden,
Orange Johnson, David Kellogg, Charles Stanbery and William A. Piatt of
Franklin County and others of Delaware, Marion and Crawford counties commis-
sioners, thus superseding the Columbus, Marion & Sandusky Company, incor-
porated February 8, 1832.
On March 12, 1836, the Columbus, London & Springfield Railroad Company
was incorporated with Gustavus Swan and William S. Sullivant of Franklin
County, and sundry others of Madison and Clark counties as commissioners, the
capital stock being $200,000. The road was to run from Columbus to Springfield,
via London and South Charleston or the suburbs of each. The charter provided
that charges might be made not exceeding oue and a half cents per mile for toll
and five cents per ton for transportation of merchandise, and not more than tliree
cents per mile for each passenger, all persons paying the prescribed tolls being
permitted to transport persons and property on the line " with suitable and proper
carriages" and subject to the bylaws of the company. It was further required
that as soon as the receipts, after deducting exjjenses and liabilities, should exceed
four per cent, the directors should make a dividend so that no contingent or
accumulating fund exceeding one percent should remain undivided for more than
six months.
On March 14, 183(5, the Columbus & Marysville Railroad Company was incor-
porated with John McElvain, of Franklin Count}-, and others of Union County, as
incorporators, the capital stock being §350,000. The road was to run from Col-
umbus to " Marysville and thence to the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad at
or near the Big Spring in Logan County. The rates of transportation prescribed
for this road were the same as for the Columbus, London & Springfield,' but the
company was authorized to have five per cent, surplus.
Tbe (ylevcland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad Company was incorporated
March 14, 1836. Its history is reserved for another place.
The Urbana & Columbus Railroad Company was incorporated March 14, 183G,
by citizens of Urbana with a stock of $300,000. The road was to commence " at
any eligible point in or near the town of Urbana" and extend thence "by
the nearest and most eligible i-oute to some point in or near the city of Columbus."
The company was authorized "to locate and construct a navigable canal or basin
238 History of the City of Columbus.
from the termination or depot of said railway in or near the town of Urbana to
any proper point on Mad Eiver" and to connect the same with any navig-
able feeder that might be constructed by the State from Mad River to the Miami
Canal. The rates of transportion were restricted to a maximum of four cents per
mile foi- passengers and three cents per ton per mile for freight. The charter
was amended March 11, 1849, so that the road might terminate "at any suitable
point on the Columbus & Xeuia Railroad instead of Columbus; or at any suitable
point on the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad; or unite with both of
said roads, with proper branch roads, as the directors of the Urbana & Columbus
road might determine."
The excitment about railways reached a climax about 1836, in which year
fortynine charters were granted and by which time nearly all the lines since built
had been suggested or chartered. The Columbus & Pittsburgh Railroad Company
was incorporated March 2, 1846, bj- William Neil and Joseph Ridgway, Junior, of
Franklin, and sundry others of Knox, Licking, Holmes, Coshocton, Wayne, Tus-
carawas, Carroll, Harrison, Jeiferson and Columbiana counties, with a capital
of two million dollars. This road was to extend from Columbus to a point on the
Ohio River above thecity of Steubenville. The charter provided that the company
might receive such rates of toll for the transportation of freight and passengers as
it pleased, provided that the same should first be "posted up in a public place
at each depot." It was stipulated that the State might, at the expiration of each
period of ten years, regulate charges on the line and might reduce the rates
charged for freight should the line come into competition with the canals. By an
amendment of February 24, 1848, the company was authorized :
To connect said road with any other railroad starting from Columbus and tending in the
direction of Pittsburgh or commencing at the Ohio Kiver within the State of Ohio north of
the town of Steubenville and tending westward ; provided that said company shall not be at
liberty to locate and construct their road west of Mount Vernon on a line parallel to the line
of road of any other railroad company heretofore incorporated which shall have organized
and actually in good faith commenced the construction of their road before the company
incorporated by this act shall have actually commenced the construction of that part of their
road, nearer than twenty miles to the lines of said roads unless for the purpose of connecting
therewith.
On March 12, 1845, the Franklin and Ohio River Railroad Company was
incorporated by William S. Sullivant, Lincoln Goodale, Samuel Medary, Samuel
Parsons, Leander Ransom and Orange Johnson of Franklin County, as the Frank-
lin & Washington Railroad Company, with a stock of one million dollars. The
road was to extend from Columbus to " such point on the Ohio River as shall be
opposite the actual terminus on said river of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad " and
the company was authorized to fix its own charges, but by an amendment of
March 2, 1846, the rates charged for freight and passengers might be changed by
the State if deemed too high, or if they should compete with the canals.
The Columbus & Springfield Railroad Company was incorporated March 2,
1846, bj- Michael L. Sullivant and Wray Thomas, of Franklin County, and others
of Madison and Clark counties, with a capital of $800,000. This act was repealed
Railways, 2;!9
P^ebriiaiy 16, 1849, but had iircviously Ijolmi aiiieiKied l-\.l,niary :i4, 1S4S, so as t.)
permit the location of the line from Dayton to S))riM<j,ficl(l and thi'iicc to a p.diii
on the Columbus & Xenia Railroad at or west of the town ni London, inovidcd,
Tliat if the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad Company shall, within one year from the
passage of this act, commence the construction of that part of the road authorized l)y the
charter of said company which lies between Dayton it Springfield, and shall complete ten
miles of the same within two years, then the company hereby incorporated shall not con-
struct a road between said points ; and provided further, that said Dayton, .Springfield & Co-
lumbus Railroad shall not, at any point between Springfield and Columbus, diverge from a
straight line southward more than one mile, it the Columbus & Xenia Railroad Company
shall consent that said Dayton, Springfield & Columbus Railroad may be connected with said
Columbus & Xenia Railroad at fjondon or some other convenient anil suitable point.
The stock was increased to Sl,200,000.
On Kebruarj 8, 1847, the Central Ohio Eailroad Conijiany wat; iiicoriiorated
by Robert Noil, Samuel Medary, Joel Buttles, Jose])li Ridgway and Bela Latham
of Franklin County, with others of Licking and Muskingum counties, and a capi-
tal stock of S1,000,000 and the privilege of increasing the same to $2,5(10,000,
The Springfield & Columbus Railroad Company was incorporated February
16, 1849, by Michael L. SuUivant, Aaron F. Perry, William Dennison, and J). W.
Deshler of Franklin County, and others of Clark and Madison counties, with a
capital stock of $(300,000, the i-oad to extend from Springfield to CoUimluis or to
some point on the Columbus & Xenia Railroad between Columbus and Xenia, the
intersection, if made, to be at the town of London,
The Columbus, Piqua and Indiana Railroad Company was im-orpoi'ateil Feb-
ruary 23, 1849, by Joseph Ridgway, Junior, William S, Sullivaiil and William Don-
nison of Franklin County and others of Champaign, Miami and Drake counties,
with a capital .stock of $2,000,000, ^
The Little Miami Railroad Company, of which the history is reserved for
another place, was incorporated March 11, 1836, On March 14 of the same year
the Muskingum & Columbus Railroad Company was incorporated by Joseph
Ridgway, Junior, Alfred Kelley and P. B. Wilcox of Franklin County, and sun-
dry others of Licking and Muskingum counties, with a capital stock of $400,000.
It was stipulated that the road should extend " fi-om the west bank of the Mus-
kingum River near the town of Zanesville " thi'ough the Licking Vallej' to Colum.
bus; that it should be commenced within three and completed within ten years;
that its dividend should not exceed six per cent, per annum ; and that after
thirtytive years the property might be purchased by the State.
An act passed May 1, 1852, provides that if any railroad '- extends or shall
hereafter be extended to any place in the vicinity of or to a point of intersection
with any of the navigable canals or other works or improvements belonging to the
State," it must " fix and establish a tariff of rates , . . to or from such place to a
point of intersection, , . . not higher for transporting similar merchandise, |irod-
uce 01- property over a shorter distance of its road than is charged or received
according to such fixed tariff;" and the company must kee]i such tariff posted " at
the several business stations on its road," any change of rates to be posted at
Q^
240 History of the City of Columbfs.
least two (lays before it shall take effect. It was further provided that if a rail-
road company should adopt and adhere to a rate for freight as before stated, the
Board of Public Works might authorize it to cross " any navigable canal or feeder,
slackwater improvement, navigable river, stream, lake or reservoir with which
any of the canals of this State are connected ;" but on the twentyeighth of the
next preceding month the Board of Public Works had adopted the following
order :
That all bridges erected by railroad companies over any of the publio canals of the State
be removed by the first day of June next, and that the Secretary of this Board give immedi-
ate notice to the several railroad companies of the passage of this order; and that, in default
of such companies removing such bridges by the time aforesaid, each acting commissioner
cause the same to be removed from the public works under his charge.
An act passed April 17, 1854, made stockholders liable " to an amount equal
to their stocks subscribed in addition to their stocks; " and by another act of May
1, 1854, it was required that a majority of the directors of a railroad company
should be residents of the State. Subsequent legislation requires that in case of
consolidation, the place of residence and number of shares of stock held by each
director or other officer shall be stated. An act of 1848 prescribed a passenger
rate of 3^ cents and a freight rate of five cents per ton, per mile. An act of 1852
reduced the passenger fare to three cents but left the freight rate unaltered. On
March 10, 1871, the legislature passed an act requiring that the space betweeen
passenger ears should be bridged. For this statute there was certainly no
demand, since, among 55,000,000 passengers carried in five consecutive years by
the i-ailways of the State, only thr.ce had suffered for want of such bridges, and
of these two were intoxicated men anil the third a child which had been permit-
ted to wander to the platform. The constitution of Ohio, adopted in 1852, pro-
vides that incorporations, instead of being granted b}' special statutes, as had pre-
viously been done, shall be provided for by general law ; consequently they have
since been obtained in pursuance of such a law by filing proper certificates with the
Secretary of State. A list of the railwaj-s touching Columbus which have thus
been incorporated is hereto ajipended. The number of such, lines is eightyseven,
their aggregate capital $112,160,000.
L'dile Miami Railicay. — This company was chartered March 11, 1836, with a
capital of $750,000. The charter having become void for nonuser it was revived
Februarj' 15, 1844, and on February 5, 1847, its stock was increased to $2,000,000
and the directors were authorized to borrow not exceeding $400,000 at not over
seven per cent, interest. By act of February 24, 1848, the stock was increased to
$3,000,000 and the company was authorized to subscribe stock sufficient to build
branch roads over any ground on which the construction of a branch had been
permitted. The first survey of the line was made in 1836 by O. M. Mitchell, and
the first meeting for the election of directors was held August 23, 1837, at the Den-
nison House in Cincinnati. At this meeting Bennet Lewis, James Galloway,
Junior, John Hivling, George W. Neff, Charles Anthony, Robert Buchanan, D. A.
Powell, P. A. Sprigman, Matthias Kugler, Clark Williams, Jeremiah Morrow and
John Sexton were elected directors and George W. Neff was chosen president, R,
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Eailways. 241
Buchanan secretary anil Charles Antliony treasurer. In 1887 tiie wdrU of con-
struction was bei;;un ; the lino was opened to Milford December 2, 1841, to Xenia
in August, 1845, and to Springfield in August, 1846. In common with all rail-
way lines built at tiiat time, this road was first laid with flat or "strap" rails
which were replaced with T rails about the year 1848. On December 27, 1845,
notice was given that from that date passenger trains would leave Cincinnati
daily at eleven a. m. and Xenia 8:30 A. m., Sundays excepted, connecting with
Neil, Moore & Co.'s stages for Columbus, Zanosville, Wheeling, Cleveland and San-
dusky City. On April 18, 184(j, a summer arrangement of two trains daily,
except Sundays, when only one train would be run, was announced. On August
11, 1840, it was stated that what was intended to be the first through trip was
interferred with by the Springfield train, going down, and the XcTiia train, com-
ing up, meeting one another on the same track and derailing both. On August
18, 1840, a banquet was given at Springfield, at which a largo number of pro-
minent citizens from various points on the line took part li^' invitation of the
directors.
The canals still retained the consideration and eonflilcncc of the public and
their intersets were not permitted to be sacrificed in Ijehalf of railways; on
the contrary, it was believed and stated- that, in an important degree, the Little
Miami Railway would '-aid the business and replenish the I'evenues of the princi-
pal canals of the State instead of drawing business and profits from them."^ In
compliance with public sentiment tiie company was required to report to the
Auditor of State the amount of its dividends, and when they exceeded six per
cent, on the stock the Auditor was required to draw on the company for an
amount equal to the amount of tax the company would be liable to pay under the
act of March 2, 1846. On March 30, 1864, an agreement was made between the
Little Miami and the Columbus ami Xenia companies of the first part, and the
Columbus & Indianapolis, the Richmond & Covington and the Indiana Central of
the second part; the Dayton, Xenia & Belpre of the thir.l part, and the Dayton
& Western of the fourth part, for an equitable arrangement for operating and
distributing traffic and proceeds. On June 6, 1854, the last rail was laid on the
Ohio & Mississippi, and on Aflgust 29, the same year, the Indianapolis & Belle-
fontaine and the Greenville & Mi;imi r.iilways wore opened, making a line from
Dayton to Indianapolis. On January 1, 1865, the Little Miami Company leased
the Dayton & Western ; on November .30 it leased the Columbus & Xenia ; and
on January 3, 1865, the Daylon, Xenia & Belpre, sold under forclosure, was pur-
chased by the Little Miami and the Columbus & Xenia companies for $250,000.
On January 1, 1868, the Little Miami, the Columbus & Xenia and the Cleveland,
Columbus & Cincinnati made a contract with Charles W. Doubleday which gave
the latter an exclusive right to run sleepingcars on their roads between Cincin-
nati & Cleveland. On April 7, 1808, the Little Miami and the Columbus & Xenia
companies made a contract with the Western Union Telegraph Company giving
it the exclusive right to operate a line on their premises.
16*
242 History of the City of Columbus.
On December 1, 1869, tbe entire property of the Little Miami and the Colum-
bus & Xenia and leased lines were leased to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis
Railway Company at eight per cent, on the capital stock, the interest on the
funded debt, five thousand dollars pur year for the expense of the organization
and the assumption of all lease obligations of the Little Miami organization,
■which was to receive and pay over all dues to its leased lines, thus giving the
Little Miami company and all leased lines eight per cent, net on their capital
stock. At the election in 1847, Jeremiah Morrow, Jacob Strader, John Kilgore,
Griffin Taylor, R. R. vSpringer, A. Hivling, Samuel Barnett, James Hicks, Lewis
Bi-oadwell, John Kugler and Nathaniel Wright were chosen directors, Jeremiah
Morrow, president ; Jacob Strader, secretary; John Kilgore, treasurer, and VVil-
H. Clement, superintendent. A stock dividend was paid as early as January,
1845, before the road was complete, and from three to eight and one half per cent,
semiannually thereafter has been paid in every year since December, 1852, except
in December, 1867, when four and oneuineteenth per cent, was paid in stock.
On February 23, 1870, the Little Miami leased its own and all leased lines, includ-
ing the Columbus & Xenia, to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis.
Columbus & Xenia Railway. — This company was incorporated March 12, 1844,
by Joseph Ridgway, Samuel Medary and William Dennison, of Franklin County,
with others from Madison and Greene counties. The capital stock was $500,000,
which was increased on February 14, 1848, to $1,500,000, and on January 7, 1864,
to $1,800,000. On December 31, 1889, the stock was reported at $1,786,200. The
company was authorized to construct a railway from " anj- eligible point in or
near the town ot Columbus, in Franklin County, thence by the most practicable
route to the town of Xenia, in Greene County, or the suburbs thereof." It was
also authorized to " construct branch roads to other towns or places in the several
counties through which said road may pass," and the management was given
authority to contract with any person or corporation for the use of roads, streets
and bridges. This latter provision, or something similar, is found in many of the
earlier railway charters in Ohio, the idea seeming to have been that a common
road bridge could be used as a railway bridge. The charter further provided that
the company might demand and receive tolls for passengers and freight not exceed-
ing the tolls charged on the canals for the same kinds of goods or for passengers
going in the same direction, and that it should not be lawful for any other company
or individual "to transport any person, merchandize, produce or property of any
description whatsoever along said road or any part thereof, without the license or
permission of the president and directors of said company." This latter provision
is found in many of the railway charters of that period, its object being indicated
by the charter of the Scioto & Miami Railroad Company enacted March 18, 1839,
and providing that the company might construct a railway " from or near the town
of Lockbourne, in Franklin County, by the way of the town of Xenia, in Greene
County, to the town of Dayton, in Montgomery County;" that is, from the Ohio
to the Miami Canal. Section nine of this act provided that the corporation might
demand from all persons using its road a freight charge of eight cents per ton per
mile, and a rateable proportion for anj' greater or less quantity ; and " for every
Railwavs. 243
pleasure carriage or carriages used for tiic conveyance of passengers four cents per
mile in addition to the toll of freight upon the road ;" all persons paying such toll
being permitted, with suitable and proper carriages, to " use and travel upon said
railroad, subject to such regulations and rules as the corporation are authorized
to make." One of the objections brought against railways being that they could
not ho used like a common highway by any or all persons alike, such provisions
as these were inserted in the charters to meet that objection bj^ permitting the
use of the road by any person who would furnish "proper and suitable carriages."
The charter of the Columbus & Xenia company further provided that the
State should iiave the right at any time after twenty j^ears (extended to thirty-
five years March 8, 1845,) to purchase and hold said railroad for the use of the
Stale at a price not exceeding the original cost and necessary expenditure for fix-
tures up to the time of purchase, "and fifteen per cent, thereon." If the divi-
dends should at any time exceed six per cent., the legislature might levy a tax
thereon equivalent to that received from other railway companies. This latter
clause was repealed February 23, 1846, by an act amending the charter and pro-
viding that the State should have power to reduce the charges for transportation
of persons and property should such charges, in the opinion of the Board of
Public Works, be deemed unreasonably high. The Board was authorized to
exercise this power of reducing charges once in every ten years, but this amend-
ment was not accepted by the company and has not been considered by it to be
binding.
The Little Miami railway having been completed between Cincinnyti and
Xenia, the first daylight trij) ever made between Columbus and Cincinnati took
place August 19, 1845. One of the newspapers stated as follows: "Two new
[stage] coaches have been put on the line between Columbus and Xenia. They
are named George M. Dallas and Cave Johnson, and are very superb vehicles.
All we want now is a railroad between here and Xenia and another to Cleveland
to render traveling a pleasant past time. The first road will be built at no dis-
tant day ; what shall we say about the other?" Response to this inquiry was soon
made. A subscription of $200,000 having been made to the stock of the Colum-
bus & Xenia Railway a meeting of the stockholders was held on April 12, 1845,
and William Neil, Joseph Ridgway, Senior, Joseph Ridgwaj', Junior, William S.
Sullivant, D. W. Deshler, Samuel Medarj', Charles H. Wing, A. F. Perry, Joshua
Martin, R. B. Neil, Orange Johnson and William Dennison, were chosen direc-
tors. On the same day William Neil was elected president, Joseph Ridgway,
Junior, secretary, and D. W. Deshler tj'oasurer. On May 29, 1845, the commissoners
and surveyors left Columbus to locate the lino and on June 11, it was announced
that the preliminary survey had been completed. The Cincinnati Atlas newspa-
per of July 25, 1845, said : " We understand that an effort is making to fill up the
stock of the road from Columbus to Xenia and that an influential member of the
company (Mr. William Neil) is now in the city for this j^urpose. The greater
part of the stock has been subscribed at Columbus and on the line of the road, but
they need $50,000 more which they wish to raise here. As soon as this sum is
subscribed the road will be put under contract and the work commenced with a
244 History of the City op Columbus.
view to its completion in the fall of next year ; say at the farthest, by December,
1846. They have already decided to put down the heavy rails and to make the
road substantial in the first instance." Sylvester Medberj', appointed enj^ineer,
completed the second survey of the line from Columbus to Xenia, September 24,
1845, and reported it as fiftytwo miles long, with only four deviations from a
straight course. On November 22, 1845, a settlement with the engineer and his
employes was ordered and their salaries were suspended until further notice.
An act of March 2, 1846, amending the charter of the Franklin & Washington
Railroad Company, subjected the Columbus & Xenia Company to the same condi-
tions as to taxation which had been imposed ujjon the Cleveland, Columbus &
Cincinnati companj-, and reserved to the CToneral Assembly power to levy such
taxes on the capital stock and dividends as it might deem proper. B^- another
act of February C, 1847, the directors of the Columbus & Xenia were authorized
to connect their ro;id with the Little Miami at a point to be selected at their dis-
cretion. Further legislation of February 4, 1848, empowered the directors to
construct a branch from the terminus at Columbus to Delaware, and on March 21,
1850, the comj)any was authorized to extend its road to Dayton. To insure
prompt action the charter provided that if contracts were not made for the con-
struction of one-fourth of the road within one year from its ,date, it would be
void. By different acts passed in February, 1846, subscriptions to the capital
stock of the company were authorized as follows: By the town of Xenia not
over $50,000 ; bj' the City Council of Columbus and the Commissioners of Franklin
County, S50,000 each ; and by the town of Xenia g6,000 ; and Ijy the Commis-
sioners of Greene County $50,000. The company was authorized by the same
legislation to borrow $300,000 at not more than seven per cent, interest, and the
directors were given discretion to connect their road with that of the Little Miami
company at any other point than Xenia if they should so elect. On February 8,
1847, the Commissioners of Madison County were authorized to subscribe
$20,000 to the stock of the Columbus & Xenia, and the same amount to the
Columbus & Springfield. On February 23, 1846, the charter was so amended as
to authorize the directors to reduce the amount of each individual stock subscrip-
tion to such a sum as the subscriber might desire, provided that the total subscrip-
tion should not be reduced below $50,000. This seems to have been done in order
to enable some of the subscribers to transfer a part of their sub.scriptions to
anotiier comjiany. On February 14, 1848, the company was authorized to borrow
funds in ad<iitiaii to tho.'5e realized bj- payments on stock sufficient to complete
the road and furnish it with necessary cars and machinery.
Tlie Ohio State Journal of August 13, 1845, contained these editorial admoni-
tions having reference to the Columbus & Xenia Railway :
This is an enterprise which deserves the attention of Central Ohio, and more particu-
larly of Columbus and Franklin County. We understand that nearly all the stock is sub-
scribed and we hope some, of our citizens who have tlie means will give their aid to it imme-
diately. We also understand that William Neil, the president of the company, has returned
from Cincinnati and that the citizens of that city, ever liberal in public enterprises, are
awake to this also. . . . The immense trade to the North and East from the South and West
lUi
245
must be entirely List to Uolumbus and the central portion of the State unless the road is
coniinencea an.l hrought to a speedy completion. The Mail River Railroad, wliich is now
builduiK, from Cincimiati to the Lake, is destined to monopolize this entire trade unless the
Columbus & Xenia railroad is completed. As the speed and comfort of passengers are
always consulted they will undoubtedly universally choose the trip through the northwest
part of the State by lailroad to the lake in preference to a long and laborious ride from Cin-
cinnati to Cleveland through Columbus by stage. But should the road be completed and
the speed and accommodations of this central route be made equal to the Mad River and
Lake Krie Railroad it must be the most preferable route from the Ohio River to the Lake, as
it runs through the richest and most prosperous portion of Ohio and the seat of government
of the State, and makes a short lake trip to Uuffiilo.
Passenger trains were started August 19, 1S45, between Uolumbus, Cincin-
nati and Xenia, leaving Cincinnati at seven o'clock a. m. and arriving at Xenia at
noon, where, as announced in the newspapers, passengers could take the coaches
to rolnmbus and arrive there at eight p. m., accomplishing the whole journey
lu ihii-teen JKuirs, including all stoppages. It was also announced that the stages
of the accciminodation line would leave Columbus at six a. m., and at one i>. m.
arrive at Xenia, where the pas.sengers would dine, take the cars at two p. m. and
arrive at Cincinnati about six o'clock in the evening. On December 1, 1846, stock
to the amount of S187,8(l0 was purchased of the individual directors by the Board,
with the agreement that no liuliilities should be created until $101), 0(10 of that
amount should be sold.
On March 8, 1847, L. Goodale, Joseph Ridgway, A H. Pinney, R. B. Neil,
William Dcnnison and Samuel Medary were elected directors, and on March 20,
same year, it was stated that the Little Miami company was willing to guarantee
to the stockholders of the Cohimbiis & Xenia six per cent, per annum on their
stock as soon as the road should be completed, and would agree to paj^ that rate
annually and perpetually if desired, for the use of the road from Columbus to its
point (if intersection with the Little Miami.
"Shrieks of locality" were loud and earnest. On March 10, 1848, a stock-
holder ]iublished a card in which he said that most if not all of those who had sub-
scrilied for stock in the Columbus & Xenia road did so with the understanding
tliat the passenger station would be located near the cossing of High Street. On
Marih 2:; a largo public meeting, of which W. T. Martin was chairman and Lorenzo
English seeietary, was held, and S. R. Wright, A. P. Stone, J. Hare, M. Jewelt,
A. Sites, J. Funston, and E. Glover were appointed a committee to confer with the
president and directors of the road and require location of the station equidistant
between the north and south boundaries of the city; and further, to demand that
this city and county sh(juld bo represented in the reorganization in proportion to
the amount of stock subscribed. When the directors of the two companies — Col-
umbus & Xenia and Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati — came to the .selection ot
a site for the station, their choice lay between the northeast corner of Uigli and
Spring streets and the present location, but the latter was agreed upon by a bare
majority of the two boards. Another controversy was raised about the same time
by the claim of Springfield that the road should connect with the Little Miami at
that jjlace instead of at Xenia.
246 History of the City of Columbus.
On April 14, 1847, a vote taken in the city of Columbus resulted 828 ayes to
214 noes, in favor of a subscription of $50,000 by the city to the stock of the com-
pany, and on May 6 an arrangement was made by which, in consideration of
stock subscriptions by the city and county they should each have representation
in the board of directors. On June 28 the directors agreed to lay a horse railway
track from some convenient point on the main line north of Broad Street to and
across the canal near its bridge on Friend Street so as to accommodate the ware-
housing interest in that vicinity. This track was not laid south of Broad Street.
On the same day it was resolved that the main line should cross the Scioto Eiver
at some eligible point between the National Road Bridge and the Penitentiary.
The salary of the president of the road was fixed at $1,500. On July 15, 1847, the
Columbus City Council adopted the following:
Resolved, that the right of way be granted to the Columbus & Xenia Railroad Company
to run their railroad track or tracks through the city and along any street or alley, or part of
a street or Hlley in the city north of Broad Street {excepting along High Street); and that they
have the right to run locomotive engines upon the main line of their road running through
the city and connecting with the depots and engineliouses at a rate of speed not exceeding
four miles per hour.
A proviso was coupled with this that the company should be liable for all
damages that might accrue from such location.
On October 13, 1847, Alfred Kelley, president of the company, solicited bids
for grading and bridging the roadway from the west bank of the Scioto River
to and including Big and Little Darby creeks, and on July 24, 1848, he advertised
for proposals for grubbing, grading, bridging and ballasting the road from South
Charleston to the Greene County boundary. On October 25, 1847, semi-annual
interest was pledged on all cash payments of stock until the road should be com-
pleted and comiuence paying dividends. Proposals from the Little Miami Com-
pany to construct as a branch of their line so much of the Columbus & Xenia road
as lay from Xenia eastward within Greene County were accepted November 3,
1847. On November 9 of that year the treasurer was authorized to sell any
amount of city or county bonds not exceeding §10,000 for the best price that could
be obtained not less than eighty cents on the dollar. On the same day the salary
of the treasurer was fixed at three hundred, and that of the secretary at one hun-
dred and fifty dollars per year.
On March 6, 1848, the road was under contract from Columbus to West Jef-
ferson and on December 4 of that year the Columbus station was located by a vote
of seven to three. On March 29, 1849, the New York Tribune stated that the
negotiation of the bonds of the Columbus & Xenia Railroad Company to the whole
amount of $300,000 had just been completed by Winslow, Lanier & Co., and on
August 7 two hundred tons of iron for the road had reached Sandusky. Part of
the iron arrived at Columbus October 15, and on November 5 tracklaying was
commenced at Columbus and prosecuted at the rate of threequarters of a mile per
day. It was stated that the rails were delivered at Montreal from England at a
cost of one and a half cents per pound: which, with the transportation to Colum-
bus, brought their cost up to three ceuts per pound. The expense for transijorta-
tion from Montreal to Columbus was thcretoi-u cquivalcul to llic orin-iiial cost of
the iron ami its freight from England to Montreal. An engine was shipped from
Cincinnati liy v'lv^iv and canal and was used in tracklaying. The rails had all
reached Columbus by January 17, 1850, and on Februarj^ 25 of that year the
newspapers announced that trains would run in connection with the Little Miami
Railway as follows: Leave Columbus one P. m. and two P. m.; arrive at Cincin-
nati at nine P. m. and ten a. m ; leave Cincinnati at six a m. and two-thirty v. m.;
arrive at Columbus at two P. m. and ten p. m. The one p. m. train from Columbus
and the six a. m. train from Cincinnati were discontinued on Sundays. The com-
pany declared that it would not be responsible for baggage exceeding fifty dollars
in value, unless the same should be returned to the conductor or agent and tVeight
paid on it at the rate of one passage for ever}- five hundred dollars in value above
fifty dollars.
Under date of Pebruar}' 25, 1850, we have the following account of the open-
ing of the road: ^
The twentysecond of February, l.S.'iO, was the coraraencenient of a new era in Central
Ohio, for on that day the railroad from Columbus to Xenia (fiftyfour miles) was open for use;
and thus, fur the first time, was opened to the people of this region a system of transit des-
tined immediately to supplant and almost render obsolete all other modes of conveyance.
The Twenlysecond . . . was a clear, bright day, such a day as does honor to the winter
climate of this meridian, in which the cheerful beauty ot spring and the rigor of winter were
admirably blended. . . . Such was the day . . . when I accepted the polite invitation of
the engineer to accompany the President, a portion of the board of directors and a few friends
on the first trip over the track from Columbus to Xeaia. Among the passengers down,
besides the officers and agents of the company, were Judge Myers, of the Senate, Mr.
Fairchild, of the House, Mr. Drake, late Speaker of the House, Mr. Collins, president of the
Cincinnati & Hillsborouah Railroad Company, and several others. The trip down was made
on an open platform, and was made in three hours and five minutes. This was not remark-
able for speed, but when it is recollected that this is the first and an experimental trip when
more than ordinary caution is required in testing an untried work, the speed (averaging
eighteen miles an hour) was amply sufficient. When the arrangements for regular trips are
completed and the machinery properly adjusted, twentyseven miles per hour will be about
the average. . . . The company, leaving Columbus at two o'clock c. m. reached Xenia at
five. In the course of the evening a new locomotive (appropriately named the Wasliinglon)
built by Messrs. A. Harkness & Son, of Cincinnati, for the Columbus & Xenia Railroad Com-
pany, arrived at Xenia, and it was resolved to run it up to Springfield (twenty miles; in the
forenoon for the purpose of ascertaining its weight and trying the quality of its performance.
The engine, with ordinary equipments, weighed nineteen and a half tons, and the perform-
ance of its machinery was highly satisfactory to those concerned. The cost of the locomo-
tive, we heard, was eight thousand dollars. Returning from Springfield, the company i)ar-
took of a substantial repast served at the railroad office, and being joined by a number of
gentlemen from Xenia, two passenger cars were attached to the new locomotive and the
party left Xenia about half past three o'clock, reaching Columbus just at sunset.
The Oliin Stiifc Journal of February 27, 1850, thus announced the " first
train : "
The splendid locomotive Wmhiiiglon with the first regular train of passenger cars from
this city left at one o'clock today in the presence of a concourse of spectators. We put the
ti
248 History of the City of Coldmbus.
fact on record for future reference when the historian shall search the archives of the past to
discover the date when an era so promising was opened by an event so interesting.
On March 2, 1850, the state officers and the General Assembly bj' invitation
of the company made a trip over the road to Cincinnati and return. One of the
newspapers remarked in expectancy of this event that it vpould be " a novel sight
to see the government of the great State of Ohio going off at the rate of twentyfive
miles an hour." The road had been completed in a little less than two years under
the management of its president, Alfred Kelley, and its chief engineer and super-
intendent, S. Mcdbory. Its track was laid with rails weighing sixtyone pounds
to the yard on hewed oak ties well bedded in gravel. Its first cost with equip-
ments was stated at $1,403,145.99. It has but three miles of curved line with a
minimum radius of 5,700 leet. Its elevation above the Scioto, at the Big Darby
crossing is 145 feet, at the Little Darby, 183 feet, at London 344 feet, at South
Charleston 421 feet, at the Greene County line 356 feet and at Xenia 130 feet.
Its maximum grade is thirtynine feet per mile.
On March 26, 1850, S. Medbery, engineer, asked for proposals (or grading,
ballasting and masonwork for a track from the east side of the Scioto River to
the station grounds on the east side of High Street, about 2,500 feet ; and on Dec-
ember 14, 1850, notice was given that after that date the cars would start regu-
larly from the station grounds at the north end of High Street. Prior to that
date a temporary station had been used in what was then known as Frauklinton.
On May 30, same year, the City Council requested the company to construct a
branch from some point between Franklinton and Columbus to and across the
Scioto River at or near the junction of the canal feeder with the river, but the
board declined. On October 28 it was agreed that from November 1 dividends
should be paid semiannually to the stockholders on the first Monday in January
and July beginning with July 1, 1851, the interest on installments to cease from
that date. The salary of the president, Mr. Kelley, for 1851 was fixed at $500.
On January 31, 1851, we find the following paragraph in one of the Columbus
papers : " One of our friends, a lady of Columbus, yesterdaj^ breakfasted at home,
dined with her mother in Cincinnati, and after a chat of two hours returned and
took tea at home. Such events may not be uncommon hereafter, but this is pro-
bably the first instance of the kind."
A proposition to consolidate the three railways extending from Cleveland via
Columbus aad Cincinnati was made May 9, 1851, and on May 15, of that year, the
engineer of the Columbus and Xenia line was ordered to survey two routes
between Xenia and Daj-ton. On June 28 the first dividend was ordered to be paid
Julj' 1,1851, in stock and stock scrip at the rate of five per cent.
On November 4, 1851, the baggage and mail cars of one of the trains were
derailed four miles west of Columbus by running over a cow. This caused enquiry
to be made whether something could not be done " to prevent these frequent acci-
dents from running over cows," and the observation was made that more acci-
dents happened from this cau.se than from all others. At that time all kinds of
farm stock were permitted to go at large and were frequently run over by railway
trains. The contrivance known as the "cowcatcher" was an invention of L. B.
Railways. 240
Davies of Columbus, who, however, ifailed to patent it and gave it freely to the
railroads. Its form has been somewhat changed, the original having been made
exclusivelj' of iron and having consisted of heavy prongs with sharp points pro-
jecting in front of the engine. The writer has seen hogs impaled on these
■ prongs.
The building for the offices of tlio company was begun and completed in
1853, on the west side of High Street, a short distance south of the track and still
stands with but little alteration.
On November 30, 1853, a partnership contract was made between the Little
Miami and the Columbus & Xenia companies by which the two roads were oper-
ated as one line under a joint committee of four, comprising two representatives
of each road. It was stipulated that, after paying out of the gross earnings all
necessary expenses, the surplus should pay dividends, which should always bo
alike for the two roads and whatever remained should be divided as the directors
might agree. This partnership existed until March 18, 1869, when it was dis-
solved, and the Columbus & Xenia company leased its line and rights to the Little
Miami perpetually, the lessee to operate and keep in repair the whole line and pay
to the Columbus & Xenia Company a net sum of $31,258.50, this being seven per
cent, on the stock of the company. It was stipulated, however, that should the
Little Miami pay more than seven per cent, to its stockholders it should pay an
equal dividend to the Columbus & Xenia, provided that such dividend should not
amount to more than one per cent, additional in any year on the stock. The
Little Miami company further agreed to pay the expense of keeping up the
organization of the Columbus & Xenia company, and the salary of its ti'easurer
not exceeding $2,500 per annum. Permission to the street railway company of
Columbus to lay its tracks across that of the Columbus & Xenia Railway was
granted November 30, 1863, it being provided that the street cars should not
" interrupt, or delay or impede the free jiassage of the engines, cars or trains of
the railroad company."
About January 1, 1856, much ado was made of the fact that from the seventh
of that month trains would run through between the Ohio River and Lake Eric,
without change. On February 23, 1870, the Little Miami Company leased its
jjroperty to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Company perpetually'. This
lease included the Little Miami, the Columbus & Xenia, the Dayton, Xenia &
Belpre and the Dayton & Western. The lessee company was obliged by the terms
of this contract to operate all the lines conveyed to it, paying all expenses, repairs
and liabilites, and a gross sum of $480,000 to the lessors. The Pennsylvania
Railway Company guaranteed compliance with this conti-act on the part of the
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis. Up to this time the Columbus & Xenia Com-
pany had paid one hundred and twenty quarterly dividends, none less than two
per cent.
Clevthnvl Cu/iimhiis ,(■ C n ri ii not i.— In February, 1831, the newspapers con-
tained a report by Ml-. Ldck-wood on a contemphHed railway from Samlu-^k-}' to
Dayton with a branch to Columbus. Statictics were published showing the prob-
able cost of the road and amount of its traffic. Its construction was earnestly
250 History of the City of Columbus.
recommended and an appropriation of part o'f tlie proceeds of the lands donated by
Congress for tlie canals was urged. In pursuance of tiiis movement the Coliimluis,
Marion & Sandusky Railrojid Company was incorporated February 8, 1832, with
a capital of $1,00(1,000, and authoi-ity to build a railway from Columbus to inter-
sect the Mad Elver and Lake Erie line via Delaware, Marion ami Upjier Sandusky.
Accordingly, the Colnmbus& Lake Erie Company was incor|M]ratc(l .March 12, 1845,
by W. A. Piatt, Eobert Neil, Samuel Medary, L. Goodale..!. W, .Vndi'rws. William
Dennison, Joseph fiidg^vay, Orange Johnson and John G. Miller (if ('dlumbus, and
associates, with authority to build a I'ailway from Columbus rid Mansfield to some
point on the Mansfield & New Haven or the Mansfield & Sandusky City line. A
meeting of the commissioners was held at the Neil House in Columbus April 7,
1845, and a general meeting of all the commissioners named in the several acts of
incorporation ot railways between Columbus & Lake Brie was called to assemble
at Mansfield May 1, 1845. The commissioners from Franklin County who signed the
call for this meeting were Joseph Kidgway, William Neil, J. N. Champion, Lj'ue
Starling, Junior, Wray Thomas and Moses H. Kirby. At the appointed time the
meeting was held and organized by choosing John W. Allen of Cleveland as chair-
man, and D. F. Fuller of Delaware as secretary. A committee of two commis-
sionei-s from each charter represented was appointed to examine all the charters
and report as to which one it would be most expedient to organize under. The
members of that committee were Sanford S. Bennett, George H. Busby, Irad
Kelley, James Purdj-, Sherman Finch and Hiram Randolph. The committee
reported in favor of the formation of a company under the charter of the Cleveland,
Columbus & Cincinnati Company, as revived and amended, and that the commis-
sioners of that company cause subscriptions books to be opened. This report was
agreed to and Monday, June 3, was the date appointed for opening the books as
rccommciKlod.
The Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Ivailroad Comjiany was incorporated
March 14, 183G, with a capital stock ol $3,000,000, by Lyne Starling, William Neil
and John A. Brj-an of Franklin County, and others of the counties of Hamilton,
Clinton, Greene, Clark, Madison, Delaware, Knox, Richland, Wayne, Holmes,
Medina, Lorain and Ciij'ahoga The charter fixed the freight charge at one and
onehalf cents per ton per mile for tolls, ami five cents per ton j)er mile for trans-
portation. The passenger rate was fixed at not over three cents per mile for each
])assenger. It was further provided that " any other company, person or persons"
might, with "suitable and proper cars, take, transport and carrj- persons and
property on said road " subject to the rules of the company, and that after thirty-
five years the State might purchase t'le pr0])erty at cost and an advance of fifteen
per cent. The work of construction not having been begun within the jirescribed
time, the charter was revived March 12, 1845, with Lyne Starling, Junior, Joseph
Ridgway, Robert Neil, L. Goodale, Demas Adams, John W. Andrews, William Denni-
son and Orange Johnson as corporators. An act of February 24, 1846, authorized
the City of Cleveland, to subscribe $200,000 to the stuck of the company. Further
legislative provision was made as follows : " Any time after ten years from the com-
pletion of said road to the city of Columbus,'' or to a point within ten miles thereof.
Eaiiavays 251
the company " shall be liable to pay to the State," on its freight transported (luring
the season of canal navigation, such tolls as in the opinion of the Board of Public
Works would be equal to onehalf the rates charged b}' the State on jiroperty
transported during the same time on the Ohio Canal; and that all property carried
from any point within ten miles of either end of the road to the other end should
be deemed to liave been carried the whole distance. The State was authorized to
reduce the rate at the end of every period of ten years, but not to less than twelve
per cent, profit on the capital actually paid in. Authority was given to the Gov-
ernor to fix the price for the transportation of mails, troops and munitions of war.
To the General Assembly was given discretion to so amend the charter as to per-
mit unrestricted taxation of the stocU and dividends of the company at any time
after the road should have been in operation ten years. By an act of February
8, 1847, the comjiany was authorized to construct branches and auxiliary roads,
but not to any place or point in the counties of Tuscarawas or Muskingum, these
exceptions being made, jiresumably, to prevent the road from competing with the
Ohio Canal.
After a second failure to construct the road within the required time, its charter
was again revived March 12, 1845, and on March 10, 1851, it was so amended as
to permit extension of the road from Columbus, or from any point on the Couuu-
bus & Xenia line within fifteen miles west of that city, by way of Washington
Court House and Hillsborough, to or near Aberdeen on the Ohio Eiver, and author-
ity to increase the stock sufflcienti}- for the construction of this extension was
granted. On the third Monda}' in June, 1845, subscription books were opened at
the following places : Cleveland, Columbus, Strongsville, Medina, Elyria, Ashland,
Mansfield, Lexington, Shelby, Marion, Mount Gilead, Delaware, Eden, Bucyrus
and Huron. The proceedings of the meeting which made these appointments
were signed by John W. Allen, Orange Johnson, Charles T. Sherman, A. E. Mil-
ler, James Purdy, H. G. Anderson, Hosea Williams, B. Powers, S. Finch, Trad
Kelley, C. Howard, Demas Adams, Eobert Neil, Samuel Medary, William Denni-
8on and Josepli Hidgway. A committee of correspondents, the members of which
were Sherman Finch, Hosea Williams and B. Powers, was appointed with author-
ity to call a meeting of the commissioners whenever $50,000 of the stock should bo
subscribed, and accordingly, on September 6, the committee gave notice that a
meeting of subscribers would be held at the Neil House, in Columbus, on Satur-
day, October 11, 1845, for the election of directors. In pursuance of that notice
the subscribers met at the time and place appointed and chose directors as follows :
William Neil, Samuel Medary, W. S. Sullivant, Robert E. Neil, of Columbus;
Peter M.'Waddell, John M. Woolscy, Richard Billiard, H. B. Payne and John W.
Allen, of Cleveland. Mr. Allen was chosen president, William Neil treasurer and
Albert G. Lawrence secretary. It was stated at the time that a majority of the
directors was taken from Cleveland on tlie presumption that the construction of
the road would begin at that end, and that the remainder were taken from Colum-
bus in the hope of avoiding any conflicting local interest or |ircjuilice in the loca-
tion of the line.
252 History of the City of Columbus.
At a mecliiijr held at Mount Vei-non, in June, 1845, resolutions were adopted
expressing great dissatisfaction because the line had not been so located as to
pass through that town. Accordingly, a committee was appointed to ascertain
how much stock could be secured in Knox County should Mount Vernon be made
a point on the road. On condition that the road should pass through the town
of Delaware, subscriptions to the amount of about §24,000 were obtained iu Dela-
ware Count}'.
In March, 1846, chief engineer C. Williams reported the preliminary surveys
of the line. His report, covering seventytwo pages, included a map showing the
routes and profiles of seven different lines, with statistics of the wealth and resour-
ces of the districts through which they passed. He reported routes via Delaware,
Marion, Oberlin, Elyria andBerea; c/rt Delaware and Mansfield and cia Mount
Vernon, Wooster and Berea. His estimate of the cost of what was termed the
Ashland line ria Berea, Columbia, Harrisville, Ashland and Franklin, 140 miles,
with the T rail and including superstructure and equipment, was §2,132,288 ; with
phite rail, §1,541,544. The maximum grade was forty feet per mile. In com-
menting on the report the Ohio State Journal said: '-Our opinion is firm that
instead of fifty passengers each way there would be twice that. It was a thing
of no rare occurrence last summer, and the previous one, for fiftj' passengers to be
scut oft from here in a day by the Columbus stages, and for weeks together there
were half that number."
On March 3, 1847, a meeting was held in the United States Courthouse in
Columbus to consider the expediency of a subscrijition by the city and county of
§100,000 to the capital stock of the Columbus & Xenia, and one of the same
amount to the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati company. R. W. McCoy pre-
sided at this meeting and Timothy Griffith was its secretary. Addresses were
made b}- Joseph Rldi^iwa}-, Junior, W. B. Hubbard and William Dennisou. On
motion of M. J. Gilbert, a committee was ajipointed to draft an address to the
citizens in favor of speedy construction of a railway from Columbus towards Cin-
cinnati and also towards Cleveland. The members of that committee were Joseph
Eidgway, Junior, W. B. Hubbard, William Dennison, Alexander Haddock, Orange
Johnson, A. F. Perry, David Taylor, John Wintorstcin, L. Goodale, John Clark,
Alexander Mooburry and William Miller.
An address to the stockholders issued by the directors April 14, 1847, stated
that in the preceding December they had received offers for constructiou of forty
miles of the proposed road but had failed to convert into cash §200,000 of Cleve-
land Cit}- bomis which were part of their resources, the failure being due to the
fact that the Government was then a large borrower on securities which could be
converted at anj' time. Work had therefore been suspended, but the organiza-
tion of the company was preserved. On September 30, 1847, the work of con-
struction was resumed near Cleveland in the presence of Alfred Kelley, who had
been elected president of the company. A large number of citizens attended this
ceremony. On Ajtril 22, 1848, six miles of the line were under contract and a
considerable portion was graded. Two corps of engineers were engaged in a
resui-voy of two routes, in order that the cheapest line and the one which would
Railways. l'SS
attract the greatest amount of subscriptions iniglit lie IohtkI. Anadilress issued
by President Kelley August 15, 1848, urged tlio citizens of Colunibus to subscribe
$50,000 to the stock of the company. He said Columbus had " long been i-eproached
for its lack of enterprise and public spirit."
On November 1, 1848, proposals were invited for grading, biidgiug, niusom-y,
timber and superstructure of one hundred and thirty miles of the ro ul between
Cleveland and Columbus. The estimates to be covered by ihe proposals included
8,500,000 cubic yards of excavation, 80,000 perches of masonry and 300,000 ties.
The Cleveland Htrahl of March 15, 1849, reported, that Mr. Kelley had con-
tracted for 3,000 tons f)f rails for the first twentyfive miles of the road, and the
same paper of April 28 announced that Witt & Ilarbeck had taken a contrnet for
the whole road, that they had about one thousand men at work and were increas-
ing the number daily ; and that they hoped to have the road readj- for its super-
structure hj June, 1849. It was further .stated that about fortj- miles of the line
would be ready for the iron in October and for the cars b}- Jaiiiiarv 1. In Ma}-,
1850, President Kelley had purchased in England 5,000 tons tif rails which were
deemed sufficient to complete the road, and had paid for them in the bonds of the
company. On February 18, 1851, the last rail was laid and the last spike driven
in the presence of four or five hundred people of both sexes, who, we are told, met
in the woods to witness this important cercTnony, concerning which the following
details are narrated :
Alfred Kelley, the energetic and able president of the company, assisted by Mr. Case,
Mayor of Cleveland, Senator Payne, and others, proceeded to the task and when finished,
three hearty cheers, the firing of cannon and the whistling of two loooniotives made the
woods ring as they never rang before. The Cleveland cars then passed over the last laid rail
and returning started for the Forest City. . . where they arrived last evening, accomplishing
the distance from Columbus to Cleveland in less lime than it was everdone before. The Colum-
bus cars passed to the north of the gap some two miles and returned to the Delaware station,
whence, in due time they arrived in this city.'
The Ohio State Journal of Februarj- 2J, 1851, contained the following ;
This morning about eight o'clock the (ieneral As-embly, the state officers and the edi-
tors of Columbus started on the cars for Cleveland. Although the rain was coming down in
torrents a large crowd of the citizens flocked to the depot to witness their departure on the
first visit of ceremony between the two new mighbors — the State Capital and the Forest City.
As the cars moved off a round was fired from two large brass pieces, filling the country and
city with their loud eclioes. ... At ten o'clock another train left with a large number of
the citizens who were not included in the invitation for the first train. This day fixes an
epoch in the aOairs of our city.
The Ohio Statesman had a more precise account of the celebration. It said
the train consisted of seven passenger cars and that lunch was served at Shelby
where the party was joined by a numerous delegation from Tiffin and various
points on the Mad River & Lake Erie and the Sandusky & Mansfield railroads.
About sunset, continued the Statesman's account, '-the boom of cannon told us
we were nearing the Forest City, and soon a living, moving mass of human beings
welcomed us to our journey's end. Flags were floating from different points, and
although it still rained, it seemed as if the whole male population of Cleveland.
254 HiSTORT OF THE ClTY OF CoLUMBUS.
had turned out to bid us welcome." The celebration of the opening of the road
at Cleveland on the twentysecond is thus described in the Ohio Statesman :
The day was cold but all hearts were warm. The roar of artillery ushered in the day.
During the forenoon the different processions began to form and at eleven o'clock were
marched to the courthouse yard. There the speaking took place. The military made an
imposing appearance. . . . Good addresses were made by Mayor Case, of Cleveland, Charles
C. Convers, Speaker of the Senate, Mr. Starkweather, George E. Pugh and Governor Wood.
The Columbus pni-ty, while at Clevelai)d, was taken to Hudson on the Cleve-
land & Pittsburgh llaili'oad. During the return trip crowds assembled at every
station to see the train pass and " at every station a small cannon on board added
its deep voice to the cheers of the multitude." At Shelby, State Librarian John
Greiner was hoisted on a table and " the uninitiated found to their surprise that
a song was ready for the occasion," Mr. (Ireiner was assisted in his singing by
Mr. Baker of the Senate. His song which elicited great applause, began :
We hail from the city, the Capital City,
We left in the storm and the rain ;
The cannon did thunder, the people did wonder
To see/>(o»s folks "on a train."
The ironhorse snorted, he puffed and he started,
And such a long tail as he bore I
And put for the city that grows in the woods,
The city upon the Lake Shore.
The Springfield & Mansfield company was incorporated March 21, 1850, with
a capital of $2,000,000, and authoi'ity to build a railway from Springfield via
Marysville to Mansfield or to the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati line. The
charter was amended February 20, 1851, so as to allow the road to terminate at
Loudonville or any point on the Pennsylvania & Ohio railway instead of at Mans-
field, and on August 9, 1852, its name was changed to the Springfield, Mount V^er-
non & Pittsburgh Railway Company. The company having become involved, its
property was sold by order of court January 1, 1861, and the part between Spring-
field and Delaware was purchased by Peter Odlin, J. R. Hilliard and T. A. Lane,
who, on January 1, 18ti2, sold it to the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati com-
panj-, by which it was named the Springfield Branch. By an act of March 24, the
purchasing company was given authority to aid at its discretion in the construc-
tion of this line.
On March 25, 1851, a railway, stage and omnibus office was opened a few
doors north of the American House on High Street by B. O. Ream, agent. About
this time business began to be very active at the station grounds located at what
was then the north end of High Street. Of the inprovements which had been
made or were in progress in that vicinity we have this account :
The depot for locomotives, cars, &c., is finished and is an admirable structure for the
purpose. The freight depot of the Cleveland road is nearly finished and is a large and con-
venient building. The freight depot of the Xenia road is just commenced. The foundation
walls are about finished. The passenger depot over the road is fast assuming shape and will
be an extensive concern. Tliere are three tracks rnnuing through it lengtliwise. Il will he
a very convenient and imposing structure. Preparations for tlie e.xtensive hotel of .\Ir. Hav-
den are making ; the lot is heing graded to the proper level, and it will be put up forthwith."
In May, 1851, a rep.airshop, 120x02 feet, was begun just west of and adjoining
the locomotive house. To persons whoso memory enables them to compare the
buildings then erected with recent structures of the same kind, the foregoing
descriptions of the original buildings seem decidedly extravagant.
As the Cleveland and Columbus line was finally located and constructed it left
the town of Delaware about two miles to the west. On April 30, 1851, Mr. Kel-
ley asked lor bids for construction of the " Delaware Side Line or curve," which
was accordingly built and is now a ]iart of the main track, the original one super-
seded by the curve having been taken n|i. The work of ballasting the entire
road began in June, 1851. Suitable material for the purpose being obtainable
only at wide intervals, Mr. Kelley, the ])resitlent, endeavored to reduce the neces-
sity for it by the use of ]ilank ties three inches thick and fifteen inches wide, but
a short experience sufUccd to show that this was a poor expedient. The writer,
in making his first trip over the road a short time alter its completion, fiiund that
part of it on which the plank ties had been laid the roughest riding he ever did
on a railroad. The directors of the road elected January 14, 1852, were Alfred
Kelley, II. B. Payne, Amasa Stone, Junior, J. M. Woolsey, W. A. Otis, J. Gillett,
Richard Hilliard, L. Case and Hosea Williams. On July 31, 1852, the companj^
declared a dividend of seven per cent, on its earnings during the preceding eight
months. The company's stock advanced in value to such a price that the Com-
missioners of Franklin County on December 18, 1852, offered to sell the amount of
?50,000 which the County had subscribed and for which it realized liy the sale a
profit of 115,000.
Halffare tickets instead of free passes were at that time issued to members of
the General Assembly by the two railways touching Columbus. The writer has
carried in his pocket from that time to this the following statement from the
Cincinnati Gazette referring to a meeting of railway managers in Cincinnati :
The subject of free passes was introduced and discussed warmly and fully. Everybody
disapproved of the system, but how to uproot it was not so clear. A resolution was offered
to confine free passes within certain prescribed limits, cutting off officers and directors of
other roads, legislntoTS, editors, Ac but tlie whole subject was finally laid upon the table.
Reference having been made to the custom of giving passes to the members of the legisla-
ture, Mr. L'Hommedieu, then |)resident of the Cincinnati, Hauiiltou & Dayton road,
remarked that railroadmen found that the cheapest way to secure proper legislation. He
also stated that the pass system was not so burdensome as many supposed. His company
kept an accurate account of every passenger that travels free over the road, and this account
shows that at one period the proportion was one and a half per cent, of the entire travel, and
at another two per cent.
On February 14, 1S5:'., notice was giv.ii lliut on and after the first day of the
ensuing A]iril a "lightning train" would be run lictwecn Cincinnati and
Cleveland.
President Alfred Kelley, having completed the construction of tlie mail, ten-
dered his resignation, and H. B. Payne was elected in his place.
256 History op the City of Columbus.
Tlie com]iany had made a contract witli tlie owners of a deposit of gravel on
the west bank of the Scioto River, and thereby became involved in a controversy
which is thus explained under date of June 10, 1854:
It appears that a misunderstanding has for some time existed between the Cleveland,
Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad Company and certain citizens of Franklinton (familiarly
known as Sodom), involving the company's right of way to a gravel bed owned by them
near the Scioto, one of the finest gravel beds, by the way, in the whole state. The lateral
track leading thereto is about onefourth of a mile in length and branches off from the main
track of the Columbus & Xenia road just beyond the river bridge. About eighty rods from
the bed the gravel track diverges and three nominal streets are cro.ssed by both tracks which
are not much used, and over which the railroad corupany liad constructed crossings. This
track the Sodomites have torn up some dozens of times, always at night. Yesterday the
company relaid the track with three parallel sets of rails and a double proportion of
spikes. The Sodomites assembled, thirty or forty strong, and tore up the track by the aid
of a jackscrew and two yoke of oxen, gunpowder having been tried ineffectually. They then
carried the bent rails and threw thorn into the river. The railroad employes attached to the
gravel train drew the rails out of the river as fast as thrown in and laid them on the neutral
ground.'
The warfare against the company was kept up until Jiilj- 7, when Jmlge
Bates granted an injunction in favor of the company on the ground that its
charter empowered it to obtain materials for the construction and rejiair of its
road in the manner adopted; that the company had a legal right to the use of the
streets in Franklinton, and that arrangements made with the supervisors of the
road district wherein the company's premises lay were binding in law. The next
day there was great excitement in Franklinton about the Judge's decision and
threats of burning him in effigy were made, but the tracks were quietly relaid and
the excitement subsided.
In October, 1854, a double track was laid from Cleveland to the junction of the
Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling road at Grafton. On December 22, in the same
year, the statement was jiublished that on the preceding Tuesday, engineer West-
fall, with the locomotive Cleveland, ran his train from Cleveland to Columbus, 138
miles, in four hours, including the time lost in nineteen stoppages, and taking
wood and water four times. This was believed then to be the best time on record
for any western road. The appearance of a train of new cars on this road in May,
1866, suggested to a newspaper reporter the following:
The arrival of the train of new cars on the C, C. & C. Railroad yesterday suggests a com-
parison of this train with the first one on the road in 1849. Many of our citizens will recol-
lect the features of that notable excursion and perhaps many of them smiled as the low,
dingy cars of the old train steamed up, in imagination, by the side of the beautiful double
deckers of the new. A splendid new car then cost $2,200, it now costs $6,000.
One of the worst accidents which ever occurred on a railwa}' near this city
took place on this road September 18, 1864, when between three and four o'clock
A. M., a train of tweulynine cars loaded with lumber bound for Cincinnati arrived
from Cleveland. According to custom the engineer attempted to cut the engine
loose from the train and run ahead into the roundhouse, expecting the switch-
man to replace the switch and run the train into the j^ard, but it happened that
^ 'il^
/^i
4rrff/lrT^v^
Railways. 257
nine cars of the train had become detached four miles from the city on a down
grade of forty feet to the mile. In the darkness of the night this was not discov-
ered, and when the engine was detached it left twenty cars with only two brake-
men who were not able to control them. These cars came upon the switchman
before he could change the switch and the train followed and j)ushed the engine
into and through the roundhouse and into the Little Miami shop. Benjamin
Blaisdell, the engineer, stood to his post in his cab while he was hurled through
two brick walls and escaped unhurt, while William Ryan, his fireman, jumped
from the engine into a pile of wood from which he fell backward and was killed.
One emjjloye who was at work at an engine in the roundhouse was also killed.
On March 14, 1856, the Indianapolis, Pittsburgh & Cleveland and the Belle-
fontaine & Indiana companies made a running agreement for five years from
April 1, 1856, which term was extended May 16, 1860, and the arragemeut con-
tinued in force until December 6, 1864, when the two companies were consolidated
as the Bellefontaine Railway Company, forming a line from Gallon, Ohio, to
Indianapolis, with a capital stock of $5,000,000. On May 16, 1868, the Cleveland,
Columbus & Cincinnati and the Bellefontaine companies were consolidated as the
Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway Company, with a capital
stock of $15,000,000, the stockholders of the C, C. & C. to have one hundred and
twenty dollars of the now stock for one hundred of the old, and the stock in the
Bellefontaine Company to be exchanged at par for stock in the new company.
The aggregate length of track embraced in this consolidation was 1,828.41 miles.
The agreement included twentytwo different lines.
The Three C's, or Bee Line Company, as the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati
company is usually called, is one of the very few in this country the original
stockholders of which have not lost their investment. It paid two dividends at
the rate of four per cent, in 1852, and from two to three dividends every year
thereafter, and never a less rate than eight per cent, per annum, until 1868. In
1863 it paid sixteen per cent, and in 1864 thirtytwo per cent. lis total dividends
paid amount to 214 per cent., equal to $9,990,758 in the aggregate. In Novem-
ber, 1875, the company completed a large and commodious freight depot at Col-
umbus, which is still in use.
On Sej)tember 7, 1881, the Ohio Railway Company was incorporated. The
incorporators were the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis, and the
Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railway companies. The purpose of this corpora-
tion was the consolidation of the two companies named. The joint capital was
820,000,000, On October 19 Hugh J. Jewett as trustee and R. S. Grant brought
suit in the Franklin Common Pleas to prohibit the proposed consolidation on the
ground that it was a combination of competing lines prohibited by statute. The
competition lay between the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton and the Dayton &
Michigan from Toledo to Cincinnati ; and the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati,
the Columbus & Xenia and the Little Miami from Cleveland to Cincinnati. The
action was brought against the C. C. C. & I. Railway Company, J. H. Devereux,
G. H. Russell, F. H. Short and Stevenson Burke. In addition to these names
]7*
258 History of the City of Columbus.
those of W. H. Vanderbuilt, Aujrcustus Schell, Cornelius Vanderbilt, M. B. Ingalls
and E. B. Thomas appeared in the case, of which the foUovvinsr is an abbreviated
history: Ou October 19 the court in Franklin County granted a temporary
injunction restraining the election of directors for the Ohio Railway Company.
On October 21 William H. Clement was appointed receiver of the C. C. C. & I.
Railway. On October 24 an injunction was allowed by Judge Caldwell at Cleve-
land prohibiting Mr. Clement from taking possession of the company's offices. On
October 25 a rule was issued b}' the Franklin County Cominon Pleas against the
Cleveland parties, alleged to be in contempt. On the same date quo toarranto pro-
ceedings against the directors of tiie Ohio Railroad Company were filed in the
Supreme Court. October 26, a motion was made by Dcvereux et al. for leave to
file in the Supreme Court a petition in error to the Franklin Cominon Pleas.
October 27, orders for writs of attachment were issued against J. H. Devoreux and
Stevenson Burke. 2^oveinber 1, leave was granted by the Supreme Court to file
a petition in error "so far as relates to the order appointing a receiver in said
ca.se, and all orders founded or dependent upon, or in execution of said appoint-
ment are concerned;" and it was further ordered "that the execution of the
order of said court of Common Pleas appointing a receiver, and all orders founded
or dejjendent upon, or in execution of said order of appointment, he and the same
are hereby stayed until the final determination of the proceedings in error. " The
consolidation was not effected.
Central Ohio. — This company was incorporated February 8, 1817, by William
Neil, Samuel Medary, Joel Buttles, Joseph Ridgway and Bela Latham, of Franklin
Count}', with others of Licking and Muskingum counties. Its original capital
stock was $1,500,000, which was increased July 19, 1854, to §3,000,000. The com-
pany was authorized to build a railway from Columbus via Newark and Zanesvillc to
such point on the Ohio River as the directors might select, and from Columbus west-
ward to the Indiana boundary. Its route as reported by its engineer, J. Knight,
began at Bridgeport, Belmont County, passed down the Ohio to the mouth of
McMahon's Creek, followed theuee the ravine of that creek to the summit of the
divide separating it from Captina Creek, near the village of Belmont, and thence
took its course via Barnesville, Cambridge, Zanesville and Newark to Columbus,
making a total length of 150 miles to Wheeling. This route was amended by
making the Ohio River crossing at Bellair and extending the track from thence
up the left bank of the river to Wheeling, as required by the charter granted by
the State of Virginia. The Baltimore & Ohio company preferred to cross the Ohio
at Pai-kersburgh, and its engineer after surveying the route from thence to Colum-
bus recommende<l it in his report, but the president of the company was induced
while vi^iting Columbus, to recommend the Central Ohio route. Subsequent
develo])ments have justified the engineer's preference. Had it been adopted the road
would have been located on a much cheaper and better route, would have secured
the coal trade of the Hocking Valley, and would have supplied the city of Colum-
bus with coal nearly twenty j-ears earlier than such supply was finallj' obtained.
The directors were authorized to adopt such rates of toll as they might deem
reasonable, a schedule of their rates to be publicly posted at every station on the
Railways. 259
road. The General Assembly might prescribe rates once in ten 3-oars, but not so
as to reduce the profits below eight per cent. On March 8, 1849, this reserved
right of the legislature was repealed.
At a public meeting held at Zanesville June 6 and 7, 18-17, attended by R. W.
McCoy and Robert Neil, of Columbus, James Taylor of Licking and John Hamm
of Muskingum, a resolution was adopted in favor of Wheeling as the terminus of
the Baltimore & Ohio road, and it was agreed that stock subscription books for
the Central Ohio should be opened June 2U and 23 at the office of Alexander
Patton, in Columbus, at the office of J. G. Smith in Newark, and at the County
Auditor's office in Zanesville, the amounts of subscription obtained to be reported
to Solomon Sturges, John Hamm, Daniel Convers and Joseph Raguet, of Zanes-
ville, who were constituted a committee with power to call a meeting to organize
the company as soon as stock to the amount of ten thousand dollars should be
subscribed. Accordingly, on August 26, 1847, Solonron Sturges, John Hamm,
George James, Charles B. Goddard, S. R. Hosmer, Daniel Brush and Levi Clay-
pool, of Muskingum County; Albert Sherwood, J). Marble and Daniel Duncan, of
Licking; and R. VV. McCoy, Robert Neil and William Dennison, of Franklin
County, were chosen directors, in October, 1847, an engineer was engaged to
investigate as to the practicability of a route from Wheeling to Zanesville. Prior
to that time a route through the hilly regions of eastern Ohio had been carefully
surveyed and the cost of construction on that survey had been estimated. The
information thus obtained demonstrated that this route would be practicable and
satisfactory without the intervention of stationary engines. By vote on May 9, 1848,
the people of Zanesville endorsed a proposition to subscribe $30,000 to the stock of
the company, and in April, 1850, Muskingum County and the town of Zanesville
issued bonds for $200,000 in aid of the work. Bids were at the same time asked by
Robert McLeod, engineer, for building the road from Zanesville to Newark. A
proposition to subscribe for the company's stock was submitted May 14, 1850, to
the people of Columbus and resulted in 449 votes for and 2,006 against it. The
proposition thus rejected authorized a county subscription of fifty thousand dollars
to the Central Ohio, and one of $25,000 to each of two other roads leading to
Pickaway, Ross and Fairfield counties ; also a city subscription of $25,000 to the
Central Ohio and one of $15,000 to each of the other roads just mentioned. The
influences which induced the people to reject these proposals were: 1. Three
roads were to be assisted and all to be aided or none. 2. Jealousy between
the northern and southern i^ortions of the city. 3. Many reflecting per.sons had
concluded that the plan of county and city subscriptions to railways was
inexpedient and likely to produce mischief. It was stated that subscriptions to
the amount of $75,000 had been obtained in the city during the same week. The
directors of the Central Ohio held a meeting in Columbus on the same day on
which the vote just mentioned was taken.
Bids for the grading and masonry of thirtysix miles of the line from a point
three miles east of Newark to Columbus were invited at Zanesville September 24,
1850. By April 13, 1852, the road was all under contract ; and on May 22, same
year three hundred men were at work on the line five miles east of Columbus ; on
2(50 History of the City of Columbus.
J!^ovember 20 the tracklayers were putting down rails just east of the Columbus
station ; and on January 20, 1853, the road was complete to Zanesville and the fdl-
lowing newspaper statement was made;
We are happy to announce that the Central Ohio Kailroad, from Columbus to Zanes-
ville is now open, and the cars make regular trips between the two places. Yesterday the
first train came through and landed its passengers at the depot of the Cleveland, Culuml)us
& Cincinnati roads. At a ciuarter past two o'clock p. >i. the train started for Zanesville with
a goodly number of passengers. The time is now three hours. The road is just finished and
the speed will be moderate and safe till it is property settled when it wdl be run as rapidly
as any road in the State.*
The same jiaper of January 31, 1853, made the following .statement in rela-
tion to " the great work at Big Walnut:"
For at least a mile east of the stream the work is the heaviest that we have ever seen in
the West. . . . Last summer, when a full force was at work, the cholera broke out and
between fifty and sixty hands died in a short time. This created a perfect panic and the
whole force scaltered to the four winds. It took weeks to restore them and the best part of
the season was lost. It became evident that the embankment could not be finished this winter
and the only remedy was to erect a large trestle of over one thousand feet in length and
varying from twentytive to forty feet in height. This . . . was finished about the first of
January. . . . The track is now laid on string pieces on the top of these trestles and the
work of embanking goes on by using cars and dropping the load from them to the bank
below. The trestle worli will thus, in time, be entirely covered up and the track will be
laid on the top of one of the heaviest fillings we have seen. When the road passes the valley
and strikes the high ground east of it the cutting commences and is not only very heavy but
is through material that has made it extremely laborious and difficult. A portion of the hill
was composed of a blue slate stone. Another portion was formed of blue clay in which were
small bowlders, gravel, &c., packed so solid that the picks produced but little impression on
it. It was one of the most diflicult jobs that has been found in the West.
On February 4, 1853, the members of the- General Assembly and the officers
of state journeyed over the road to Zanesville, whither they were invited by the
authorities of that city. The ofiScers of the company in September, 1853, were :
President, John H. Sullivan ; vice president, George James; treasurer, S. R. Hos-
mer ; auditor and secretary, William Wing; executive committee, John H.Sulli-
van, S. R. Hosmer, George B. Wright, George James, James L. Cox and Samuel
Brush. In 1851 the company erected a roundhouse, a "locomotive depot," a
repair shop and an "extensive blacksmith shop" adjoining the station grounds in
Columbus. On August 30, 1854, the board of directors was so reorganized as to
distril>uto its membership along the whole line, the officers remaining unchanged.
The members of the board were, N. Wright and Jonathan Davenport, of Bel-
mont County; Isaac W.Hill and Moses Sarchett, of Guernesy County; J. H.
Sullivan, S. R. Hosmer, N. S. Whittcmore, William Gallagher and Samuel Clark
of Muskingum County; George B. Wright of Licking ; D. W. Deshler and Samuel
Brush of Franklin ; and Chauncy Brooks of Baltimore. The road was open to
Cambridge, eightyfive miles from Columbus, June 7, 1854, and in October follow-
ing. D. S. Gray was appointed its agent at Columbus. On Monday, October 6,
1854, regular through passenger trains began running in connection with the
through trains on the Baltimore & Ohio.
Eailways. :^G1
On tho morning of Novoraber 15, 1854, :in excursion train lofl Wheeling fur
Columbus. It had on board several hiindrod Baltimoroans, including Thomas
Svvann, I'rcsidcnt of the Baltimore & Ohio, Z. Collins Lee, a ])roniinent Baltimore
law^'er, and others. Of the visit of these excursionists at Columbus we have the
following account :
Under the auspices of the City Council a magnificent feast was prepared at the Neil
House for the K.uests. W. B. Hubbard was president and Theodore Comstock, of the City
Council, vice r>resideut. John H. Sullivan, president of the Central Ohio liailroad Com-
pany, spoke briefly: Mr. Hubbard responded and introduced Thomas Swan, during several
years president of the tJaltiniore & Ohio Hailroad Company, who expressed thanks to Colonel
Sullivan, and i-kcn-hfd the hi.story of the Baltimore & Ohio road. He referred to the financial
difficulties the cunjpany had met with. The first loan was made in New York, but when the
money market became tight, that market could no longer be relied on. They then turned to
Baltimore and tliere found sympathy and aid to the amount of $1,S00,000. He spoke spe-
cially of the great services of the house of Garrett & Sons.
Other addresses were made by Colonel Kinnie, of Frederick, Maryland, and
Samuel Brush, of Columbus. While Mr. Kinnie was speaking "about a yard
square of tho plastering over tiie centre of the centre table let go and fell with a
tremendous crash upon the dishes. No one was hurt," but several were fright-
ened. On January 3, 1855, the Ohio State Journal significantly remarked : " We
have heard of no accident on the Central Ohio for thirtysix hours." In 1855
D. W. Deshler was elected to but declined the presidency of the road, whereupon
Elias Fassctt, of New York, was chosen president and J. W. Baldwin, of Colum-
bus, director, the latter to succeed Samuel Brush, resigned.
In December, 1855, the financial embarrassment of the road became generally
known. The following statement was published: Cost of the road, SU, 200, 000;
paid up stock, $1,600,000; first mortgage bonds, $1,000,000; second ditto,
$1,000,000; third ditto, $1,000,000 ; floating debt, $1,600,000. "The most serious
difficulty under which the road now labors is," it was said, "that for two or three
months past the great tunnel [at Cambridge] has been gradually caving in. . . .
Passengers and freight are transported in stages and wagons around the tunnel."
This further statement was made: " The Wheeling injunction [to prohibit the
• crossing at Bellair] having been dissolved and connection made at Benwood, traffic
will be greatly facilitated."
At a meeting of the company's creditors held at Zanesville, January 23, 1856,
W. B. Hubbard suggested, from a committee, as a means of relief to creditors, the
issue of a fourth mortgage for twenty years at seven per cent. On August 26,
1856, II. J. Jewett was elected president and Daniel Applegate. treasurer. Mr.
Jewctt served as president and receiver until the lease of the road. The officers
chosen January 6, 1859, were : President, H. J. Jewett ; vice president, E. Fassett ;
treasurer, D. Applegate; secretary, William Wing; general freight agent, D. S.
Gray; general ticket agent, J. W. Brown; directors, D. W. Doshler, J. W. Bald-
win and W. B. Brooks, of Columbus. On February 19, 1859, the company was
subjected to great annoyance and expense by a landslide near Cambridge. A hill-
side on which the track was laid slid downwards, carrying the track with it.
262 History of the City of Colujibus.
On April 21, 1859, suit was brought for foreclosure by George S. Coe, trustee,
and H. J. Jewett was appointed receiver; but without sale, a plan of reorganiza-
tion was iigreed upon, whereby the first and second mortgage bonds, with the
accrued and pastdue interest on the first mortgage, were to be exchanged for new
bonds to the amount of $2,500,000, at six per cent., due September 1, 1890, secured
by a mortgage on tlie road and its equipments, with a sinking fund of $16,000 per
year; the second mortgage bondholders to concede onehalf of the accrued interest
and take coupons for the other half, payable in ten annual installments; the third
mortgage bonds to be paid by the proceeds of the sale of the undivided half of the
road between Columbus & Newark to theSteiibenville& Indiana Railroad Company ;
the fourth mortgage bonds to be paid at par in common stock at par, or preferred
stock at eighty cents on the dollar; income bonds to be exchanged for preferred
stock at sixtj' cents on the dollar, or common stock at eighty cents; the floating
debt to be paid in common stock at sixty cents. Judgments taken prior to May,
1859, including interest, were to be received at the original amount. The original
stock was to be redeemed with common stock at forty cents on the dollar. This
arrangement imposed a loss on the holders of the original stock and indebtedness
of nearly $4,000,000. Some of the first and second mortgage bondholders refused
to agree to the arrangement, and proceedings were commenced to force a sale of
the propertj^, but the agreement was finally assented to by all, and on March 28,
1865, the trustees made sale of the property to George B. Wright, vice president
and agent. This sale was followed by reconstruction of the company November
1, 1865, as "The Central Ohio Railroad Company as Reorganized," and on Novem-
ber 8, the original company eonvej'ed the property to the new one.
On December 1, 1866, the Baltimore & Ohio and the reorganized Central
Ohio companies entered into an agreement for the operation of the Central Ohio
for five years, subject to discontinuance on twelvemonths notice, the Baltimore &
Ohio to operate and maintain the road, pay all expenses and taxes, and prorate
sixtyfive per cent, of the gross earnings for the first five j'ears and sixty per cent,
thereafter ; that is, to pay the Central Ohio thirtyfive per cent, of the gross earn-
ings for the first five years and forty per cent, thereafter, provided that the pay-
ments to the Central Ohio should not exceed $166,000 per year. This agreement
was amended February 13, 1869, so that the amount paid on account of the
Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad should be thirtyfive per cent, on the
gross earnings during twenty years instead of forty per cent., the contract, after
the first five years, to extend in periods of twenty yeai-s indefinitely, except on
twelvemonths notice of discontinuance. On the same date the Central Ohio
made a contract with the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark, by which the former
leased the road W the latter company for seventeen j-ears and three months with
power of continuance in twent^-j^ear terms by the Central Ohio. This gave the
Central Ohio Company its own line from Newark to Bellair, 104 miles; the
Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark, 116 miles; and onehalf of the road from Columbus
to Newark, 33 miles; total, 253 miles. The rental was $174,350 yearly, and all
taxes, damages and operating expenses. The Central Ohio during the first
eleven years after its opening for business in 1854 paid no dividends, and only a
Railways. 2tiS
part of its interest. In lS(j6 a dividend of $22,845 was paid on its pret'erred
stock ; a tliree per cent, dividend was paid in 1867, and again in 1868.
The Baltimore & Oiiio Railroad Company was incorporated by tlie legisla-
ture of Maryland in March, 1827, with a capital of $3,000,000, which might be
increased to ir),00O,OOO. The act of incorporation was indorsed by the legislature
of Virginia on condition that Wheeling should be made the Ohio River terminus.
The Company preferred to make its terminal connections at Parker.sburg, but
accepted the conditions imposed by Virginia, and finally built u line to both
Parkersbiirg and Wheeling: The road was completed to Cumberland, 178 miles,
in March, 1842; to Piedmont July 21, 1S.')1 ; and to Wheeling January 11, 1853.
Incidentally it may be observed that Xcw A'urk had completed the Erie canal in
1825, and that Philadelphia was reaching out bj- canals for the trade of what was
then called the West, but Baltimore seemed to be cut off from that trade by
im])assable mountains. Ju.--t at this time railway transportation began to be
developed, and Baltimore undei-took to construct the Baltimore & Ohicj line.
This brought hope to her citizens and its inspiration reached an enter]irising
citizen of New York, Mr. Peter Cooper, who, with two others, bought three
thousand acres of land within the city limits of l^altimore. Mr. Cooper was
finally obliged to pay for this land himself. In an address delivered on the anni-
versary of his birth the following additional lacts were stated by Hon. Seth Low :
The Baltimore & Ohio had laid a track for thirteen miles to EUicott's Mills, which was
operated by horses, and this track ran through or near Peter Cooper's land. The horsecar
line did not pay and the land speculation was threatened with disaster. Peter Cooper there-
fore turned his attention to steam as the proper motive power for the road. At one point
there was a sharp turn of 150 feet radius. Stephenson, the great English inventor, was
reported to have said that steam could not be used as a motor on any curve with less than
900 feet radius. Peter Cooper believed he could demonstrate that it could be. AVith incred-
ible perseverance he built the Tom Thumb, the first locomotive built in this country for
experimental use upon a regular railroad, in which he successfully overcame the mechanical
ditiiculties involved. The Tom Thumb made the sharp curve and covered the distance,
thirteen miles, in one hour and twelve minutes. The return trip, on a down grade, was made
in liftyseven minutes This was in August, 1830.
On April 13, 1882, the Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad Company was incorp-
orated with a capital of $2,000,000 to build a railwaj' from Coluii\bus to the
Marietta & Cincinnati line, between New Lexington and Clinton Valley Station.
This company, on September 19, 1882, acquired the rights of the Miami Valley &
Columbus Railway Company, previously incorporated. A contract was made
with Frost, Stearns & Hoover for the construction, and on June 20, 1883, the work
was begun. On June 27, same year, the route was so changed as to place the south-
ern terminus at Wilmington. The Midland Construction Company was organ-
ized with a capital of $50,000, its members being Colonel Orland Smith, Stearns,
Hoover & Co., and others. It contracted to build and equip the road, the railway
company agreeing to furnish the right of way, and pay tiie contractors partly in
bonds and stock. The road was completed and put into operation November 13,
1884, on which date an excursion train bore the Columbus Board of Trade, city
officials and invited guests to Cincinnati. On January 3, 1890, the road was
264 History op the City of Columbus.
■eased to the Central Ohio Railroad Companj- for 999 years, the lease to be
assigned to the Baltimore & Ohio Company, together with $1,000,000 preferred
stock, the Baltimore & Ohio company to secure four and a half per cent, on the
§2,000,000 of bonds of the Columbus &. Cincinnati Midland, as the new property
had been named.
In October, 1866, the Baltimore & Ohio company established what was known
as a "lightning express,'' the first ear of which reached Columbus October 23.
The company had fifty of these cars built to run on "passenger trucks" in pas-
senger trains, especially to accommodate the oyster trade, and as many as ten cars
of oysters have been delivered at ihis city in one train, the average carload con-
sisting of eightytwo cases each containing about fifty quartcans of oysters. The
first Pullman palace drawingroom and sleepingcar to arrive at Columbus came in
a Baltimore & Ohio train August 26, 1871. On December 14, 1878, while a train
belonging to this road was pulling out of the Columbus station, the boiler of its
engine exploded, instantly killing Daniel Cooper, the engineer. The fireman,
David Laugherty, escaped with slight injury. The engine and several cars near
it were completly wrecked. On December 26, 1873, the employes of railways cen-
tering at Columbus inaugurated a strike, an account of which will be found in its
appropriate place. On the twentysecond of the same month the Baltimore & Ohio
Company reduced its fare from Columbus to Washington to ten dollars, and before
order was restored, further reduced the rate to seven dollars The regular rates
as restored April 20, 1874, were: Columbus to Baltimore or Washington, S13.50;
to Philadelphia, $15.50; to New York, $17.50. The company now owns or con-
trols flftytwo different trunk or branch lines of railway having an aggregate
length of 1,922.48 miles.
Columbus, Piqua and Indiana. — This c-ompanj- was incorporated February- 23,
1849, by Joseph Ridgway, Junior, William S. Sullivant and William Dennison of
Franklin County, and others of Madison, Champaign, Miami and Darke counties,
with a capital of $2,000,000 and authority to construct a railway from Columbus
or some point on the Columbus & Xenia line via Urbana and Piqua to Greenville,
Darke County, and thence by such route as the directors might choose to the
western boundary of Ohio. J. P. Williamson, secretary, on October 30, 1850,
invited bids for grading, masonry, etc., on twentytwo miles between Covington in
Miami County and St. Paris in Champaign, and on May 20, 1851, A. G. Conover,
engineer, invited bids for the grading and masonry from St. Paris to Columbus.
On March 12, 1851, the company was authorized to change its route at discretion
west of Covington and also to change its eastern terminus. Tracklaying began
at High Street, Columbus, November 20, 1852, and on June 6, 1853, it was stated
that on the preceding Saturday a party numbering forty or fifty persons had trav-
eled over the road from Columbus to Pleasant Valley, about eighteen miles.
The first locomotive for the road was received from Boston, August 14, 1852, and
it was then announced that seven hundred tons of iron for the track had reached
Quebec. The first passenger train passed between Columbus & Piqua October 16,
1854, on which date three such trains were put upon the line. A passenger train
first ran over the entire line on April 19, 1859. The officers on February 17,
Eailwavs. 2G5
1853, were: President, M. G. Mitchell; vice president, William Donnison ; secre-
tary, Joseph M. Ewing ; treasurer, William Scott; chief engineer, A. G. Conover;
superintendent, J. R. Hilliard. In February, 1856, the following directors were
elected: William Neil, president; John L. Gill, B. E. Smith, T. L. Jewett, M. G.
Mitchell, Joseph Ridgway, Robert B. Neil, A. Stone, Junior, J. W. Yandes, J. R.
Hilliard, H. Kitchen and H. Cable.
The company having become embarrassed, foreclosure ])i-oceeding9 were begun
June 17, 1856, by George S. Coe, and a receiver was appointed, but before the prop-
erty could be sold a reorganization was effected and approved by the court. The
road and its franchises were finally sold A ugust 6, 1863, for $500,000, and were trans-
ferred to the trustees of the reorganization. By this arrangement 11,158,108 of
the original stock of the Columbus, Piqua & Indiana Railroad Company was sunk.
On January 6, 1859, M. G. Mitchell was president. J. W. Bradley general agent,
A. G. Conover chief engineer, John Person secretary and R. Walkup superintend-
ent. At a meeting held at Columbus, October 2, 1863, for the purpose of i-eor-
ganization, the name Columbus & Indianapolis Railroad Company was adopted,
and B. E. Smith, John Gardiner, G. V. Dorsey, John L. Gill, John R. Hilliard,
John H. Bradley, S. M. Wain, John P. Seeley and Joseph T. Thomas were chosen
dii'ectors. B. E. Smith was elected president, John H. Bradley vice president,
James Alexander treasurer, and H. P. Bigelow secretary. The sale of the road
and the proceedings for its reorganization were judicially approved November 20.
On September 5, 1864, the company purchased the Richmond & Covington railway
" from a stake in the track of the Columbus, Piqua & Indiana Railroad, on land of
John Somers, in Newberry Township, Miami Count}', to and through the counties
of Miami, Darke and Preble, to the State line of the State of Indiana," thirtytwo
and a half miles, for $644,000, of which amount $356,000 was paid for bonds and
stock of the Richmond & Covington, which bonds and stock the Columbus k
Indianapolis company redeemed with corresponding pledges of its ovvn.
A certificate was filed with the Secretary of State October 17, 1864, consoli-
dating the Columbus & Indianapolis and the Indiana Central companies as the
Columbus & Indianapolis Central, the Indiana Central being then in operation
between Indianapolis and Richmond. The stock of the new company was
$3,000,000. The stockholders of the Columbus & Indianapolis were to exchange
their stock at par; the stockholders of the Indiana Central were to receive
$160.31 consolidated stock for $100 of the old stock, all of which was to be sur-
rendered, the holders of convertible bonds to receive consolidated bonds to a like
amount. B. E. Smith was president of the new company, James Alexander
treasurer, and Gordon Moodie secretary. On September 10, 1867, a certificate was
filed for another organization consolidating the Columbus & Indianapolis Central, the
Logansport & Burlington (from Logansport to the western boundary of Indiana),
and the Union & Logansport (from Union City to Logansport), as the Columbus
& Indiana Central Railway Company. The Cincinnati & Chicago Airline was
incorporated July 10, ISllO. by purclmscr's of the Logansport & Chicago Railway
from Richmond tn Logansimrl, ami on January 25, 1865, the Chicago & Great
Eastern and the Cincinnati A: Chicago Airline were consolidated as the Chicago
266 History of the City of Columbus.
& Great Eastern, this beina; the fourth eompanj- of that name, and including the
Galena & Illinois River, Chicago & Great Eastern and Chicago & Cincinnati com-
panies of Indiana. On February 12, 1868, a consolidation took place, pursuant
to an agreement of December 4, 1867, of the Columbus & Indiana Central, and
the fourth company named Chicago & Great Eastern, as the Columbus & Indiana
Centr.J, embracing the following lines: Chicago to Columbus, Bradford Junction
to the western boundary- of Ohio, from that boundarj' to Indianapolis, from Rich-
mond to Logansport, and from Logansport to the western boundary of Indiana,
making an aggregate of 587.8 miles. The stock of the new company was tixed at
815,000,000, of which the stockholders of the Chicago & Great Eastern (number
one) were to exchange their holdings at par, and the stockholders of the
Columbus & Indiana Central were to have share for share, §2,000,000 of the new
stock to be distributed to them pro rata if presented within ninety days after
ratification of the agreement. Bonds to the amount of $15,000,000 were to be
issued, of which $11,000,000 were to be applied to the redemption of a like
amount issued at par by the consolidated companies. At a meeting of the stock-
holders held in Columbus in Februarj-, 1868, at which over eight and a half mil-
lion dollars of stock was represented, the following directors were elected:
W. D. Thompson, Frederick R. Fowler, W. D. Judson, Amos Tenney, Henry
Morgan, James W Elwell and Lawrence Wells, of New York ; Joseph T. Thomas,
of Pennsylvania; Joseph E. Young, of Illinois; John S. Newman and J. N. Con-
verse, of Indiana; and B. E. Smith, William Dennison, John Gardiner and
John R. Hilliard of Ohio. B. B. Smith was chosen president, Gordon Moodie
secretary, and James Alexander treasurer.
On February 1, 1869, the Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central leased its
entire system to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis, and the Pennsylvania
companies. The lines embraced in this lease are described a.s follows :
From its terminus in Chicago, through Cook County in said state southward to the
State of Indiana, and through the counties of Lake, Porter, La Porte, Starke, Pulaski, Cass>
Howard, Tipton, Madison, Henry and Wayne in Indiana, to Richmond, and thence east-
ward to the State of Ohio and through the counties of Preble, Darke, Miami, Champaign,
Union, Madison and Franklin in said state to Columlius; and also extending from Rich-
mond, Indiana, aforesaid, westward through the counties of Wayne, Henry, Hancock and
Marion to Indianapolis, Indiana ; and also extending from the main line aforesaid at a point
in Miami County, Ohio, westward through Darke County, Ohio, to the Indiana State line at
Uidon ; and thence westward through the counties of Randolph, Jay, Blackford, Grant,
Miami, Cass, White, Jasper and Newton, in Indiana, to the line of the State of Illinois, in the
direction of Peoria.
The lease, running for a term of ninetynine years, provided that the Pitts-
burgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis company should maintain the roads leased " in good
working condition and repair as first class roads, together with all sidetracks,
station houses, rollingstock, equipments and other pi-operty, and should reserve
seventy per cent, of the gross earnings, thirty per cent, thereof in bo a]i])lied to
payment of the interest on $20,000,000 of the bonds ot the (' ( '. \ I. C. company
and intei'est on income bonds that might be issued, the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati &
St. Louis to pay the interest in any event, the surplus, remaining, if any, to be
Railways. 267
paid to the C. C. & I. C. companj'. The P. C. & St. L. compaiij' was prohibited
from making any consolidation of earnings or running arrangements with any
other company for competing business or traffic without the consent of the Colum-
bus. Chicago & Indiana Central. It was further provided that the lines thus con-
solidated should at' all times be placed upon a perfect fpiality with any others that
might "connect at Pittsburgh, as to the rate and facilities for joint transportation
for all classes of traffic to and from all points cast or west," any differences aris-
ing as to the relations of the contracting parties to bo submitted to arbitration.
The last two clauses of the agreement may have been dictated by the experience
of one of the parlies thereto, for when the Panhandle organization first leased the
Columbus, Piqua & huliana road, and a foreclosure began to be talked about, some
of the friends of the latter claiini^'il tli.-n the former had discrimitiated against it in
favor of ihe Pittsbuigh, Bellefontaiiii.' ^V Indiana line which it already controlled,
in relation to traffic between Pittsbuigh and Chicago.
On February 1, 1S70, an amended lease was executed l>y wliieli the mortgage
indebtedness of the Columbus, Chieago \ Indiana Central was reduced to 115,821-
000, and the amount to be paid by the lessee as rental should in no case be less
than seven per cent, of that amount pet- annum. The New ^'ork- iV l-'.rie Railway
Company had offered to lease the pi'operty of the Columbus, Chicago & Indiana
Central, pay the interest on the debt of that company and guarantee an average
annual dividend of seven per cent, on its stock, but the proposition was unani-
mously rejected. The wisdom of this action may be doubted. The offer i-ejected
would have I'lirnished a certain income, whereas the one accejjted was, in its terms,
uncertain as the sequel proved. Differences having arisen as to the meaning of
certain portions of the lease, the lessee (the P. C. & St. L.) refused to pay the ren-
tal from which the interest on the bonds could be met, and on application of the C.
C. &. I. C. to the United States Court, W. Pi. Fosdick, of New York, was appointed
receiver, and to him the lessees paid the net receipts of the road. The first and
second mortgage bondholders of the C. C. & I. C. company appointed committees
to protect their interests. Several years of litigation followed, during which the
Pennsylvania Company, through W. L. Scott, of Erie, obtained a controlling
amount of the bonds and stock. Scott brought suit for payment of the unpaid
interest on the first mortgage bonds; foreclosure under this suit was ordered
in Febi-uary, 1883 ; the road and franchises were sold at Indianapolis; and the
company was reorganized as the Chicago, St. Louis & Pittsburgh, thus becoming a
part of the system of railways west of Pittsburgh controlled by the Penn.sylvania
company.
StcuhciiviUe it' In(Jiiina.—T\V\ti com])any was incorporated February 24, 1848,
with a capital of 13,500,000, and authority to construct a railway from Steuben-
ville along the Connotton or Stillwater Creek to Mt. Vernon, and "thence to the
Indiana state line at any point between Willshire and Fort Recovery; but the
coin))any was forbidden to locate its road west of Mount Vernon parallel to that of
any other company previouslj' incorpoi-ateil which had in good faith begun the
construction of its line. This restriction appears in many of the charters granted
about that time and seems to have been intended to prevent the construction of com-
268 History op the City of Columbus.
peting and parallel lines. On March 12, 1849, the act was so amended as to
autiiorize the company to construct a branch from Coshocton oia Newark to Col-
umhuR; also from Steubenville via Mount Vernon to the Indiana boundary at any
point between Wiilshire and Fort Recovery, inclusive. Another charter granted
Mai-ch 12, 1849, authorized the construction of a railwaj^ from the west end of the
Steubenville bridge to the junction with ihe Central Ohio Railway at Newark,
117-J miles. The Columbus & Pittsburgh Railway Company was granted a charter
March 2, 1840, but no action in pursuance thereof was taken.
Ill May, 1S4S, a i-:iilway convention for Central Ohio, held at Coshocton with
W. B. Hubbard as ch.iiiriian, recommended a survey of different routes, the
reports of such surveys to be referred to a committee of which Robert Neil and
Joseph Ridgway, Junior, were the Franklin County members. This committee
subsequently reported in favor of a line from Columbus to the western terminus
of the Philadelphia & Pittsburgh roads, and also one to the western terminus of
the Baltimore & Ohio Railway at Wheeling. On May 3, 1849, a convention in
the interest of a railway from Pittsburgh via Steubenville to Columbus and
St. Louis was held at Steubenville, at which Joseph Ridgway, of Columbus, was
chairman, and committees were appointed to secure the location of the line and
obtain subscriptions in the counties through which it would pa.ss. The committee-
men for Franklin Countj' were Joseph Ridgwaj', Junior, W. B. Hubbard and Wil-
liam Dennison. The members of the first board of directors of this road, elected
March 6, 1850, were Daniel Kilgore, John Andrews, James Means, William Mc-
Donald, Thompson Hanna, William K. Johnson and James Parks. Daniel Kil-
goro was chosen president, R. S. Moody secretary, Daniel L. Collier treasurer,
Jacob Blickensderfer chief engineer, and T. L. Jewett and Thomas Moans solici-
tors. J. G. Morris was subsequently elected secretary and treasurer in place of
Moody and Collier, resigned, and James Means president vice Kilgore deceased.
On April 19, 1855. Mr. Means resigned the presidency and W. B. Hubbard was
chosen in his place, but he too soon resigned and was succeeded by Thomas L.
Jewett, who was elected June 7, 1855, and served as president and receiver until
the consolidation of the company with the Pittsburgh and Steubenville company.
In December, 1851, contracts were made for the construction of the road between
Steubenville and Coshocton, but owing to the depressed condition of the money
market, little was done until May or June, 1852, when work was begun along the
entire line. On December 22, 1853, regular trains were run from Steubenville to
Unionport, and on April 11, 1855, the president reported the road complete from
Steubenville to Newark. To procure iron and machinery, bonds to the amount
of $1,500,000 were issued October 1, 1852. On November 1, 1853, a second mort-
gage of $900,000 was exetnited, followed on February 15, 1856, by a third issue of
$600,000, and afterward by income bonds amounting to $431,150.
On April 17, 1857, an arrangement was made between the Central Ohio and
the Steubenville & Indiana companies by which the former agreed to haul the
traflfic of the latter between Newark and Columbus. Preliminary surveys had been
made, in IS.oS, liy the Steubenville and Indiana Company ])reparatory to the con-
.struction of a line from Newark to Columbus, and on March 14, 1864, a contract
Railways. 20,9
was made for the sale of an undivided half of the road between Columbus and
Newark, bj' the Central Ohio to the Steubenville & Indiana Company, for 1775,000.
On August 31, 1864, this sale was judicially confirmed and a mortgage for the
amount of the purchase money was put upon the property. The road becoming
embarrassed and being unable to pay its intei-est, suit was brought at the Sejitem-
ber term, 1859, of the Harrison County Common Pleas by Robert Garrett & Sons
and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company on $838,000 of the bonds and interest,
and on September 2, T. L. Jewett was appointed receiver, with power to operate
the road under order of the court. In 1863 Eobert Garrett & Sons and the Penn-
sylvania Railroad Company began suit for foreclosure on the first and second
mortgages, and in November a decree was entered for $3,692,766 and a sale was
ordered. Accordingly, on February 27, 1864, the road and its franchises were sold
at public auction to J. Edgar Thompson, Henry M. Alexander and George W.
McCook, for $1,908,889. Before confirmation of this sale a plan of adjustment
without a sale was submitted to the creditors and accepted by them. In accord-
ance with this agreement the first and second mortgages were reduced to $3,00(1, 000
(a shrinkage of $692,766), payment was extended to January 1, 1884, and a
new six per cent, twentyyear mortgage, dated April 19, 1864, was executed, followed
by another for $1,500,000 payable April 1, 1894, to secure the old third mortgage
and income bonds.
On March 24, 1849, the legislature of Pennsylvania incorporated the Pitts-
burgh & Steubenville road from Pittsburgh to the State line towards Steubenville,
thirtysix miles, and on March 30, 1860, the Virginia legislature incorporated the
HolHday's Cove Railwaj- across the "Panhandle" of Virginia, connecting the
Pittsburgh & Steubenville at the State line with the Steubenville & Indiana at the
Steubenville bridge. On October 1, 1865, the receiver made arrangements with
the Pittsburgh & Steubenville Company to operate the whole line as the Pitts-
burgh, Columbus & Cincinnati Railway and it was so operated until consolidated
with the Pittsburgh & Steubenville and the HoUiday's Cove lines and became
known as the Panhandle Company, the capital of which was $4,400,000. On
December 26, 1867, this company agreed to issue $2,500,000 preferred stock. On
March 17, 1868, the Panhandle, the HoUiday's Cove and the Steubenville & Indi-
ana companies were consolidated as the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis, which
company, on January 22, 1869, leased the Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Centr.il
Railway on a perpetual lease for thirty per cent, of the gross earnings, the P. C. &
St. L. Company agreeing to p:iy the interest on $20,000,000 of bonds of the C, C;.
& I. C. Company. The lines owned or controlled by the P. C. & St. L. Company
at this time comprised the following: Main line between Columbus and Pitts-
burgh ; branch from Cadiz Junction to Cadiz ; branch from New Cumberland June,
tion to New Cumberland; branch from BridgeviUe to Rend's Mines; Pittsburgh
to Birmingham ; yard tracks at Union Station, Columbus; Columbus & Indiana
Central, leased; and Little Miami and Columbus & Xenia ; total length of track
998.76 miles. The consolidated line thus formed was known as the Panhandle route.
The stock of the new company was $10,000,000 — $3,000,000 preferred and
$7,000,000 common. The stock of the Panhandle Company was to be converted
270 History of the City op Columbus.
into the stock of the new company as follows : Not over 20,000 shares of seven
per cent, preferred stock of the P. C. & St. L. Company to be exchanged for a
similar amount of stock in the new company ; not more tiian 20,000 shares of the
common stock to be exchanged for 10,000 shares of the new stock, the residue of
the common to be merged into the stock of the new company, but nothing to bo
given in exchange; the slock of the Steubenville & Indiana Company, not exceed-
ing 40,000 shares, to be exchanged for a like amount of new stock, share for share.
The Holliday's Cove stock was sunk.
On April 5, 1872, a certificate was filed with the Ohio Auditor of State that
the assent of twothirds of the stockholders had been given to the issue of
$3,500,000 of preferred stock. On May 5, 1868, a first mortgage was executed for
$10,000,000 at seven per cent., due in 1900, the bonds to be issued and disposed of
as follows: The first preferred seven percent, stock of the Panhandle Railway
Compau^^, not exceeding 20,000 shares, to be exchanged for a like amount of the
new stock, share for share; the common stock not exceeding 20,000 shares, to be
exchanged for 10,000 shares of the new — two for one; and the residue of the
Panhandle stock to be merged into that of the P. C. & St. L. company without
any equivalent. Of the Steubenville & Indiana stock not more than forty
thousand shares of the first preferred were to be exchanged share for share for a
like amount of the new, and not more than 40,000 shares of th6 common were to
be converted into a like amount of the common stock of the new company.
In October, 1870, the order of sale of the Steubenville & Indiana line by the
Harrison County court was set aside, by consent of the parties, and the receiver
was discharged. The original incorporators of the P. C. & St. L. Company were
James Wilson, James Means, Nathaniel Dike, William McDonald, Daniel L.
Collier. John Orr, John Andrews, David W. McGowan, James Gallagher, James
McKinney, Koswell Marsii, James Turnbull, and Alexander Doyle. On April 1,
1878, a second forty year seven per cent, mortgage for $5,000,000 to pay unad-
justed floating debt outstanding, and to furnish " additional facilities needed from
time to time lor increasing the business of the road" was executed.
On September 1, 1869, a contract was made with the Western Union Tele-
graph Company by which the railway obtained the " sole and exclusive use and
enjoyment of the first wire upon its poles" along its line from Pittsburgh to Colum-
bus, from Chicago to Logansport, and from Columbus to Indianapolis, for railway
business for twenty years. A fifteenyear contract was made January 27, 1870, with
the Pullman Palace Car Company by which the latter agreed to provide its cars
and keep their furnishings in good condition, the railway company thus stipulat-
ing : " In consideration of the use of the aforesaid cars [the railway company] agrees
to haul the same in the passenger trains on their own line of road, and on all
roads which they now control or may hereafter control," and to " furnish fuel for
the cars and material for the light," and to wash and cleanse the cars and to keep
them in repair." By contract of January 10, 1871, the Westinghouse Air Brake
Company agreed to deliver to the railway as many sets of its apparatus as might
be ordered at $425 for each locomotive, car and tender. By another contract of
June 25, 1873, running ten years, the Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati
Railways. 271
& St. Louis companies agreed witli the Pittsbiirgli & Western eoni]i;iny to run its
cars " constructed upon the most approved plan " and " with the hcsi :i|i|ilianees
for preserving fresh meat and other perishable freight from sjioiliiii;- in the sum-
mer and freezing in the winter."
On May 25, 1874, the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis ami the F.aliirnore A
Ohio companies were authorized by city ordinance to construct and ei^uiji a rail-
way track on Eeed or Mulberi'v Street fioni their existing track to Eroad Street
with the consent of the owners of more than iialf of the abutting property, lour-
ing the year 1884 the company built a large i-oundhouse of thirtyeight stalls on
Summit Street, to accommodate all of its lines touching Columbus. The first "fast
mail " train over the Panhandle route arrived at Columbus September 13, 1875, in
nineteen hours and twent3'five minutes from New York, bringing eastern news-
papers twelve hours in advance of the usual time. While a westward bound pas-
senger train, containing two sleeping and two passenger coaches, was passing
between Black Lick and Taylor's Station on September 21, 1876, a broken
journal caused the cars to leave the track and roll down an embankment of twen-
tj'five or thirty feet. Four persons were killed and many were wounded. The
general passenger and ticket department of the Panhandle organization remained
at Columbus until Marcli, 1881, when it was removed to Pittsburgh. On Novem-
ber 1, 1890, the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Company was
formed by consolidation of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis, the Chicago,
St. Louis & Pittsburgh, the Cincinnati & Richmond and the Jefferson, Madison &
Indianapolis companies on terms which were then made known to the public.
Cleveland, Akron & Columbus. — This was part of a line which formerly
belonged to the Cleveland, ZanesviUe & Cincinnati company, which had its origin
under an amendment to the charter of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh road author-
izing that corporation to construct a railway from Hudson, in Portage County,
through Cuyahoga Palls and Akron to Wooster or some other point on the Ohio &
Pennsylvania line, between Wooster & Massillon and to connect with any other
road running in the direction of Columbus. Its name at that time was the Akron
Branch of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railway, but in 1853 it was ch;inged by
judicial order to that of Cleveland, ZanesviUe & Cincinnati. Subsequently oper-
ated by a receiver, the road was sold in 1846 to George W. Cass and John J. Mar-
vin, and at a later date it was leased and operated by the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne
& Chicago; and still later by the Pennsylvania Railway Company. The Pitts-
burgh, Mount Vernon, Columbus (St London Railway Company, organized in May,
1869, purchased the unfinished road and right of way of the Springfield, Mount
Vernon & Pittsburgh Company from Delaware through Mount Vernon to Millers-
burgh, fortythree miles. The same company purchased the property of the Cleve-
land, ZanesviUe & Cincinnati company extending from Hudson to the coal
mines southwest of Millersburgh, sixtyfive miles, and at the same time got a lease
of the Massillon and Cleveland company's line from Massillon to Clinton, thirteen
miles. In DLCember, 1869, the name was changed to that of Cleveland, Mount
Vernon & Delaware Railroad Company, and the capital stock was increased from
$1,000,000 to $1,500,000. These purchases and assignments of lease gave the com-
272 History of the City of Columbus.
pany seventyeiglil miles of equip]ied road besides the line between Miilersburgh
and Mount Vernon, on which the work of construction was then being prosecuted.
The town of Delaware guaranteed the sum of 1165,000 required to complete the
road to that place, and the statement was made that the company e.^pected soon
to have a direct line from Delaware to Hudson on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh.
The road as proposed would pass through Mount Vernon, Gambier, Miilersburgh,
Orrville, Clinton, Akron and Cuyahoga Falls. A proposition to change the loca-
tion of the road to Columbus caused the appointment of a committee of citizens to
obtain the subscription of $125,000, which was required as a condition to that
result. The road was finally built from Mount Vernon to Columbus and its first
train arrived at this city from Mount Vernon at 9:10 o'clock a. m , September 1,
1873. The title of the road was changed to that of Cleveland, Akron & Col-
umbus.
Columbus, Springfield & Cincinnati— Tha Sprifgfield & Columbus railroad
company's charter was granted March 2, 1846 ; was amended February 24, 1848 ;
and was repealed February 16, 1849, when the Columbus, Springfield & Cincin-
nati company was incorporated with authority to construct a railway from
Springfield to Columbus, or to some point on the Columbus & Xenia line. On
May 14, 1849, Springfield voted a subscription of $10,000 to the company's capital
stock. In November, 1835, a movement was made in Columbus looking to the
construction of a branch of the Mad Eivor & Lake Erie Railway from Springfield
to this place, " or to connect at some convenient point with the contemplated
railroad from Cincinnati by the way of the Little Miami Valley to Springfield."
On December 20, 1837, the following statements were published: The citizens of
Sandusky were gratified bj' an experiment of the speed of a locomotive on the
Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad. ... It drew four passenger cars containing
about one hundred and fifty gentlemen, at the rate of twenty, thirty and even fifty
miles an hour. All were astonished at the command which the engineer possessed
over the movements of the engine. ... It is anticipated that at least fifty miles
of this road will be completed during the year 1838, and probably the whole line
be in successful operation before the expiration of the year 1840."
On September 26, 1843, Joseph Vance, president of the company, received
proposals for clearing, grubbing, grading, bridging and getting out timber for the
superstructure of the road between Tiffin and Carey, and gave notice that the
company would offer at public sale some lots in the town of Carey, " which it is
believed," he said, " is destined at no distant day to become one of tlie most impor-
tant business points in Northern Ohio." The road was completed from Sandusky
to Springfield, 134 miles, in August, 1848, thus making a continuous line from Cin-
cinnati to Sandusky ; and, on April 13, 1849, it was announced that two trains of
cars would thenceforth leave Cincinnati daily for Sandusky City. This road, like
all the earlier ones, was laid with flat rails.
The Columbus, Springfield & Cincinnati company had constructed a road
from Sjjringfield to London, and on June 1, 1854, it was leased to the Mad River
& Lake Erie company for fifteen years, the lessee to pay the interest on $150,000
of the lessor's bonds, but this condition not being complied with, on January 2,
Railways. 273
1865, J. W. Pierce began proceedings for foreclosure, under which a decree was
issued on February 5, 1868, and on May 8, the road and appurtenances were sold
to Mr. Pierce for $100,000. On May 7, 1869, a new company was incorporated as
the Columbus, Springfield & Cincinnati, capital, $1,500,000, with authority to con-
struct a railway through the counties of Franklin, Madison and Clark. To this
company J. W. Pierce and wife transferred by deed on September 4, 1869, the
Columbus & Springfield property for $250,000 paid up stock in the new company,
to which, on May 9, 1870, the Columbus City Council by ordinance granted the
privilege of locating, maintaining and using its tracks across High Street at a
point opposite the south line of the North Graveyard and also across Park Street
and Dennisoii Avenue. In case the tracks so permitted to be laid should be
above or below the grade of these streets .so as to obstruct the travel thereof, the
company was obliged to " put and maintain such street or alley in condition for
the safe and easy passage of animals or vehicles."
By contract of June 25, 1870, the Columbus, Springfield & Cincinnati company
leased its property- to the Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland for ninety nine years,
commencing July 1, 1870, the lessor agreeing to construct its road from London
to Columbu-si by September 1, 1871, and put its line between Columbus and Spring-
field in complete repair, and the lessee to have the right to issue $1,100,000 of
bonds, the Columbus, Springfield & Cincinnati company to operate the road
from Springfield to London and pay the other party $20,000 per year for its use
until the road from London to Columbus should be com2:)leted ; but after com-
pletion of the road the lessee was to pay forty per cent, of the gross earnings on
the whole line between Columbus and Springfield, unless such gross earnings
should exceed $120,000, in which ease fifty per cent, was to be paid, the annual
payment in no case to be less than $80,000. The original Springfield & Columbus
line never paid the interest on its cost and the stock and a considerable amount of
its debts were sunk. In January, 1871, a strip of ground from the south side of
what was known as the Old Graveyard was appropriated by legal process for the
benefit of this road.
Columbus ct- Socking VaUey.--0\\ September 25, 1852, a public meeting was
held at Nelsonville to consider a proposition to build a railway from that place to
Columbus via Lancaster. This meeting was addressed by Thomas Ewing, Wil-
liam Neil and others, and was followed by another held at the same place October
28, with L. D. Poston, of Nelsonville, as chairman and E. H. Moore, of Athens, as
secretary. This second meeting adjourned to reassemble at Athens on November
18, but seems to have been superseded by another held at Nelsonville November
11, at which Joseph Sullivant delivered an address illustrated with minerals from
the Hocking Valley. Newspaper comments of contemporary dates indicated a
lively popular interest in this movement, and the statement was made that on
April 20, 1853, a meeting was held at Nelsonville at which steps were taken to
organize the Columbus & Athens Kailway Company. Finally, on July 11, 1853,
a meeting was held at Lancaster to organize the Hocking Valley Railroad Com-
■pany, the stock of which was fixed at two million dollars. William Denuison, J.
18*
274 History op the City of CoLUMBrs.
W. Fritter, Charles Borland, J. Borland and E. H. Moore were named as corpora-
tors, and it was agreed that books for stock subscription should be ojioncd August
15, at the Exchange Bank in Columbus, and at Lancaster, Logan, Nelsonvilie.
Athens, Lithopolis and Winchester. A disagreement arose between the Lancaster
friends of the road and those of Columbus, the former seeming to be unwilling to
allow the latter a majority of the directors lest their interests might be sacrificed.
Nothing nioi'e was done under this charter.
On April 10, 1S56, the General Assembly of Ohio enacted a very singular
statute. It was entitled " an act to protect the investments of municipal corpora-
tions in the stock of railroad companies,'' and applied only to the counties of
Athens and Washington ; but when its repeal was asked for at the session of
1857-8, Cincinnati and other portions of Southern Ohio loudly remonstrated
against compliance with this request. The law contained the singular provision
that no railway should thereafter be built in Washington or Athens County with-
out the consent of the legal voters of the county to bo given in the manner pre-
scribed in the act. The proposed Hocking Valley Eailway could not reach the
Ohio River or form a connection with the Baltimore & Ohio Railway without pass-
ing through a portion of Athens County. The key to this legislation is found in
the announcement made July 18, 1856, that the Marietta & Cincinnati Railwaj'
was approaching completion. The citizens of Athens had subscribed for stock in
that enterprise and feared that the proposed Hocking Valley road would be its
competitor. Nevertheless the act was reijealed.
Popular interest in the construction of the Hocking Valley line subsided until
the year 1863, when the project was again discussed in the newspapers, one of the
principal impelling considerations being the exorbitant price paid for coal and the
difficulty of obtaining that mineral by canal. On April 14, 1864. the following
certificate signed by William P. Cutler, John Mills, Douglas Putnam, Eliakim H.
Moore and Milbury M. Greene, was filed with the Secretary of State:
We the undersigned do hereby certify that we have associated ourselves into a company
under the name of the Mineral Railroad Company for the purpose of constructing a railroad
from Athens in Athens County, thence running through the counties of Athens, Hocking,
Fairfield & Franklin to the city of Columbus, in said Franklin County, all in the State of
Ohio, with a capital stock of one million five hundred thousand dollars.
On January 10, 1866, it was publicly stated that a survey had just been com-
pleted from Athens to a point on Big Belly's Creek, from whence diverging routes
were surveyed, one to the southern part of Columbus and the other up Alum
Creek to the Central Ohio Railway, the track of which continued the line to the
Columbus station. It was stated tlnit the location of the road from the Big Belly's
Creek to Columbus would depend on the vote of the stockholders, the largest sub-
scription controlling, "other things being equal." "Other things" were not
" equal," for while the subscription on the southern route was far less than that
on the northern, the advantages of the southern route for entering the city on an
inde]>endeiit line, and for securing terminal grounds, determined the location.
The engineers reported u remarkably favorable line with no grade over fifteen
feet to the mile and a shorter route from Columbus to Baltimore than that of any
Eailways. 275
other line by thirtytvvo miles. Mr. Greene, it wa.s said, liud already obtained by
private grant the right of way for most of the road, but this was premature, for
the right of way finally cost, as reported in 1877, the sum of 195,373.60. The cost
of the road was estimated at from one and a half to two million dollars. Investi-
gation was made as to the amount of coal, iron and salt annually shipped from
the region to be penetrated. Stock to the amount of $830,000 having been sub-
scribed, the subscribers met at Columbus on December 111, 1866, and elected the
following directors: P. Hayden, Croorge M. Parsons, William Dennison, B. E.
Smith, William G. Deshler, Theodore Comstock, Isaac Eberly, D. Talmadge,
W. B. Brooks, J. C. Garrett, William P. Cutler, E. H. Moore and M. M. Greene.
P. Hayden was chosen president, M. M.Greene vice president, and John J. Janney
secretary and treasurer. Mr. Greene was authorized to act as chief engineer, and
under his direction W. W. Graves, who had made the preliminary survey, again
surveyed and located the line from its connection with the Cleveland, Columbus
& Indiana Eailway at Columbus, to its connection with the Marietta & Cincinnati
Railway at Athens, seventyfive and a quarter miles." This survey was completed
by the first of tlie following May, on the second of which month the name of the
corporation was changed to that of Columbus & Hocking Valley Railroad Com-
pany.
On November 18, 1866, the directors owned 1360,000 of the company's stock
the whole amount of which was at that time $800,000, of which Columbus had
subscribed $480,000, Athens & Nelsonville $100,000, Lancaster $75,000, Logan
$75,000, Winchester $30,000 and Groveport $25,000. The Columbus & Xenia
Company proposed that the Little Miami should join it in a subscription of $50,000,
but the Little Miami company declined. Tlie Columbus subscribers thereupon
increased their subscription $50,000. At a meeting of the directors held August
17, 1866, an issue of $1,500,000 of bonds of the comjxiuy was ordered for the con-
struction and equipment of the line. A sinking fund of $15,000 per year was pro-
vided for, said fund to be invested in outstanding bonds of the company, provided
they could be had at not more than five per cent, premium ; otherwise, said fund
to be invested in bonds of the United States or the State of Ohio. This proviso
has been carefully complied with, and in order that the bonds thus i-edeemed
might not be reissued, the signature of the secretary has been cut out of them after
redemption. The road takes its course from Columbus via Groveport, Winches-
ter, Carroll, Lancaster (where it crosses the Cincinnati, Wilmington & Zanes-
ville), Sugar Grove, Logan, Nelsonville and Salina to Athens, whci'c it intersects
the Marietta & Cincinnati Railway.
In a statement published by the directors they declared that the principal
object of the road would be to bring the coal, salt and iron districts of Southern
Ohio into connection with the central, northern and western portions of the
State and the States of Indiana and Illinois. The directors proceeded to say :
The route of this road passes through the largest coalfield west of the Alleghany Moun-
tains, at a point fiftyfive miles from Columbus, extending twelve miles ; where a vein of coal
six feet in thickness exists above the surface on both sides of the road. . . . From this vein
there have been taken and can continue to be, liOO.OOO bushels, of eighty pounds to the
bushel, of coal to the acre. . . . The quality of the coal is equal to any known west of the
276 History of the City of Columbus.
mountains for steam and grate purposes. ... In addition to coal the Hocking Valley,
togettier with the counties lying south of it on the line of the Marietta & Cincinnati Rail-
road, . . are rich in iron ore of superior quality. . . . Two furnaces are now in operation on
the line of this road and an almost unlimited supply of ore, coal and limestone in immediate
contact will lead to the speedy erection of others. On the line of this road in Athens
County, there are now in operation seven salt furnaces with an unlimited supply of saltwater
and coal. . . . With the means of transportation which this road will furnish to Central and
Northwestern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, the production of salt will he largely increased.
The verification of this prophesj' has been sadU' interfered with by the
Miebigan and New York saltwells, the competition of which has totally destroyed
the manufacture of salt in the Hocking Valley.
On April 6, 1867, the City Council of Columbus by ordinance authorized the
Mineral Eailway Company "to maintain and operate its railroad across and
along any .street or streets, alley or alleys in this city, situate west of the Columbus
Feeder of the Ohio Canal and south of a line drawn through the centre of Kossuth
Street and prolonged to said feeder canal," with a proviso that should the road be
constructed so much above or below any street or alley as to obstruct travel
thereon, the company should erect " substantial bridges " or " sufficient culverts
or passways." On May 22, 1867, a favorable contract was matle with Dodge, Case
& Co., to construct the road complete and ready for its rolling stock within eight-
een months for eight hundred thousand dollars cash and $865,000 in the bonds
of the company. Under this contract the track was graded from Colnmbus to
Lancaster and tracklaying began in November. In April, 1868, the track was
graded from its connection with the Columbus & Xenia to the lower bridge over
the Scioto Eiver, and on July 16, an engine and car were run over the road nearly
to Winchester, fourteen miles. The persons making this trip were M. M. Greene,
B. E. Smith, G. W. Manypenny, W. B. Brooks, Theodore Comstock, John Graham,
John J. Janney and W. C. Faxon. As a matter of amusement, it was proposed
that every man present should drive a spike. The efforts to do this excited the
ridicule of the tracklayers until Messrs. Graham and Janney took the spike maul
which, owing to their early training in railsplitting, they used in a manner com-
manding the respect of the workmen.
In a report to the stockholders made by Mr. Greene in January, 1868, he
said : " the entire right of way through Fairfield County. . . and through Hock-
ing, except one case," also through Athens County, " except three cases,'' had been
settled without recourse to legal proceedings, the citizens of Groveport and vicin-
itv furnishing the right of way from Walnut Creek to Winchester at a cost to
them of 87,500, and the citizens of Lancaster furnishing the necessary grounds
tor tracks and depots in their city at a cost to them of $20,000. The president
rcjiorled the en-tire cost of the right of way from the station of the Columbus,
Chicago & Indiana Eailway at Columbus to Athens as §70,000 in cash and §12,000
in stock— an underestimate, as the event proved, of nearly fifteen per cent. This
estimate included about Iwentyfive miles of fencing which the parties granting
the riiiht of way had agreed to build on botii sides of the track, thereby, perhaps
unwittingly relieving the company very materially of responsibility- for injury to
farm stock.
Railways. 277
At the compiuiy's .second aiiiuial nieotiiig-, liolil January 24, 1S71, tlio vico
pi-o.sidoiit rcporlud the road eomploto from Columbus to Athens, with a branch of
thirteen miles from Logan to New Straitsville. The report contained the folluw-
iny particulars : Maximum grade of 26.40 feet per mile, four miles ; level, thirty
miles; from level to twenty feet grade, thirtyfour miles ; from 20 to 26.40, five
miles; total rise going south, 245.43 feet; total fall going south, 324.16 feet ; no
continuous grade one mile in lengtli of over 15 feet ; miles of straight line, 51 and
90 feet; miles of curved line, 24 ami 1,328 feet; total length, 75 miles and 1,418
feet.
On January 13, 18C9, the members of the General Assembly, the state officers
and citizens journeyed over the road from Columbus to Lancaster and back by
iavitation of the president and directors of the company. The train, George E.
Carr conductor, and Charles Wiggens engineer, comprised twelve coaches and
carried 720 passengers. The General Assembly was received by the City Council
of Lancaster, headed by Maj-or John P. Slough. William P. Creed spoke in
behalf of the council and was responded to by Doctor Fielding for the General
Assembly and Samuel Galloway for the citizens. The members of the legislature
were entertained as guests of the City Council at the Talmadge House and the
Mithotf House. On the next day, January 14, 1869, a free ride from Lancaster to
C'olumbus and return was offered to the public, and according to estimate the invi-
tation was accepted by eighteen liundred passengers, filling eighteen coaches.
Going north from Lancaster the party was met at Winchester by the members of
the Columbus City Council, by whose invitation the City Council of Lancaster and
the directors and officers of the railway company were entertained at the Neil
House The officers of the company were of one mind as to any further offer of a
free ride to the general public. At every way station the platform and adjacent
space were crowded with a waiting mass of men, women and children, and by the
time the train reached Columbus the seats, aisles, platforms and steps of the
coaches were packed with people.
The road was opened for through business July 23, 1870, and ou November 6,
1868, the first passenger train was run from Columbus to Lancaster and carried
the following excursionists: W. H. Clements, J. N. Kinney, Charles Eeemelin, of
Cincinnati ; E. Gest, president of the Cincinnati & Zanesville Railway Company,
and M. M. Greene, vice president, J. W. Doherty superintendent, and B. E. Smith,
William G. Deshler, Isaac Eberly and W. B. Brooks, directors of the Columbus &
Hocking Valley company. At Lancaster this party took the Cincinnati & Zanes-
ville road to Zanesville, during the journey over which they stopped to examine
the coal mines of the Miami Coal Company. On January 18, 1869, notice was
given that from the twentieth of that month daily trains, both passenger and
freight, would run over the road between Columbus and Lancaster. The first
freight train from Nelsonville arrived at Columbus August 17, 1869. This train
came from the mines of Brooks & Houston and comprised fifteen cars laden with
coal. It had on board a small cannon, the discharge of which gave notice of the
approach of the train at all points along the line. The first regular passenger
train from Columbus to Athens was run July 25, 1870, and thus was opened a
278 IIlSTdRY OF THE ClTY OF CoLUMBUS.
new route to Baltimore and Washington via the Marietta & Cincinnati Railway and
the Parkersburgh Branch of the Baltimore & Ohio. The Straitsville Branch was
opened for general business on January 2, 1871. Large deposits of iron ore had been
found on the line of this branch at Gore, and three coal companies were in opera-
tion at New Straitsville, two more were nearly ready for work, and it was believed
that by the following spring the capacitj' of these mines would reach one hundred
cars per day. On the main line five mines were in operation, with a capacity of
250 cars per day.
On December 31, 1871, the superintendent reported that notwithstanding the
greatest flood known in the Hocking River for many j'ears, and a twomontlis
strike of miners, the net income of the road during the year then ended was suf-
ficient to pay the interest on all the bonds and ten per cent, on the stock of the
company. At the election of January 24, 1871, W. B. Brooks, C. P. L. Butler,
Theodore Comstock, William Dennison, William G. Deshler, Isaac Eberly, John
L. Gill, M. M. Greene, John Greenleaf and B. E. Smith, of Columbus; John D.
Martin, of Lancaster, C. H. Rippey. of Logan, and S. W. Pickering, of Athens,
were chosen directors. B. E. Smith was elected president in lieu of P. Hayden.
The report of the company for 1870 stated that the labor strikes of the two years
preceding had caused it a loss of not less than fifty thousand dollars. Eightysix
subscribers to the company's stock, most of whose engagements were for small
amounts, failed to pay the instalments as they became due. Some had paid five
or ten per cent. As the law provides that in such cases the delinquent stock may
be sold at public auction, fiftyeight shares were thus disposed of at from seventy-
one to seventyfour and a half dollars per share, in other words at a premium of
from fortytwo to fortynine per cent., so that to those who had paid onl}^ five or
ten per cent, on their subscriptions there was something due after charging them
with all the due instalments and interest. Tn 1872 a new roundhouse and new
shops were constructed and a new freight yard arranged for the company at Col-
umbus. In order to test the value of steel rails as compared with those of iron,
fifty tons thereof were purchased and laid in sidings at the south j'ards where the
heaviest wear took place.
In April, 1872, by previous consent of the stockholders, the company issued a
second mortgage of $1,000,000, from which the sum of $300,000 was to be used in
redeeming a like amount of the Straitsville Branch bonds. Four hundred and
twenty tons of steel rails were laid during the year 1872, and twentyeight and a
half acres of ground were purchased for a roundhouse, shops and sidetracks at the
station in the southern part of Columbus. For the greater partof this ground the
sum of $1,000 per acre was paid. The Monday Creek Branch was located in 1873
but its construction was delayed on account of the financial stress of that year.
On August 17, 1874, Henry C. Noble was chosen director vice William Dennison,
resigned. Owing to the suspension of manufacturing during that year the ton-
nage of the road declined from 890,396 to 526,022 tons. On March 17, 1874, an
agreement was made by which the use of the tracks of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati
& St. Louis company was obtained by the Hocking Valley from the intersection
of the two roads at or near Dennison Avenue at a rental of $2,700 per year in
Railways. 27'J
moiithlj- instalments, tlio Hocking Valley com])any agreeing not to disfriniinatc
in favor of any road of the Panhandle organization and making further engagc-
nients as to division of receipts.
At the annual meeting of the stockholders held in April, 1874, a report was
made showing a decrease of earnings for the preceding year. John G. Deshler, a
stockholder, )>resented a memorial sharply criticising the management, but this
criticism did not affect the result of the election. On September 1, 1874, John
W. Doherly resigned the office of superintendent and was succeeded by George R.
Carr. At the same time B. S. Brown, P. W. Huntington and H. W. JaBger were
elected directors vice Theodore Comstock, John Greerilcaf and B. B. Smith.
On May 20, 1876, a few of the company's employes organized the Hocking
Valley Mutual Life Insurance Company, each member of which was required to
pay a small membership fee and an assessment of one dollar for each death. The
first assessment, made March 26, 1878, amounted to $230. The report of the secre-
tary at the last annual meeting showed that the total assessments had amounted to
$39,540, and that the largest single assessment had been $771. The membershiii
now includes employes of the Columbus, Hocking Valley & Tieledo Company.
Joint operation of the Columbus k Hocking Valley and the Columbus &
Toledo railways under the name of Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo, was
agreed upon in 1876, Orland Smith being appointed general superintendent of the
united lines. A continuous track of steel from Columbus to Nelsonville and
Straitsville was reported at tlie annual meeting in 1877, and in July of that year
construction of the Monday Creek and Snow Fork branches was begun. The
tirst accident to a passenger occurred in 1877. Owing to damage to the track done
by high water near Millville an engine was thrown into the river and some cars
were derailed. Colonel James Kilbourn, of Columbus, had a leg broken and four
other persOTis were slightly injured. At the annual meeting in 1878, the presi-
dent reported that the entire road from Columbus to Athens and the Straitsville
Branch from Logan to New Straitsville had been laid with steel rails. An
increase of 150,000 tons in freight had produced an increase of only $35,575.05 in
rocei}its, the average rate of freight per ton per mile being only one and nineteen
hundredths cents. In 1879, William Dennison was again elected director, taking
the place of W. B. Brooks. Eight iron furnaces were reported in blast on the line
of the road in that year. The earnings of the road for the year 1879, showed an in-
crease of $161,019.47 over those of the year before. During this year a contract was
made for completion of the Ohio & West Virginia road from Logan to Pomeroy via
McArthur, eightyfive miles. On January 2, 1879, the Columbus City Council
authorized the company to construct, maintain and operate two tracks from its
])remiseson the north side of Maple Street to and across Maple and Spring streets,
to which arrangement the owners of abutting property had given their consent.
The Monday Creek Branch from Greendale to New Straitsville, five miles,
and the Sand tti-s'e*- Branch, two and a lialf miles, were completed this year, at
the end of which the paid up stock amounted to $2,400,000 and $300,000 of the
Straitsville Branch bonds, with a like amount of second mortgage bonds, had been
280 History of the City of Columbus.
redeemed. The president earnestly recommended that a double track should be
laid from Columbus to Logan to accommodate the rapidly increasing business.
On August 20, 1881, an agreement was made for consolidation of the Hocking
Valley, Columbus & Toledo and Ohio & West Virginia lines as the Columbus,
Hocking Valley & Toledo Eailway, embracing the main line from Toledo to Pom-
eroy, the Athens Branch from Logan to Athens, the Straitsville Brarich from
Logan to New Straitsville, the Monday Creek Branch from New Straitsville to
to Nelsonville, the Snowfork Branch from Monday Creek Junction to Orbiston,
makinij with other branches and sidini;s a total trackage of 402 miles.
About June 20, 1881, a rumor gained circulation that President M. M. Greene
had made arrangement for the sale of the stock of the company. This rumor
caused great excitement among the stockholders, but it soon became apparent that
some of the largest holders of the stock had assented to the sale ami that the prob-
abilities therefore were that the control of the corporation would pass away from
those who then held it. At that time the stock and bonds were both commanding
a liberal premium in the market. A very large proportion of them was owned by
citizens of Columl)«8and used as a permanent investment by individuals, executors,
administrators and other tru.stee8. The fii'st official notice of the proposed sale
that came to the directors was received at a meeting of the executive committee
on July 5, 1881. A stock dividend had been declared but not yet issued ; the
issue was suspended "owing to pending negotiations," and on July 15, after the
sale and transfer had been completed, the record of the directors contained the
first reference to it. Such influences were brought to bear on the stockholders
that they all, with one exception, agreed to and did assign their stock in accord-
ance with the agreement made by the President. The board of directors was as
much surprised at this agreement as any of the other stockholders. All the stock
of the three companies, except seven shares of the Columbus & Hocking Valley,
was sold and transferred. Few persons knew at the time to whom the sale was
made. The money was jjaid to the stockholders by the Deshler Bank on the floor
below the office of the railway companies, and all the certificates of stock taken
up during the day were consolidated into one in the name of M. M. Greene, trus-
tee, and forwarded at once to Winslow, Lanier & Co., New York. The purchasers
were only known at the time as a Cleveland party, but subsequent developments
showed them to be Stevenson Burke, Charles Hickox, William J. McKianie,
Chauncey Andrews, W. C. Andrews, Charles G. Hickox, N. P. Payne and Payne,
Newton & Co. These parties were not known to the accounting officers of the
companies nor to the stockholders, with very few exceptions. For the Columbus
& Hocking Valley stock, the par value of which was fifty dollars ])er share, the
price paid was seventyfive dollars jyev share; for the Columbus & Toledo $62.50,
and for the Ohio & West Virginia forty dollars per share. According to the presi-
dent's testimony this was at least twentyfive per cent, higher than the stock had
been know to be sold for, and this was certainly true so far as the Ohio & West
Virginia was concerned, that stock never before having been .sold, according to
testimony, for more than five dollars per share.'"
Railways. 281
What was the inducement which caused this party to ])ay what was deemed
80 much above the market price for the stock of these roads ? First, tlie capital stock
of the three roads outstanding in 1880 was of the par value of $3,975,000. At the
time of the purchase the stock was increased to $20,000,000, of which $10,305,000
was issued, uiaking a net increase of $6,330,(100. An issue of $14,500,000 of bonds
was agreed to and made, being an increase of $9,(i77,374 over the amount at tlie
time of the purcliasc, making an increase in stock and bonds of $16,007,374. The
further statcim-nt shmihl be made that the parties who offered to purchase the
stock of tlie roads ((instituted the Hocking, Coal & Railroad Company, which they
had incorporated June S, and which was the ostensible owner of ten thousand
acres of coal land in the Straitsville coal field. This land the railway companj-
was to purchase for $8,000,000 of its own stock. That is, after the purcha.sc, the
owners of the railway and the owners of the coal land would be identical, and the
railway company was to purchase of itself ten thousand acres of coal land for
$8,000,000 of its own bonds, which put a value of eight hundred dollars per acre
on lands deemed by experts to be worth in the market not more than eighty dol-
lars per acre."
The evidence does not show the precise sum realized by Burke and-associates,
but it can be approximated. They received par value for the $8,000,000 of bonds
and sold their stock at say fortytwo and onehalf per cent., which would produce
$4,970,927, the stock issued at the time of the sale being $11,690,300. These two
items amount to 812,970,927. Add to this sum the value of thrcefourths of the
stock of the Toledo & Ohio Central Railway Company ($3,525,000), received in
exchange of stock of the two companies, as hereafter explained, which according
to the last ij^uotation was rated at fortyfour per cent., and we have $14,521,927. To
this add $2,000,000 of bonds issued which were worth about ninety per cent., and
we have $16,321,921. From this deduct the amount paid for the stock of the three
companies, which was about $7,500,000, and we have a residue of $8,821,921, as the
jjrobable cash return on the operation. As there seem to have been ten persons
or firms interested in the purchase, the net profit to each one would ai^pear to
have been about three quarters of a million dollars without having invested a dol-
lar of his own.
From a contract brought forward in a suit now pending in the courts of New
York it appears that Mr. C4reene was to receive $100,000 of the bonds to be issued,
$2,000,000 of the new stock, and $15,000 per year as president of the new company
for five years. His stock was sold at about thirty jicr cent, and his bonds were
worth about par at that time.
Commenting on the sale the Ohio State Journal of June 20 said :
Nothing has created such a stir in this city for many years as the goliblint; up of the
Columbus & nockiiiK Valley, Cohimljus & Toledo and the Ohio & West Virsrinia railroad.s by
a Cleveland syndicate. . . . The stock of the Hocking Valley mad in particular lias been the.
pet stock for Columlius investors and so reliat)le has it been in its dividends that it became a
favoi'ite wedding present, or for those of small means who looked rather to revenue Ib.in an
investment for speculative purposes.
282 History of the Citv of Columbus.
The same paper of June 21 thus resumed the subject:
It has been many a day since anything has created more agitation in this city than tlie
transfer [above mentioned]. The matter was the subject of comment everywhere yesterday
ami the city had much of the appearance of a money centre. Deshler Block, High and Broad
streets, seemed to be a regular stock exchange with all the highflying and speculating of New
York or Chicago.
Same paper, Julj' 15:
It is mentioned as a matter of peculiar interest that at the meeting of the Hocking Valley
& Toledo directors this week, for the first time in the history of the roads, being over ten
vears. the question of dividends was not considered, or even mentioned. It is said to have
passed out of sight.
Same, Jul}- 21 :
There is now considerable comment on the change, since the consolidation of the three
roads under the name of the Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo Railway Company, and
the increase of the capital stock to $20,000,000. This large capital stock, of course, is only
authorized. . . . The stock has been watered to a fourfold increase. . . . The only dividends
paid were the regular semiannual dividends of four per cent, on the two million five hun-
dred thousand of Hocking Valley stock, or just half the total amount, so that the stock is
now watered eightfold on that heretofore paying a dividend. As a matter of fact the syndi-
cate running the consolidated roads has not paid out a cent of money from their own pocket
for iheir great purchase. They . . . arranged with their financial agents. Messrs. Winslow,
Lanier & Co., for |;i.5,000,000 of bonds on the road. ... It was from the proceeds of this sale
that all the stock of the three roads was paid for. . . . Of course there is much random spec-
ulating as to what this stock will be worth. It is not likely that it will be grabbed up very
lively. . . . The amount the syndicate will make out of the transaction is estimated all
the way from five to fifteen millions of dollars.
The following is an abridged history of the transaction gleaned from the
reeordsof the company, the correspondence and the evidence in asuitbrought by the
later owners of the railway : On February 14, 1881, Stevenson Burke, of Cleveland,
wrote to M. M. Greene, president of the three railway companies, calling his attcn-
lion to "various schemes proposed for getting to the Perry and Hocking coalfields,"
and stating that " there has been for some little time a disposition among some of
the parties holding land in that quarter to unite in the building of another road
to Columbus, and at this time, when railroads can be built by the issuing of bonds,
it is difficult to estimate in advance what may or may not be done by energetic
men when they sot about it." Mr. Burke continued : " I want to suggest to you
whether it is not belter for your company to possess itself of eight or teu or twelve
thousand acres of that land most available to you while it is at a comparatively low
]iricc. ... 1 do not care to have you speak of this matter except to those inter-
ested ill /our property, but if you are willing to look at the proposition in a busi-
ness light, I am sure that so far as the owners of your property are concerned they
would ])refer to deal with you."
The first interview between the parties of which we have any record took
place (111 June 0. On June 11, Burke wrote to Greene as follows:
Referring to our talk on Thursday [June 9] and the plan of our party purchasing all the
stock of your three roads at about the price we named, I have submitted it to three or four
-Railways. 2S3
of our parties, to wit : Messrs. Paj'ne, Wade, C. H. Andrews and W. H. McKinnie, and tliey
all seem to think well of [it] and express their willingness to help carry it out. . . . Hickox
and myself, however, control twothirds of the nine thousand acres of coal land we all hold
now, and it is possible [possible ! !] we might be willing to exchange for stock on a fair basis,
say, 125 of each stock, $2.50 in all, of C, H. V. & T. and C. & T. stock for each acre of land —
$1,125,000 each road — each road to own onehalf of the land.
On June 13 Burke wrote again from Cleveland :
I can meet you here Wednesday, fifteenth, if agreeable If it would excite less attention
I can meet yon at Columbus Thursday, sixteenth, and devote all day if necessary to it, and
if you desire, Mr. Deshler could meet with us [Mr. Deshler was not consulted]. Since I saw
you I have been considering the mode of raising the money to refund the cash put into the
purchase of the stock of your three companies. It may or may not be best to sell five per cent,
bonds; probably it would be best to do so if such bonds, being first mortgage on the land
and secured on the road, could be floated at par ; otherwise it might be best to issue no more
mortgages, but to make it all Ptock, roads and land, and then sell enough of the new stock to
refund the money. There is no doubt, if the properties are all consolidated or held in one
interest, being worth from five to ten millions more than now, and we may as well have some
of that benefit as give it all to others.
On June 16 Mr. Burke made a written proposition to Mr. Greene, and on July
1 the two met in New York and a written agreement was entered into with Wins-
low, Lanier A: Co., for a loan of six millions of dollars, not to the railroad compan-
ies, but to Burke and associates to enable them to purchase the stock of the three
companies. This agreement provided in substance: 1. That Drexel, Morgan &
Co. should loan to Burke and associates six million dollars for four months from
July 1, 1S81, on their joint and several notes. 2. That the money thus borrowed
should be used solely for the purchase of the stock of the three companies at prices
agreed upon. 3. That the stock of the companies when purchased should be
transferred to M. M. Greene as trustee, indorsed by him in blank and transmitted
daily to Winslow, Lanier & Co., and by them handed over to Drexel, Morgan &
Co., as part security for the loan. 4. That as soon as practicable the three compan-
ies should be consolidated into one and the stock of the three purchased under the
agreement should be exchanged and merged into the stock of the new company,
and this stock to the amount of ten million dollars, or the total thereof, should
be held by Drexel, Morgan & Co. as security for the loan. 5. As soon as practic-
able after its formation the new company should issue 14,500 bonds of $1,000 each,
secui'cd by mortgage on its property and upon ten thousand acres of coal land,
which was at the time the land of Burke and associates; $6,500,000 of which
bonds should be used to pay off the outstanding bonds of the three com
panics, and the remaining eight millions of the bonds should, as soon after
the formation of the new company as possible, bo issued and delivered
to Drexel, Morgan & Co., as additional security for the loan. 6. If the new com-
pany could not lawfully own and mortgage the coal lands (which it plainly could
not do), then Burke and associates should organize a coal com))any, cause the
lands to be deeded to it, and cause that company to legally secure the bonds by
the coal lands.
284 History of the City of Columbus.
As part of this agreement, Burke and associates assigned to Droxel, Morgan
& Co. the 18,000,000 of bonds, and gave them full power to sell and apply the pro-
ceeds to the payment of their loan; and they further gave Winslow, Lanier & Co.
an option lor ninety days to purchase $6,000,000 of these bonds at par and accrued
interest, with the condition that if they exercised that option they should apply
the proceeds of the bonds so purchased to the payment of the notes in the hands
of Drexel, Morgan & Co. And all this was done before Burke and associates had
any interest whatever in any of the bonds or stock they were thus dealing in or
with, and before the company was incorporated by which they were to be issued,
for tliis was not completed until September 10.
At a meeting of the executive committee held July 5, 1881, Mr. Greene made
known the existence of the negotiations. He reported that on or about June 8,
1831, certain gentlemen of Cleveland, interested in certain coal lands in the
Hocking Valley near the line of this road and its branches, had filed a certificate
of incorporation to construct the new railway from Columbus to their coal lands
and other points. As soon as this was made public the president, after consulting
with some of the directors, communicated with the incorporators of the new road
and it was ascertained that the.se parties intended to build such a road unless they
could buj' the whole or a controlling amount of the stock of the Columbus &
Hocking Valley, or unless that company would purcha.se their coal lands; where-
fore the president submitted a form of option to Burke and associates containing
the following, to be signed by the stockholders :
Whereas, it is the opinion of our president, M. M. Greene, and others largely interested,
that said corporation will become a formidable competitor to our railroad if constructed ; and
\Vhere.\s, to obviate such competition negotiations are now pending between
M. M. Greene, president, and said Cleveland parties to sell the stock of the said C. & H. V.
Eailroad Company to said Cleveland parties, now to promote said negotiations on our part,
we, the stockholders . . . hereby agree to such sale. . . .
A few discrepancies between this recital and the history of the transaction as
shown in the correspondence will readilj' suggest themselves to the mind of the
reader. The transfer of the stock was begun July 8, just one week after the con-
tract was signed in New York and two days after the proposition was made
known to the executive committee. The proposition was not brought before the
board of directors until July 15, and that was after the stock had been nearly all
transl'erred.
The next move was the consolidation of the three companies, which was
effected on September 10, by the election of Burke and associates, with M. M.
Greene as president, at a salary of $15,000, and John W. Ellis, of the firm of
Winslow, Lanier & Co., of New York, as a director, the choice of Ellis being made
at the suggestion of Mr. Burke. '^ At the first meeting of the board a resolution was
adopted authorizing Burke and Hickox to unite " in the purchase of the stock of the
Snowfork & Cleveland Coal Company to the amount of $267,500, and to issue the
notes of the company therefor, said Hickox and Burke agreeing to pay for said
stock and allowing the company to hold the amount in bonds due them until
they paid for the .stock." Why the bonds were " due them " does not appear, but
Eailways. 285
they seem to have perceived that the law did not allow the coniiiany to deal in
coal lands, for on the sixteenth, just six days after the consolidation, tlie Hocking
Coal & Eailroad Company was organized at Cleveland with a capit il stock of
$3,000,000. This was in accordance with the agreement in New York, that if it
should be found that the railroad company could not own the coal lands a com-
pany would be formed for that purpose. On September 19 the corporators of
this company met and opened books for subscription, limiting the amount to
$1,500,000, which was promptly taken by the following parlies: Tlie Continental
Coal Company by W. J. McKinnie, president; W. J. McKinnie, Charles J. Ilickox,
William B. Sanders and others. No amounts were subscribed by the parlies, the
whole being taken in bulk. Nothing was paid then or at any time afterwards.
At a meeting on September 28 the directors of the consolidated company
adopted a resolution increasing the capital stock to $20,000,000 and the bonded
indebtedness to $14,500,000 ; $6,500,000 of the bonds to be set apart for redemp-
tion of the outstanding bonds of the constituent companies and the remaining
$8,000,000 to be used for equipment, doubletracking and other improvements of
the road. At the same meeting it was directed that the $8,000,000 of bonds just
mentioned should be placed in the hands of Messrs. Greene and Burke, by whom
they were banded over to Winslow, Lanier & Co., their proceeds being api>lied to
payment of the notes of Burke and associates in accordance with the contract of
July 1, At a subsequent meeting held November 2 a resolution was adopted at
the suggestion of Winslow, Lanier & Co., directing President Greene to hand over
to Stevenson Burke, chairman of the executive committee, $6,400,000 (evidently a
mistake for $6,411,000) of the consolidated mortgage bonds of the company, while
at the same time Winslow, Lanier & Co. had reported on July 18 that they had
purchased and turned over to Drexel, Morgan & Co., $6,000,030 of the stock of the
companies with the proceeds of these same bonds turned over to them in pursu-
ance of the contract of July 1. On November 16, Messrs. Burke and Greene
reported that Mr. Burke had " sold " to Winslow, Lanier & Co., $6,411,000 of the
bonds at par, less commission, and that the bonds had been delivered and " paid
for in full," but thej- omitted to report that the proceeds had been used to pay the
individual notes of Burke and associates. The directors approved the sale and
ordered the president to deliver to the executive committee the remainder of the
$8,000,000 ($1,589,000) and take a receipt fron\ the executive committee for the
whole amount.
On September 19, 1881, Stevenson Burke, Charles Hickox and associates filed
a certificate of incorpoi-ation of the Hocking Coal & Eailroad Company, and ten
daj-s thereafter, on September 29, the Snowfork & Cleveland Coal Company sold
to it 5,619.86 acres of coal land at $150 jjer acre; Burke and Hickox sold to it
1,380.14 acres; and the Continential Coal Company sold to it 3,000 acres at the
same price, making 10,000 acres in all, just the amount involved in and required
by the contract of Jul}' 1. No money was paid, the companj^ .giving its notes for
the land. On August 14, 1882, the directoi-s of the Columbus, Hocking Valley
& Toledo Eailway Company adopted the following resolution : " That the Presi-
dent be and is hereby directed to purchase the whole of the stock of the Hocking
286 History op the City of Columbus.
Coal & Railroad Company, which covers and represents 10,000 acres of coal lands
in Hocking, Perry atid Athens counties, amounting to 15,000 shares at and for the
price of $8,000,000, payable in the consolidated bonds of this company, dated Sep-
tember 1, 1881, at their jjar value; that the title be taken in the name of the
president as trustee of this company." Thereupon the president reported that he
had purchased "said 15,000 shares of the capital stock of said Hocking Coal &
Railroad Company at and for the price of 88,000,000 and paid therefor in the
bonds of this company at the price abovementioned." The board immediately
adopted a resolution approving and ratifying the transaction, and on the same
day the stockholders, all present, did " unanimously resolve" that the proceeding
"is hereby approved, ratified and confirmed" and "that said $8,000,000 men-
tioned in said resolution of said directors and stockholders included and was
intended to include as part and parcel thereof said $0,411,000 sold by said Burke
for himself and associates to said Winslow, Lanier & Co. ;" that is, they did not
intend that Burke and associates should understand that it was agreed to pay
them, $8,000,000 in addition to the $6,411,000 already paid in New York. Let the
reader now remember that the coal lands sold by Burke and associates were pur-
chased by them at about seventyfive to one hundred dollars per acre, some of the
very best of them, as the writer personally knows, at the lesser price ; and that in
the organization of the Hocking Coal & Railroad Company they were valued at $150
per acre. Besides this it should be stated that the Hocking Coal & Railroad Com-
pany was a paper road with no treasury, no treasurer, nothing but 10,000 acres of
coal* land for which it had received $8,000,000. Nevertheless, at a meeting of this
company held at Cleveland October 18, 1886, they adopted a resolution to offer to
its creditors the joint six per cent, bonds at par for its indebtedness ($764,000)
dollar for dollar. William M. Greene, son of President Greene, and secretary and
vice president of both companies, thought there was something vvrong in that pro-
position, and on the next day, October 19, wrote from Columbus to Charles Hickox
enclosing copies of the resolutions directing purchase of the coal company's stock
by the railroad company, and adding: " In view to the contents of the above reso-
lution I am unable to reconcile the action of our meeting of the Hocking Coal &
Railroad Company yesterday at which time they passed a resolution to divide
among themselves the joint six per cent, bonds of the railroad company to the
amount of $764,000; specially so when the resolution which I have quoted shows
that the coal lands were fully paid for by the eight millions five per cent, bonds
of this companj-. Because of the fact that this does notseem right 1 have thought
best to call your attention to it and ask you to explain to me how it can be done."
To this Mr Hickox answered: " I know nothing about it. All I know or ever
knew is that Burke planned the whole thing. . . We followed his lead in every-
thing and 1 fear in some things to our misfortune."
On the same day Mr. Greene wrote to Mr. Burke the same letter which he
had written to Mr. Hickox, and two days later Burke replied : " There is notiiiug
wrong in the record about the coal stock and lands." It was not the record, how-
ever, of which Mr. Greene complained, but the fact stated in the record.
Railways. 287
In the suit subsequently commenced llio plaiiiliff, iho Columbus, Ildcking
Valley & Toledo Company, asserted that the stocU of the Hocking C!oal & fiail-
road Company was entirely unpaid and amounted to a stock subscription, and tliat
said coal company still owed ihe sum fif $754,000 for a portion of the 10,000 acres
of land ; that is to say, neither the land owned by the company nor the stock of
the com]iany had been paid for. To this the astonishing reply was made : "Tliese
defendants expressly den}' that they have ever asserted that the stock of said
Hocking Coal & Railroad Company . . . is entirely unpaid for, or that they have
not been paid for said stock, but upon the contrary tliej' aver and charge the fact
to be that said stock was paid for in full by the sale and deliver}' to the owi ers of
said stock of said 88,000,000 of bon<ls."
The contract of July 1 was fulfilled. Reduced to its simplest terms, it stip-
ulated, that Burke and his associates would purchase the stock of the three rail-
road companies provided the companies would advance them the neces.sar}' funds;
$14,500,000 of bonds were issued and disposed of as follows : 16,500,000 were
reserved to meet a like amount of the bonds of the three companies outstanding ;
$6,411,000 were used to paj' the individual notes of Burke and associates ; the
remainder, $1,589,000, was handed over to the executive committee and disposed
of as follows: $100,000 to Mr. Greene; $515,000 to Burke and Hickox; $221,000
to Andrews, Hitchcock & Co.; $548,000 to the Cleveland syndicate, and $205,000
were sold as the bonds of the company for Burke and associates. The $10,000,000
of stock was divided as follows: To Burke and Hickox, fiftysix per cent. ; to Mc-
Kinnie and associates, twentyfour per cent. ; to M. M. Greene, twenty per cent.
On July 7, 1882, just one year after the purchase of the three roads, Mr
Greene wrote to Mr. Burke: " It will require $100,000 to carry us through this
month and provide for interest, and at least $150,000 foi- August. . . . The strain
on me of so much to pay and not knowing where it is to come from is too much.
. . I come to my office in the morning not knowing how I am to meet the obliga-
tions of the day."
An illustration of the freedom with which Burke and associates dealt with
the stock and bonds of the railroad company is furnished hy the history of the
Toledo & Ohio Central. This company was bankrupt before its completion. It
was constructed as a competitor to the Columbus & Hocking Valley and proved
to be a very troublesome one, as bankrupt roads always are, since the managers
of such roads have no stockholders or bonds to take cure of and care little for a sur-
jjlus. In 1885, a plan was brought forward by which the competition of the
Toledo & Ohio Central could be avoided. Mr. Greene, as president of the Colum-
bus & Toledo Road, had purchased early in the history of the company, about
eighty acres of land at Toledo for terminal and dock purposes, which the com-
pany had never been able to utilize. The president and vice president ot the Col-
umbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo, Messrs. Greene and Burke, were authorized to
" lease or sell any of the lands of the consolidated company at Toledo not needed
by it for its own use " to the Toledo & Ohio Central Company, and as part of the
agreement they were authorized to endorse $3,000,000 of the bonds of the Toledo
& Ohio Central. The endorsement was to be done on condition that the man-
288 History of the City of Columbus.
agement of tlie two roads would be under practically the same parties, and a " com-
petition between the parties be done away with." Two points would have been
gained by this arrangement; an annoying competitor and an unprofitable invest-
ment would both have been disposed of But the scheme was finally completed
by an arrangement to exchange one share of Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo
stock for two shares of that of the Toledo & Ohio Central to an amount equal to
threequarters of the whole stock of the Toledo & Ohio Central Company, thus giv-
ing control of both roads to the same party, in evasion of the statute prohibiting
the consolidation of competing lines. On January 12, preceding this transaction,
the directors of the C. H. V. & T. company declared a dividend of thirteen and
threocights per cent., which produced about the sum needed to carry out the
trade, and when Burke and associates sold their interest in the C. H. V. & T. they
reserved the Toledo & Ohio Central and now control it without the payment of a
dollar.
The ]iart3- that had come into possession of the Columbus, Hocking Valley &
Toledo Railway, John W. Shaw being president, seeing $8,000,000 of bonds
included in the statement, made 3;^ effort to trace the amount into the treasury of
the company, and in so doing found the letters of Messrs. Burke and Greene. Suit
was begun February 9, 1887, against Burke and associates to secure an accounting
for the S8, 000, 000, but before the case was tried on its merits an arbitration was
agreed to, and the arbitrators decided the case against the compan3\ The reasons
given for this conclusion form an interesting chapter in the his tor}' of this road
but are too voluminous for repetition here.
On April 1. 1882, after the road had changed ownership, the following direc-
tors were elected: M. M. Greene, Columbus: S. Burke, Charles Hickox, W. J.
McKinnie and Charles G. Hickox, Cleveland ; C. H. Andrews, Youngstown, and
J. W. Ellis, New York. M. M. Greene was retained as president, S. Burke as
vice president and William M. Greene as secretary. F. H. Medary was elected
treasurer. John J. Janney, who had served as secretary and treasurer of the
company since its organization, retired. George R. Carr was elected general
superintendent and J. D. Lott as auditor, the latter in place of T. J. Janney, who
had served since the organization. W. A. Mills was appointed general freight
agent and W. H. Harrison general ticket agent. Both the ownership and the
control of the road passed into the hands of nonresidents. At the annual meet-
ing in 1887, W. P. Shaw appears as a director in place of M. M. Greene. The
annual report for 1888 shows further changes. Charles Foster, P. W. Hunting-
ton, James Kilbourne, C. C. Waite, Charles B. Alexander, George W. McCook,
Samuel D. Davis, Thomas F. Ryan and Charles B. VanNostrand appear as direc-
tors. C. C. Waite was president, Samuel D. Davis first vice president, Charles B.
Alexander second vice president, Willian\ M. Cott secretar}- and treasurer, James
T. Boothroyd assistant secretary, John J. McCook of New York, General Counsel,
Charles H. Rockwell general superintendent, T. B. Everett auditor, W. A. Mills
general freight agent, H. J. Falkenbach general pa.sscnger and ticket agent, and
F. B. Sheldon chief engineer. The report for the year 1888, states that, " as com-
pared with the previous year there was a decrease of $.379,314.48 in the gross
J^^-C^2^^^CC>U(>' ^^^^-^^^
Eailways. 289
earnings, and of $166,177.38 in the operating expenses, notwithstanding the abnor-
mal charge of $42,856 to legal expenses on account of litigation incurred in previ-
ous years." The report for 1889, shows a profit on business of $599.82, but there
were " additional extraordinary charges of $366,214.24."
At the time of the payment of the first dividend on August 1, 1872, there were
exactly four hundred stockholder.s. Those resident in Columbus owned $842,650,
or 74.26 per cent, of the whole amount, and the stockholders living immediately
on the line owned $183,400, or 16.16 per cent., making $1,026,050, or over 90.42
per cent, of the whole amount of stock owned by those immediatelj' interested in
the management and prosperity of the road. At the time of payment of the last
dividend, July 11, 1881, the number of stockholders had increased to 495; the
stock had increased from $1,134,600 to $2,387,950. Of this sum citizens of Colum-
bus owned $1,700,350, or 71.23 per cent, of the whole amount, and those living on
the line owned $161,800, or 6.79 per cent., making $1,862,150, or over seventyeight
per cent, still in possession of the original owners. In the meantime the company
had paid seventeen semiannual cash dividends, the first four of five and the rest of
four per cent. It had also paid four stock dividends, two of four, one of ten and
one of twenty per cent. In 1890 there were but thirteen stockholders resident in
Ohio, and these held but a nominal amount of stock. The bonds and stock instead
of being at a liberal premium as forn.orly are now quoted at eightysix for the one
and twentyseven to twentyeight per cent, ^or the other. At the time of the sale
of the property to Burke and his associates the stock and funded debts of the three
constituent roads outstanding amounted to $11,269,500, and the construction
account, "road and fixtures," to $9,182,451. The sale was made in July, 1881.
* According to the rejiort for the year ended June 30, 1882, being the first full year
under the management of Burke and associates, these items were: Funded debt
outstanding, including stock, $24,974,500; road and equipment, $15,105,042. At
the time of the sale by Burke and associates, these items, according to their
report, were: Funded debt, including stock, $27,112,300; road and equip-
ments, $20,327,164.
Ohio & West Virgina.— Ow March 3, 1870, the Gallipolis, McArthur & Colum-
bus Eailroad Company was incorporated. Under the presidencj^ of Mr. Langley,
considerable money was expended in grading the track between Gallipolis and
the intersection with the Marietta and Cincinnati line at or near Vinton Station,
but the panic of 1873 brought the enterprise into great embarrassment and the
work was entirely suspended. On June 27, 1876, the Columbus & Gallipolis Rail-
road Company was organized and became owner of all the property and franchises
of the company just mentioned. The new company resumed the work of construct-
ing the line, but in May, 1878, it also became embarrassed, and in July the prop-
erty was sold to the Ohio & West Virginia Railway Company which had by that
time been incorporated. On June 12, 1879, a contract was made with Miller,
Thomas & Co. to build and equip the road. The members of this company were
Henry Miller, Samuel Thomas, Orland Smith, Charles Parrott, D. S. Gray,
C. C. Walcutt, James A. Wilcox, G. C. Hoover of Columbus; Henry Stearns of
290 History of the City of Columbup.
Cincinnati, George C. Benham of Louisiana, E. Delatomb of Gallipolis, Eoyall Hill
of Chicago and George W. Norris of Boston. On June 27, 1879, the stock of the
companj' was increased from $250,000 to $2,500,000 and an issue of bonds to the
amount of $1,584,000 was authorized. The I'oad was completed from Logan to
Gallipolis October 15, 1880. It was constructed in the cheapest manner, cuts and
fills being as steep and ties as far apart as circumstances would allow and bridges
and trestles very light. On July 19, 1881, the company was consolidated with the
Columbus & Hocking and Columbus & Toledo, as heretofore stated. By the terms
of consolidation the holder of stock in the Ohio & West Virginia received one and
a half shares in the new company for each share held in the old one, while the
stockholders in the other two companies exchanged slock at par.
Columbus if- Toledo. — This company was incorporated May 28, 1872, by
M. M. Greene, P. W. Huntington, B. E. Smith, W. G. Deshler, J. A. Wilcox and
John L. Gill, with a capital stock of $2,500,000. Its subscription books were
ojjenod July 1, 1872, and on November 13, same year, William Dennison,
B. E. Smith, W. G. Deshler, H. J. Jewett and D. S. Gray of Columbus ; Abner L.
Backus, Samuel M. Young and H. S. Walbridge of Toledo, were elected directors.
M. M. Greene was chosen president, J. A. Wilcox secretary and treasurer, and
Philip D. Fisher chief engineer. At the annual meeting on April 15, 1874,
H. C. JSoble of Columbus, J. D. Vandeman of Delawai'e, J. J. Hane of Marion,
and McD. M. Carey of Carey, were added to the board. On May 22, 1874, an
issue of 12,500,000 of thirtj'year seven per cent, bonds was authorized, S. M.
Young and W. G. Deshler being named as trustees. The line as proposed
extended from Columbus to Toledo via Delaware, Marion, Upper Sandusky, Carey
and Fostoria. Its alignment was remarkable, one hundred fourteen and seventy-
three onehuudredth miles being straight and only six and ninetytwo hun-
dredths curved. The estimated cost of construction and equipments was
$3,300,000. On May 3, 1873, an election was held in Columbus on a proposition
for the citj' to subscribe $300,000 to the Columbus & Toledo Railway Company,
west line, and resulted in 2,393 yeas to 1,053 nays, but the Boesel Law under
which the vote was taken, was set aside by the Supreme Court. Two lines were
surveyed by Philip D. Fisher, engineer, one via Delavvare, Marion, Upper San-
duskj', Carey and Fostoria; the other via Marysville, Kenton, Findlay and
Bowling Green. The necessary' action was taken to secure aid for building the
road by the issue of bonds by the townships along each line under the provisions
of the Boesel Railroad Law, and a tract of about seventyfive acres of land in
Toledo was pureha.sed for dock and other purposes at a cost of $80,700, but on
May 13, 1873, the Supreme Court pronounced the Boesel Law unconstitu-
tional, and on October 8 the board ordered all proceedings suspended on account
of the commei'cial derangement then existing. About eighty miles of the right
of way had been secured at a cost of $808.30 per mile. In 1876 the directors were
M. M. Greche, W. G. Deshler, D. S. Gray, E. L. Hinman, John Greenleaf,
P. W. Huntington anil Isaac Eberly of Columbus; J. G. Vandeman of Delaware;
A. H. Kiing of Marion ; McD. M. Carey, of Carey; S. M. Young, A. L. Backus and
H. S. Walliriilire of Toledo. At a mcetins; of the directors and stockholders held
Railways. 291
May 31, 1876, it was found that valid and collectable subscriptions to the amount
of $1,023,000 had been made; accordinglj', on July 14, the president was
authorized to advertise for bids for the construction of the road and to prepare
for issue $2,500,000 of the company's bonds. On August 14, a contract for the
construction was matle with Miller, Smith & Co., the members of which company
were Henry Miller, B. E. Smith, Theodore Comstock, Samuel Thomas, Orland
Smith, Henry Stearns, G. W. Norris, G. T. Gould, W. G. Case and others, the
consideration being $1,900,000, of which $825,000 was to be paid in cash, and
$1,075,000 in the bonds of the company at par. The work was commenced
August 17. B. B. Smith being one of the contractors, he realigned his member-
ship of the board. On October 13, 1875, P. D. Fisher, engineer, reported that
the right of way hail been settled "except seven and ninetysixth hundredths
mites," and added : " While the oldest companies in the State are still contesting
unsettled claims for right of way, you are to be congratulated on the nearly com-
plete adjustment of the entire line." On April 29, 1876, the first rail was laid and
the first spike driven at Delaware, in the presence of a large number of citizens
of that city and of Columbus.
At a meeting of the directors in May, 1877, Orland Smith was appointed gen-
eral superintendent; M. T. Seymour trainmaster, T. J. Janney auditor, W. A.
Mills general freight agent and D. H. Gard superintendent of telegraph. In Jan-
uary, 1877, the road was sufficiently complete to commence business, and trains
from Columbus to Toledo were put on it under an arrangement with the contrac-
tors allowing the company to use the road before formal acceptance thereof; a
contract having been made with the Toledo & Woodville Railroad Company for
the use of its track from Walbridge to Toledo, and a like contract with the Colum-
bus & Hocking Vallej' for terminal facilities at Columbus. The road was opened
for traffic from Columbus to Marion in November, 1876 An account of an excur-
sion over the road on November 2, 1876, appeared in the contemporary newspap-
ers. The cost of the road was reported as $3,338,507.74, being $28,244 per mile;
but from this the president deducted the cost of "certain real estate in Toledo and
elsewhere on the line " not necessary for present use of the road, amounting to
$328,397.65, making the actual cost of the road more than $200,000 le.ss than the
estimate. At the annual meeting in 1878 the president reported the earnings suf-
ficient to pay all interest, rentals, taxes and running expenses, and to cany
$28,051.69 to the credit of the contingent account.
On October 13, 1875, the directors adopted resolutions providing that interest
should be charged at six per cent, on all stock subscriptions due and unpaid after
a certain date, and interest at the rate of eight per cent, allowed on all subscrip-
tions paid before that date. This arrangement was found to be so unsatisfactory
that oh January 16, 1879, the operation of the resolutions was limited to February
1, and at a meeting on September 8, 1880, the directors in order " to provide funds
to pay said [interest] scrip " and for other purposes, determined to issue a second
mortgage of $600,000. At another meeting held October 13, 1880, it was ordered
that the outstanding scrip and all unadjusted claims for interest on payments of
292 History of the City of Columbus.
stock subscriptions should be declared due and pa3'able on November 30, interest
to cease from that date.
The highest point on the road, fortythree miles from Columbus and two and a
half miles south of Marion, is 265 feet above the Columbus bridge over the Whet-
stone and 410 feet above Lake Erie. The road has no grade over twentysix feet
to the mile ; fortythree and a half miles of it are level. The track was laid with
three thousand ties per mile and sixtypound steel i-ails, from Columbus to Upper
Sandusky, sixtj^four miles ; and with iron I'ails of the same weight thence to
Walbridge, iiftyfour miles. The bridges were all of iron except one. In March,
1^ 1877, a permanent dock was buil^ at Toledo to accommodate the coal and iron
business of the road.
Sciofo Valley. — On Januarj- 4, 183(j, a convenlion of delegates and prominent
citizens representing the Scioto Valley counties from Portsmcjuth to Columbus and
thence to Sandusky, met in Columbus to take measures for securing continuous
railway or canal communication on that route. Chandler Rogers was chairman
and William Doherty secretary of this meeting. James Kilbourne, of Worlhington,
J. G. Camp, of Sandusky, and N. V. Peck, of Portsmouth, were appointed as a com-
mittee to report at a future meeting. At an adjourned meeting of January 6,
Joseph Ridgway chairman and Moses H. Kirby secretary of this committee, made
a long report, accompanied by resolutions unanimously adopted, that application
be made to the General Assembly for the construction of a railway or canal from
Columbus to Sandusky City, and that a committee be appointed to prepare a mem-
orial to that effect, which was accordingly done. At a special election held March
5, 1849, Portsmouth voted a subscription of $75,000 to the stock of the Scioto
& Hocking Valley Railroad Company, and in April, same year, Lancaster voted to
subscribe to the stock of the same company the sum of $25,000. On May 9, 1849,
the company was organized at Chillicothe with J. V. Robinson as president, and a
survey of the route was ordered. Proposals for grading twenty miles from Ports-
mouth to Bloomfield were invited on November 25, 1850, by the president and the
chief engineer, J. W. Webb. On August 19, 1854, forty miles of the road were
reported to be complete and yielding ten per cent, interest. At a meeting held in
Chillicothe April 19, 1869, a resolution was adopted that a committee of five from
each of the counties there represented be appointed to take measures for organiz.
ing a company to construct a railway on the most eligible route from Columbus to
Portsmouth, either by procuring a new charter or by using that of the Columbus,
Chillicothe & Portsmouth Railroad Comparny, which had been procured some
years before. The committee was also authorized to raise means to execute the
work.
At a meeting held in Columbus, March 7, 1871, Wayne Griswold of Picka-
way County, chairman, and B. F. Stage, of Franklin, secretary, Messrs. A. (|+over
of Scioto, James Emmett of Pike, John Woodbridge of Ross, Wayne Griswold of
Pickaway and R. C. Hotfaian of Franklin, were appointed a committee to procure
.•I charter and it was decided to adopt the name of Scioto Valley Railroad Com-
pany, and Columbus and Pcn-tsmouth as termini of the line, with Chillicothe, Cir-
cloville and Waverlj' as intermediate points. On February 23, 1875, another
Railways. -^93
orgiinizaLioii was completed with William Monypony, E. T. Miilioff, Joliii (i.
Mitchell, T. E. Miller, W. B. Haydon, John C. En,i,rlish and John Joyce as incor-
porators, with a capital stock of $2,000,000, and on September 13, 1875, the com-
panj- was granted by ordinance of the Columbas City Council a right of way
across Broad and Friend streets through a portion of Centre Street eastof the County
Fair Grounds and through " such other streets and alleys as may be necessary to
construct and maintain its track." A construction contract was made in May,
1875, and on August 12 of that year the work was begun. The road was com-
pleted from Columbus to Chillicothe in July, 187G, and to Portsmouth in January,
1878, and was extended from Portsmouth to Petersburg in Ma}', 1S81, there
making connection with the Chesapeake & Ohio. The first train from Columbus
to Chillicolhe was run June 1, 1876. The first excursion train over the whole road
arrived at Columbus December 27, 1877. The road has no grade over twentysix
feet to the mile except a short one at its junction with the Central Ohio. No cur-
vature exceeds three degrees. The total length of the road is one hundred and
twentyeight and threefourths miles.
On January 1, 1885, the company defaulted on its interest and a receiver was
appointed May 30. On January 22, 1890, the property was sold for the benefit of
the bondholders and a reorganization was effected. The foreclosure was made
chiefly at the instance and for the benefit of Mr. Huntington of New York, who
had gathered up through his brokers a sufficient quantity of the company's bonds
and interest coupons for that purpose, and the small bondholders, consisting to a
large extent of widows and other helpless persons, were subjected to great loss.
An issue of $5,000,000 of stock and a like amount of firstmortgage four per cent.
one-hundred-year gold bonds was authorized. On February' 1, 1890, the road
was reorganized as the Scioto Valley and New England Eailway Company. Four
and a hall miles of additional track extending from Portsmouth to Sciotoville had
been built in 1889. In 1890, the road was leased to the Norfolk & Western sys-
tem, embracing lines of an aggregate length of 1,437 miles.
CollPmbus, Shawnee it Hocking. — This company was incorporated October 6,
1889, by D. S. Gray, P. W. Huntington, H. D. Turney, W. E. Guerin, and F. J.
Picard. Its present capital comprises $2,000,000 of common and a like amount of
preferred stock. On October 28, 1889, it purchased the Columbus & Eastern Eail-
way which extended from Columbus to Moxuhala with authorized branches to
Eedfield and Cannelville. The Columbus & Eastern was chartered February 1,
1882, and organized the ensuing November by J. E. Eedfield, James Taylor, Alien
Miller, John F. McFadden, F. A. Kelley, G. G. Collins, F. Siegel, C. D. Firestone,
W. E. Guerin, J. C. Donald.son, B. E. Orr and E. W. Eeynolds. G. G. Collins was
president and F. Siegel secretary ; capital 12,500,000. The purpose of this cor-
poration was to build a railway from Columbus to Moxahala, with branches to
Eedfield and Cannelville. The road was begun in November, 1882, and com-
pleted from Hadley Junction to Moxahala January 16, 1884. On March 6, 1885,
W. E. Guerin was appointed receiver and at the same time Augustine Converse
was appointed receiver of the Buckeye Coal & Iron Company, au organization
comprised within that of the railway. The first spike was driven with due cere-
29-1 History of the City of Columbus.
mony at Gleuford August 16, 1883. On October 28, 1889, the company purchased
the Shawnee & MusUintfum Eiver Eailway extending from Shawnee Junction to
Shawnee, chartered March 13, 1887, and opened June 1, 1889. In the spring of
1890, the company began the construction, completed in October, of eleven and
onetenth miles of track from Saltillo on the Columbus & Eastern division to Sayre
on the Shawnee and Muskingum. On January 1, 1890, fiftyyear five per cent
bonds to the amount of 85,000,000 were ordered to be issued. The company now
operates one hundred and fiftytwo miles of road and penetrates a region of abun-
dant coal and fireclay deposits.
Toledo & Ohio Central— On June 7, 1867, a meeting of which J. S. Robinson,
of Kenton, was chairman, was held in Columbus in the interest of a railway from
Columbus to Toledo. It was addressed by M. M. Greene, William Dennison and
C. A. King. A subsequent meeting held July 13, J. R. Osborn chairman, adopted
resolutions favoring the organization of a company and a survey of the route. At
a third meeting held in Toledo, Charles A. King chairman and D. R. Locke sec-
retary, sixteen incorporators were appointed, viz : For Columbus, W. B. Brooks,
Samuel Gallowaj-, William A. Piatt, Theodore Comstock, William Dennison, Wil-
liam E. Ide and D. W. H. Day; for Toledo, Charles A. King, H. S. Walbridge,
James C. Hall, Morris A. Scott, Perry Crabbs, E. V. McMakin, Charles Kent, J. R.
Osborn and A. D. Pelton. This organization seems to have done nothing further
than to appoint C. E. Waite engineer. Assistance from Columbus was expected,
but was not given because of the claims laid upon the city by the road to the
Hocking Valley.
A meeting in behalf of the enterprise was held at Toledo December 24, 1872,
at which John C. Lee was chairman and various interested counties, including
Franklin, were represented but no definite action was reported. On June 12, 1889,
the Atlantic & Lake Erie Railroad Company was incorporated for the purpose of
constructing a railway from Toledo to the Hocking coal field, and on August 22,
1871, the Columbus, Ferrara & Mineral Railroad was incorporated with authority
to build a road from Columbus to Ferrara. A meeting in behalf of this ft terprise
was held at Columbus November 10, 1871. A contract for construction of this
road was reported and referred in the Columbus City Council November 23,
1872, and on December 16 the following resolution was adopted :
That the Mayor be and he is hereby requested to prepare a contract with the Columbus,
Ferrara & Mineral Railway Company on the basis of the bid of said company dated Novem-
ber 21, 1872, for the completion of a railw'ay mentioned in an advertisement of the said
Mayor dated September 25, 1S72, and to report such contract to this council for its concur-
rence.
Owing to the unconstitutionality of the law under which the bonds of the
city were to be issued nothing was done in pursuance of this resolution.
At a joint meeting of stockholders of the Atlantic & Lake Erie and the Colum-
bus, Ferrara & Mineral companies held at Columbus December 17, 1872, a report
was made of assets and progress. Grading had then been completed on one hun-
dred and ten miles of the line and ties for fifty miles of it had been delivered. The
directors were instructed to collect the available subscriptions and ])ro8ecute the
Hail WAYS. 205
work. A vote tukoii in Coliuubus on August ;J1, 1872, on a [ji-oposilioii to issue tliu
bonds of tiicritv In 111,, amount of$200,000i 11 the aid of the Scioto Valloy and the Co-
lumbus, Frrraia \ .M i iicral rail ways rosultod in favor of the proposition, 4,239 to 462,
but a judical decision nullifying the law under which this vote was taken rendered
it useless. On April 20, 1876, the name Atlantic & Lake Brie was exchanged for
that of Ohio Central Railway Company, and on December 20, 1879, that company
was consolidated with the Columbus, Ferrara & Mineral, which then bore the name
of Columbus & Sundaj' Creek Valley Railroad Company. In April, 1880, a cou-
struetion contract was made with Brown, Howard & Co., of Chicago, and the worli
was begun at Fostoria and Bush's Station. The road was completed in Novem-
ber, 1880, but in 1883 it passed into the hands of John S. Martin, of Toledo, as
receiver, and on April 15, 1885, it was sold on forclosure to C. J. Cauda for
$1,000,000. The com))any has made running arrangements with the P. C. & St.
L. and B. & O. companies from Columbus to Alum Creek; with the Cincinnati &
Muskingum V^alley from Bremen to New Lexington: with the Kanawha & Ohio
from Corning to Jacksonville; and with the Columbus & Eastern from Thurston
to Alum Creek. The subscribed stock, when last reported, amounted to $4,700,000.
The company now owns or operates lines having an aggregate trackage of 248
miles.
Atliintic d- Great Western. — On February 17, 1849, the Pennsylvania legisla-
ture adopted a joint resolution approving the repeal of the charter of the Oloan
& Erie Railway, which was intended to connect the New York lines with those of
Ohio. In the same month and year a: public meeting was held at Massillon, at
which Willian\ Neil of Columbus was chairman, to consider the construction of a
railway of six feet gauge from Columbus to the Pennsylvania line in the direction
of Olean, New York, and a survey was ordered. On Septenber 7, 1853, the stock-
holders of the Atlantic & Ohio Broad Gauge Eailway Company met at the Neil
House and elected William Neil, Jacob Perkins, D. K. Cartter, William Dennison,
John Miller, Joseph Ridgway and J. F. Bartlit as directors. An immediate sur-
vey was ordered, the intention being to connect with the northern system of
Pennsylvania and with New York via the New York Central. On October 19,
1871, General George B. McClellan and others filed with the Secretary of State a
deed transferring that part of the Atlantic & Great Western which lies in the
State of Ohio to General George B. Wright and others. At the same time was
filed a certificate of reorganization of the Atlantic & Great Western Railway
Company of Ohio, which elected a board of directors with General Wright as
president, he having previously resigned his office of Commissioner of railroads
and telegraphs. The road never reached Columbus.
. Michigan d- Ohio.— A meeting was held in the City Hall, Columbus, January
14, 1875, in the interest of this proposed road which had been projected three
years previously by citizens of Grand Haven, Michigan. The meeting was
addressed by its chairman, T. B. Miller, by Governor Allen, by James S. Gibbs,
president of the proposed road, and by others, and a committee of ten was
appointed to promote the enterprise. On February 3 another meeting was held
296 History of the City of Columbus.
and a committee was appointed to obtain subscriptions to the amount of S125,U00
in Franklin County, but with this action the enterprise ended.
Cohimhus d- Ironton.— This company was incorporated in January, 1870, bj-
Ealph Leete, E. E. Neil, B. S. Brown, Luther Donaldson and others, and on March
3, same year, a large meeting in behalf of the enterprise was held at the Oi)era
House in Columbus, S. S. Rickly chairman and E. C. Cloud and J. J. Janney sec-
retaries. Addresses were made by William Dennison, George B. Wright and
others, and a committee to open subscription books was appointed. The project
was carried.no further.-
Columbus d- MaysriUe. — This company was incorporated November 30, 1849,
and its subscription books were opened in Franklin, Pickaway and Eoss counties
March 16, 1853. A part of the line was built south of Hillsborough but nothing
was done north of that point.
The Union Depot Cnmpnny. — The railway station at Columbus was first estab-
lished by the Columbus & Xenia and the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati com-
panies in 1850, and a frame stationhouse admitting three tracks was then built.
Shortly thereafter an alliance of a rather exclusive character was formed between
the Little Miami, the Columbus & Xenia and the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincin-
nati companies, one of its conditions being that no one of these roads should form
a connection with any other without the consent of its associates. Out of this
grew a controversy when the Columbus & Xenia asked the Bee Line company
that the trains of another road be admitted into the station, a request to which
the Bee Line objected. On September 9, 1859, a dining hall was opened on the
north side of the station and placed under the care of S. E. Ogden. In pursuance
of a law authorizing the formation of railway depot companies a certificate was
filed April 3, 1868, incorporating the Union Depot Company of Columbus, but not
until more than four years thereafter was anything done towards the construction
of a building. On July 17, the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati and the Pitts-
burgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis companies formed the Union Depot Company at
Columbus with a capital stock of $500,000, and six directors, a condition being
that each of the two stockholders, its successors or assigns, should appoint three
of the directors and have power to fill vacancies.
On February 15, 1873, an agreement was formed between the C. C. C. & I., the
P. C. & St. L., the L. M. and the C. & X. companies and the Union Depot Com-
pany, by which the latter agreed to issue §500,000 fiftyyear seven per cent, bonds,
the P. C. & St. L. and the C. C. C. & I. companies agreeing "each to take an equal
and in the aggregate a sufiicient amount of said bonds to construct a passenger
depot complete for use." The agreement provides " that all lines of railroad now
or hereafter constructed, terminating at or passing through the city of Colum-
bus, shall be entitled, on request, to a perpetual lease and to the use of said depot"
and " the depot grounds " upon the same terms as the original parties. The stock
bears interest at the rate of eight per cent, with a sinking fund of $675 per annum,
the current expenses of operating and managing the depot, together with the
taxes and assessments, to constitute the charges to be assessed on the roads using
it " in proportion to the business done by each in and upon it . . . roads running
Railways. 297
two lines or passing through to count twice, roads not passing tlirough to count
but once." The grounds contain seventeen and eightysix one thousandths acres,
valucil ill an agreement between the corporations February 15, 1878, at $92,697.51.
The " undivided lialf owned and conveyed by the Columbus & Xcnia Railroad
Company" is valued at $55,398.75.
At the time of the original location of the station it was just outside of the
city, Naghten Street, or as it was then called, North Public Lane, being the cor-
poration line In addition to the passenger station, freight depots and 3'ard8 were
located at the same point, and not only passenger but freight trains were made up
in the yards east of and adjoining High Street. This caused frequent blockades
of the street and loud and angry complaints soon became common. The Ohio
State Journal of March 31, 1855, said ;
Within the past week we have received no less than ten communioations relative to the
careless manner in which the railroad companies allow their locomotives to cross High
Street. We have not published them knowing that it would do no good. It was only yester
day afternoon that one of our most prominent citizens came near losing his life owing to the
reckless conduct of those employed on the Williaia Penn. That something should be done to
abate this nuisance is very evident, for already there isapetition in circulation praying that the
railroad companies may be compelled to keep a flagman at the depot to warn people of the
danger to which they are now subjected.
The same jiaper of April 14, next following, contained similar observations,
and we find in one of its issues in 1863, the following :
The almost fatal accident at the depot yesterday proves what we have long thought but
have abstained from expressing, that the present structure is a standing disgrace and shame
to the wealthy corporations centering at Columbus. Frequently three trains come in at once
blocking up the whole space and leaving barely room to walk between them.
This was while the original frame house was yet standing. One of the causes
of public complaint arose from the fact that during more than twenty years after
the station was established no care was taken by the companies to enable passen-
gers to reach it from the street, only a narrow gravel or cinder walk having ever
been provided for their accommodation, the pretext for this being, that should the
companies ]iavc the walk they would thereby relinquish it to the public. In Octo-
ber, 1869, a proposition was made to tear out the south side of the station building
and extend it southward so as admit another track.
The controversy between the city and the railway companies as to the street
interference of their tracks has increased with the growth of the city. Accidents,
became more and more frequent with the steady increase of street travel. On
December 16, 1872, the City Council bad before it an ordinance to prevent the
improper use of High Street for railway purposes, but upon assurances from the
railway authorities that such use would bo discontinued the ordinance was not
acted on. On April 29, 1873, the City Council adopted a resolution declaring
that the only way of overcoming the diiBculty was to either tunnel under or
bridge over the railway tracks, and directing its standing committee on railways,
together with the City Engineer, to ascertain which, in their judgment, would be
the better of these two expedients, and to report with plans and estimates both for
298 History of the City of Columbus.
tunneling and for bridging. The cost of the tunnel was estimated in the report
thus called for and submitted October 14, 1873, at $61,394.05, and on March 23,
1874, tlie acceptance by the railway authorities of the tunnel ordinance passed by
the council was announced. On May 9, 1874, a contract was made with John
Stothart for construction of the tunnel and its necessary sewers for 845,050. It
was soon found that the tunuel did not furnish a proper remedy. The street rail-
way comjjany laid its tracks through it but the public would not use it.
At a meeting held August 16, 1871, for consultation between the railways and
the City Council, Governor Dennison suggested such a change of the Columbus &
Xenia track that it should come into the city by way of the '' Piqua Shops"
along side of that of the Columbus & Indiana Central. This would have reduced
the space occupied on High Street about twothirds, and would now reduce it
about onehalf Messrs. H. J. Jewett, W. C. Quincy, B. E. Smith, Thomas A.
Scott, Oscar Townsend, William Dennison and Eush E. Sloane, were appointed by
the railways to confer with the City Council, and engineers representing both
the railways and the city were chosen to prepare plans for submission to a future
meeting. On September 19, 1871, it was agreed at a meeting attended by many
prominent representatives of the railways and of the city to locate a new station
building 350 feet east of High Street, and to shift the tracks of the Columbus &
Xenia road a little further north so as to bring all the trucks on the street within
a space of 300 feet, the switching and making up of trains to be done at the
eastern end of the station. Messrs. Ford, Quincy and Becker were appointed a
committee to prepare plans in accordance with the agreement. Plans and esti-
mates reported by this committee were adopted at a meeting held December 15,
1871, but in March, 1872, the newspapers of the citj- very impatiently stated that
the construction of the new building was likely to be postponed for another year.
Not until April 22, 1873, was a contract closed for construction of the building.
In pursuance of this contract, Hershiser & Adams of Columbus proceeded to erect
it for the sum of $177,940, making with the cost of connections and tracks and
the value of the grounds an aggregate of §320,000. The first regular passenger
train was run into the building on February 14, 1875. It was the Panhandle
train Number 2 in charge of Edwin Morrell, conductor, and Morris Littell,
engineer. William Thornburgh, one of the oldest conductors on the Bee Line,
ran the last train into the old station, and the first of his road out of the new one.
B. MeCabe was appointed depot master January 29, 1875, and still serves in that
position. On November 4, 1878, George H. Wright, who had been baggage
master at the Union Station for twenty years, resigned and was succeeded by his
first assistant E. C. Wentworth. The newspaper comments on the destruction of
the shabby old frame building which had served as a passenger station for twenty-
four years, and on the presumable grandeur of its successor, were very effusive.
Appreciable progi-ess had undoubtedly been made, but the nuisance of street
obstruction continued and still continues to the present writing. Its extent in the
year 1890 was indicated by the following report of a count made on December 15
of that year and filed with the City Board of Public Works: Trains in twenty-
four hours crossing High Street, 245 ; cars in twentyfour hours, 2,021 ; engines in
Railways. 299
twentyfour hours, 849; number of times the .street was obstructed, 350; total
duration of obsti'uctions, seven liours and eleven minutes; persons crossing traclvs
on foot 15,641 ; pei'sons crossing traclis in vehicles 10,726; total number of persons
crossing tracks 26,367; number of vehicles 5,363; number of vehicles detained
1,450 ; pedestrians detained 1,289; persons in vehicles detained 2,900; total number
of persons detained 4,189. Another count taken August 29, 1891, made the follow-
ing showing: Trains crossing in twentyfour hours, 233; cars, 2,180; engines,
311; duration of obstruction, seven hours and twentytive minutes; pedestrians
crossing the tracks, 40,035; pedestrians detained by trains 15,040; persons in
vehicles, 14,600; total number of persons crossing the tracks, 54,636; number of
vehicles, 7,310; VHshicles detained by trains, 3,500.
In 1849, before completion of the first railways, the total number of passengers
carried through the city on the National Road averaged about sixty daily. Dur-
ing the year 1890, 38,381 trains entered and loft the Union Station, and now, July,
1891, 116 regular jiassenger trains enter and leave the station daily, not including
the double or triple sections, nor the extras and .special excursion trains , of which
as many as twelve have entered the station in a single day.
Fast Freight Lines. — The early histor}' of railways shows that it was deemed
absolutely necessary that a transfer of passengers and freight should be made at
the end of each separate line, and to insure this a change of gauge was often
resorted to so that the cars of one road could not pass upon the rails of another
"nor go beyond its own termini in either direction lest they never get back." To
illustrate, it maj- be stated that what is now so well known as the Lake Shore &
Michigan Railway, a line which now extends under one management from Buffalo
to Chicago, was thirtyfive years ago composed of several corporations with a full
set of officers and agents and a full equipment of rolling stock for each. Oldtimers
will remember the " Erie War," when the good peo])Ie of the ambitious and enter-
prising little city of Brie, Pennsjdvania, actually took up arms and fought the pro-
posed change of gauge, because, as they thought, such a change would ruin their
market for pie, peanuts and popcorn which the transfer of passengers afforded
them, and that this change would also dispense with the services of a large force
of men emplo}'ed in the shifting of freight from one road to the other. But in
spite of this determined opposition a uniform gauge between Buffalo and Cleveland
became an accomplished fact.
Merchants and shippers who have begun business within the last twentytive
years have but slight conception of the tribulations incident to the old time
method of conducting railwa}' transportation. Through freight then meant
freight whicli passed through half a dozen sets of hands and was transferred,
carted and coi]|iereil al evorj' break of gauge. Fast freight as we now understand
it did not exist; in fact the freight business was about the slowest thing in
American life. Nor was slowness its chief fault; it was also unsafe. Packages
were accidentallj' or purposely broken open during their frequent transfer and in
part pilfered of their contents. The annoyances of this kind were extremely
harassing and apparently unavoidable. Besides his actual losses of goods the
consignee was subjected to absurd extra charges for cooperage, cartage and cleri-
300 History of the City of Columbus.
cal scTvice often, as is still the case at many of the custom houses, trumped up on
slight pretexts.
To obviate the delaj' and loss occasioned by the numerous transfers from one
road to another, William A. Kasson, of Buffalo, organized what was known as
" Kasson's Despatch.' He emploj'ed men to see that the transfer of freight was
prompt and safe, and contracted to deliver goods from New York to any point
reached by him, making an extra charge additional to that of the railways, of
about fifty cents per hundred pounds, and undertaking to collect the whole
charges and account for the same. The goods shipped by him did not move any
faster than other freight, but owing to their more speedy transfer his agency soon
became known as a " fast freightline." It reached Columbus, Cleveland, Cincin-
nati, Louisville, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Toledo, Detroit and Chicago. _ Very soon
certain capitalists perceived that Mr. Kasson had conceived a valuable idea and
he sold to them his business, the name of which was thereupon changed to that of
the " Merchants' Despatch." Its subsequent success vindicated the favorable
judgment formed of it.
The Pennsylvania Eailway abated one nuisance by requiring that the weight
of every separate box or package should be plainly marked with paint and be
accountable only for its own charges. Additional improvement was made by
Leech & Co., who established a line similar to the "Merchants' Despatch, " with
Clark & Co as superintendents of the transfer of freight at Pittsburgh. Never-
theless, in the fall of 1863, Pittsburgh became literally blockaded with freight.
The gauge of the Pennsylvania Railway was four feet eight and onehalf inches,
while that of the connecting roads westward was four feet ten inches; conse-
quently freight had to await its removal by the Western line. To remedy this,
William Thaw of Pittsburgh proposed that several hundred cars should be built
with a gauge of four feet eight and a half inches and a wheel tread wide enough
to run on a gauge of four feet ten inches. The company declined to build the
cars but agreed to haul them for any party by which they might be furnished.
Thereupon Mr. Thaw and Mr. Leech of Philadelphia organized the Star Union
Line which owned its own cars and shipped goods from Philadelphia to any
western point, collecting the freights and paying to the railway mileage for the
use of its ti-acks. On July 1, 1873, the Pennsylvania Company bought the Star
Union Line, which has since that time been one of that company's organized
dejiartrnents. It runs on all the lines of the Pennsylvania Company, its cars
being loaded, locked and sealed at Boston, New York or Philadelphia, and for-
warded without detention to western points as far as San Francisco. In proper
season fruit trains are daily sent eastward from California at neai-ly passenger
train speed and drop their cars at various points between the Pacific and the
Atlantic.
In March, 1865, W. W. Chandler, general agent of the Star Union Line,
obtained permission of the Pennsylvania Company to reconstruct thirty cars on a
plan of his own for transportation of butter, eggs, cheese, dressed poultry and fresh
meats to eastern markets. He took out no patent, but subsequent inventors pat-
Railways. SOl
ented improvements of this plan which have resulted in what is now know as the
" refri!j,'erator car."
Krpress Companies. — Jjato in the year 1S38, or durini,' tlio sprinor of 1889, Wil-
liam F. Ilarnden made an arrangement with the superintendent of the Boston &
Providence Railway for express facilities on that road. It was stipulated that he
should have a through car from Boston to New York four times a week commenc-
ing March 4, 1839. Such was the beginning of the express business in the United
States. In May, 1840, Alvin Adams and P. B. Burke started an opposition to
Harnden. During the first week or two, says an accoutit of this business, " Adams
could have stowed it all in his hat, nor did he carry anj'thing more than a valise
for several months from the commencement. . . . He was messenger, cashier,
receipt clerk, labelboy and porter.' His friends discouraged him by representing
that there was not business enough for two such enterprises, but Adams kept on and
after two years took as a partner William B. Dinsmoi'e of New York. The business
of the firm was then limited to New York, New London, Norwich, Worcester and
Boston, and gave employment to two or three men and a boy. In 1850, Adams
& Co. paid one thousand dollars per month for space in a car on the New York &
New Haven Railway. In 1856, Alfred Gaither, and in 18ti0, C. Woodward became
connected with them in their western business. In 1854, Adams & Co., Harnden
& Co., Thompson & Co., and Knisely & Co. were consolidated and incorporated
as the Adams Express Company', with Alvin Adams as president, William B. Dins
more as vice president, and a capital stock of $1,200,000. This company opened
the first express office in Columbus in 1851. Isaac C. Aston was its agent, at a
salary of four hundred dollars per year. The company's office was situated on
the west side of High Street a few doors south of State. The Adams Company
now runs its business on all the Pennsylvania & Panhandle lines and on a part of
those of the Chicago, Milwauke & St. Paul. It now brings into this city from ten
to sixteen western bound cars every afternoon and daily dispatches eastward
about eight cars, mainly laden with poultry. Its business is distributed among
from twenty to twentyfour trains in and out of the city daily. Its employes in
Columbus number from twenty to twentyfive.
In 1841, Henry Wells, of Albany, New York, suggested an express from
Albany to Buffalo. Tlie suggestion was put itito execution by Hcnrj' Wells and
Crawford Livingston as Pomeroy & Co.'s Albany & Buffalo Express. Its carriage
extended by railway to Auburn, thence by stagecoach to Geneva, thence by the
Auburn & Rochester Railway to Rochester, thence bj' stagecoach to Lockport, and
thence by private conveyance to Buffalo. The trip was made once a week and
occupied four nights and three days. It is now made by " limited express " in
seven hours and twenty minutes. At the beginning of the enterprise Mr. Wells
himself served as messenger about eighteen months. In 1842, he carried all his
valuable parcels in a carpetbag. The name of the company was changed to that
of Livingston, Wells & Pomeroy. In April, 1845, William G. Fargo joined the
firm :ind the Western Express from Buffalo to Cincinnati was started. The com-
pany oft'ered to cany the letter mail for five cents per letter in lieu of twentyfive
302 History op the City of Columbus.
cents tlien charged by the Government, and actually carried single letters for six
cents each. Congress was thus forced to reduce the rate of postage.
Early in 1850, Wells & Co., Livingston & Fargo, and Butterfield, Wasson &
Co. were jointly incorporated as the American Express Company with an aggre-
gate capital of $100,000. The United States Express Company, started in 1854,
was absorbed by the American which thereupon increased its stock to $750,000.
In 1860, the company was reorganized and its stock increased to $1,000,000. In
1856, the Merchants' Union Express Companj- was organized as a competitor to
the American and Adams, and its stock was largely taken by the merchants of
the country. It had a nominal capital of twenty millions, but in 1868, after hav-
ing spent more than $7,000,000, it was consolidated with the American, which for
a time thereafter was known as the American Merchants' Uuion, but in 1873
resumed its old name as the American Express Company. At this time (Decem-
ber, 1891) this company distributes its daily business among thirteen trains each
way on the Big Four route and four trains each way on the Columbus, Hocking
Valley & Toledo. It covers more miles of distance than any other existing cor-
poration of the kind. Its money order business has amounted to more the
$2,000,000 in six months.
Up to the year 1877, the Adams Express Company covered all the Baltimore
& Ohio lines except the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark division, but on Septem-
ber 1, 1877, the Baltimore & Ohio Company established an express bearing its own
name, to cover its own lines. This enterprise, after an experience of ten years,
sold its business to the United States Express Company, which now covers all the
lines of the Baltimore & Ohio system. It now, in 1891, distributes its business
among thirteen trains in and out of Columbus and has twentyone local employes
on its imy roll.
NOTES.
1. Ohio State Journal.
2. The public deemed this an outrage upon its rights. That every person who crossed
the State of New .Tersey should pay a loll of ten or fifteen cents on every ton of freight was
an arrangement, it was said, not to be endured. The State was therefore obliged to make
other terms with the railway company.
3. Ohio State Journal, May 27, 1847.
4. Correspondence of the Ohio State Journal.
5. Ohio State Journal. General Phineas B. Pease, of Columbus, was conductor of the
excursion train on this occasion.
6. Ohio State .Journal.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Mr. Graves acted as engineer, although Mr. Greeue bad the title until the completion
of the road to Lancaster, when William H. Jennings, who had been his assistant, was
appointed engineer and held the position until after the sale of the road.
10. The reason why the price of the Ohio & West Virginia stock was put so much
higher, compared with its market price, than the rest, was explained in a letter written by
Eailways. 303
Mr. Greene to Mr. Burke. July U, ISSl, in which he said he proposed to put(»hio& West
Virginia stoclv " up and the others down so as to make it tor tlie interest of all to sell their
stock."
n. In a letter to Mr. Greene date June 11, 1881, he said : " We might be willing to
exchange for stock on a fair basis," and rate the land at |250 per acre. At the organization
of the Hocking Coal & Railroad Oonjpany, composed of the owners of these lands, they were
valued at |150 per acre.
12. Ellis testified that one share of stock was assigned to him, but that he never paid
for it, and that he never received a stock certificate.
RAILWAYS MAKING COLUMBUS A POINT, IKCORPORATED SINCE 18.52.
Atlantic & Ohio, June 18, 185.3; Columbus, Bellefontaine & Chicago, May 26, 18.53;
Columbus, Dublin & Marysville, Juno 20, 1853; Columbus & Hocking, July 11, 1S53; Colum-
bus & Mineral Valley, June 9, 1874 ; Ather s, Ferrara & Columbus, January 30, 1875; Shawnee,
Hocking Valley & Columbus, Febiuary 24, 1879; Cincinnati, Columbus & Hocking Valley,
November 7, 1881 ; Shawnee, Hocking Valley & Columbus, Iiecember 5, 1881; Columbus &
Eastern, February 20, 1882; Hocking Valley, Coal & Iron, February 3, 1882; (this com-
pany proposed to lease the Columbus Feeder and the Hocking Canai for use in building
a railway, but a bill which was introduced in the General Assembly consenting to the lease
did not pass); Columbus, Shawnee & Hocking, October 24, 18S9; Findlay & Hocking Valley,
January 7, 1880; Marietta & Columbus, April 9, 1889; Scioto Valley, September 21, 18.53;
Columbus, Chillicothe & Portsmouth, March 24, 1863; Mineral, April 14, 1864 ; Lake Shore,
Columbus & Ohio River, July 23, 1870; Columbus & Circleville, February 8, 1871; Colum-
bus, Ferrara & Mineral, August 22, 1871; Columbus & Millersport, August 9, 1871; Michigan
& Ohio, April 1, 1874; Scioto Valley, February 23, 1875; Columbus & Indianapolis, October
22,1857; Columbus, Bellefontaine & Michigan, February 21. 1872; Columbus & Northwest-
ern, January 12, 1872; Columbus & Bellefontaine, April 12, 1878; Columbus, Findlay &
Northwestern, June 21, 1880; Ohio & Western, November 13,1880; Columbus, Wapakoneta
& Northwestern, April 18, 1881 ; Chesapeake, Columbus & Chicago, August 8, 1881 ; Lima &
Columbus, October 20, 1881 ; Chesapeake, Columbus & Michigan, February 21, 1882; Colum-
bus & Fort Wayne, November 23, 1882; Columbus & Northwestern, October 19, 1877; Defin-
ance & Columbus, March 2, 1882 ; Columbus & Chicage Air Line, May 22, 1890 ; Columbus
& Michigan, July 15, 1872; Columbus, Hartford & Mount Vernon, January 21, 1807; Pitts-
burgh, Mount Vernon, Columbus & London, January 5 and May 11, 1869; Cleveland, Akron
& Columbus, December 1, 1881; Columbus, Tiffin & Toledo, August 21, 1867; Toledo &
Columbus, July 29, 1867 ; Toledo, Delaware & Columbus, March 21, 1872 ; Toledo, Columbus
& Cincinnati, May 28, 1889; Toledo & Colundius, October 5, 1872; Toledo, Columbus &
Southern, March 25, 1885; Columbus & Toledo, May 28, 1872; Columbus &. Coal Valley,
November 23, 1877; Columbus, Scioto & Hocking Valley, December 5, 1878; Columbus &
Ironton, January 15, 1870 ; Columbus & South Point, December 28, 1869; Gallipolis, McArthur
& Columbus, March 3, 1890; Ohio & West Virginia, May 22, 1878; Columbus & Gallipolis,
June 21, 1876; CoUuubus, Springfield & Cincinnati, May 7, 1869; Springfield & Columbus,
February 29, 1S,S8; Columbus & Maysville, November 30, 1849; Columbus, Harrisburgh &
Washington Courthouse, October 10, 1879; Columbus, Leesburgh & Kentucky, August 13,
1879; Columbus & Ohio River, March 4, 1882; Columbus & Cincinnati, April 13, 1882; Cin-
cinnati Atlantic & Columbus, June 15, 1.882; Columbus & Washington, March 15, 1876; Jefl-
ersonville. Mount Sterling & Columbus, March 15,1876 ; Waynesville, Port William & Jeflfer-
sonville, December 9, 1875; Columbus & Cincinnati, May 25, 1881; Franklin. Pickaway &
Ross County ; Columbus & Mansfield.
CHAPTER XIX.
STREET TRANSPORTATION.
BT JOHN J. JANNET.
Before the con.struetion of railway.s there was little demand in Columbus for
anything in the nature of an omnibus or hack. Stages called at the door to take
up and discharge passengers. Upon the opening of the Columbus & Xenia Rail-
way the omnibus made its first appearance, but only to carry passengers and
baggage to and from the station. On March 9, 1853, B. O. Ream, agent, adver-
tised an omnibus line to run to Franklinton, leaving the American House every
hour in the day, beginning at 6:40 a. m. This was continued until the trains were
run into the station on High Street; after that, the omnibuses ran to and fro
between the station and all parts of the city. In 1867 the company had nine
omnibuses in use; in 1892 the Transfer Company uses but six. In 18.i3 a tri-
weekly omnibus line between Columbus and Canal Winchester was started ;
there was also a line to Worthington which was reported to be " doing an excel-
lent business."
The first "express" wagon for light packages made its appearance on the
streets in April, 1854. In March, 1855,. Thomas Brockway introduced what was
known as the " pigmy omnibus," a diminutive vehicle which carried four persons
besides the driver. The newspapers said of these carriages: "The ladies find
them convenient for shopping and the beaux will not use anything else for evening
parties." But their popularity was shortlived. They were speedily and entirely
superseded by the more stylish ' hack." Mr. Brockway, subsequently superinten-
dent of stage lines and still later of street railways, died in April, 1870, at Mil-
waukee.
The "hack ' was introduced by W. B. Hawkes t^ Co., and during the rebel-
lion this species of vehicle did a thriving business. Money was plenty, officers
and soldiers were prodigal of their funds, and tlie hackmen got the benefit. A
city ordinance fixed their compensation at twentyfive cents per passenger, or one
dollar per hour, j-et one case came to the writer's knowledge in which a driver
charged and was paid fifteen dollars for less than ninety minutes time. Since the
clo.se of the war the patronage of hacks has greatly diminished, but there are now
[304]
Street Transphrtation. B05
on the strocts, daily, about thirty such veiiicles and coii])i-i, purl «i' which arc
owned by the Transfer Company, ]3art by liver^^stable i<ce]K rs, ami ]iait by the
di'ivers. They appear on the streets in greatest number about cii;lil nclocli a. m.
and remain on duty until eight or ton p. m. wlieii usuailj' they are substituted by
another set, which remains rcadj- for call all night and until all early morning
trains.
On April 4, 1855, a newspaper card stated that the omnibus of the stage com-
pany "calls at any place in the city, at all hours, day or night ; the conductor
takes the baggage from the houses to the omnibus and the cars for twenty cents."
On May 15, 1855, the Ohio Stage Company gave notice that it had removed its
office to the City Bank building — southeast corner of High and State -and reduced
the fare to fifteen cents, or ten tickets for one dollar if purchased at the company's
office. On September 18, 1855, announcement was made that six or seven
omnibuses had been sent here to ply between the city and the Fairgrounds.
This was a common practice at the time of the State Pair, on which occasion all
sorts of passenger-carrying vehicles came in from the neighboring country. On
March 23, 1859, B. Lewis, who had started and run a line to Worthington, sold it
to E. L. Passmore, of Ashland, and on January 31, 1860, it was purchased
by Miles Pinney, of Worthington. On June 4, 18C0, tlie State Journal said:
" The five cent omnibus line of W. B. Hawkes & Co. has become a fixed institu-
tion, and we are glad to learn is doing a good business." The running of omni-
buses for accommodation of business men and ladies in shopping had long been
needed. On July 16, 1860, it was stated that Hawkes & Co. had begun running
a regular line from the corner of High and State streets up High to Broad and
eastward on Broad to Tallraadge's Addition, near the corporation line; fare, five
cents.
The Council had fixed the fare for hacks at tweutyfivc cents for a single per-
son to any part of the city. To this the hack men objected and asked to be
allowed to charge fifty cents for night service. This being refused, they struck and
refused to go on the street, but the strike was of brief duration. The ordinance
fixing the fare also required every driver to post conspicuously inside of his hack
a card, with certain regulations of the Council printed on it, but this requirement
has never been generally complied with.
A line of chariots was established in 1878 and met with much favor. On
April 13, 1881, a chariot company was organized with C. C. Corner as president.
Its vehicles were run on Broad and Town streets. The Columbus Transfer Com-
pany was incorporated September 17, 1881, with B. Denmead, T. J. Janney,
E. E. Sheldon, Bdwin A. Dawson and W. A. Harrison as stockholders ; capital
stock, 850,000, which, on May 6, 1884, was increased to $100,000. On December 30,
1881, announcement was made that the company had purchased the property of
W. B. Hawkes & Co., including their omnibuses, horses and other equi])ments. In
1882 the Transfer Company erected large stables and wareroomson Naghteu Street,
between High and Third. At the present time (1892) the company owns a large
number of vehicles and one hundred horses, and employs fortyfive men. In 1886
306 History of the City of Columbus.
the Palace Livery Stable introduced the Hansom cab, which was said to be the
first of its kind in use in Ohio, and, so far as the writer knows, it was also the last.
These vehicles did not prove to be popular. The hackney-coach, or as it is com-
monly known, the hack, and the coupe have superseded all other street convey-
ances, except private carriages, drawn bj' horses.
A city ordinance passed Jul}' 31, 1882, required all carriages or vehicles for
hire to be licensed, for which a fee of fifty cents should be paid to the mayor, all
licenses to expire July 1 ; the number of the license to be plainly exhibited on the
vehicle in letters not less than 1^ inches long; the owner and driver to be liable
for all violations of the ordinance, all omnibus and accommodation co:iciies, hackney-
coaches and carriages with two horses to pay five dollars per annum ; cabs or other
other vehicles with one horse to jjay $2.50 ; all baggage, exjjress and furniture
carts or wagons running for hire to pay five dollars if drawn by two horses and
$2.50 if drawn by one horse: the ordinance not to apply to teams working bj- the
day. After prescribing a detailed schedule of rates this ordinance provided that
every driver of a licensed vehicle should keep this schedule, accompanied by the
names of the owners and driver, posted in his vehicle in such a way that anyone
desiring to do so could conveniently read it. Violations of the ordinance were
punishable with fine and cancellation of the license.
Street Railways. — The Columbus Street Railroad Company, first of its kind,
was iiicoi'porated by Joseph H. Eiley, Theodore Comstock, Thomas Sparrow,
P. Ambos, C. P. L. Butler, John S. Hall and William B. Thrall in pursuance of an
ordinance passed June 10, 1854. The name of Seneca W. Ely, of Chillicothe,
appears among the incorijorators in the charter as printed in the newspapers, but
it is not in the ordinance as it was passed by the Council. The company was
authorized to construct a railroad, 1. From at or near the first turnpike gate on
the Chillicothe Eoad, thence on High Street to a point about one mile north of the
corporation line (Naghten Street, or North Public Lane). 2. From a point about
one mile east of the city limits on the Newark Road, thence in said road to and
along Broad Street and the National Road to Washington Street, in Franklinton ;
thence south to the Harrisburg Turnpike; thence in said pike to a point a short
distance southwest of Green Lawn Cemetery. 3. From High Street, on Town
Street, to East Public Lane (Parson's Avenue), thence to Friend Street, thence on
the National Road to a jjoint about one mile east of the corporation line. 4. Else-
where in Columbus as deemed expedient. Capital stock, §250,000.
No action seems to have been taken under this charter. The State Journal
said : "As we understand it, the corporators do not expect to realize much of an
income for two or three hundred years, but are willing to wait and hope." On
August 15, 1859, a charter to incorporate another company with the same title
was introduced in the Council. This ordinance was not finally passed until April
15, 1861. The Columbus Gazette of July 13, 1859, said: " The cost of the track on
the High Street route, one and three-eighths miles, with two conductors and cars
and eight horses or mules, is estimated by interested parties at $13,400." The
editors of the Gazette thought the investment would certainly be profitable. On
November 11, 1862, an ordinance was passed incorporating the Columbus Street
Street Transportation. 307
Railroiid Company, with John F. Bartlit, P. Ambos, A. C. Ilcadley, Theodore
Comstock, Joseph Eidgvvay, Jolin Miller and Oren Backus as corporators. The
company had authority to build a street railway from North Public Lane to South
Public Lane, on High Street; also on State Avenue from the Ohio Penitentiary to
Broad Street, thence to High, Street, thence to Town, and thence to Fourth ; cap-
ital stock, $30,000. On January 16, 1863, the stockholders met for organization
at the oflSce of Bartlit & Smith. They were Peter Ambos, J. F. Bartlit, Henry
Miller, C. P. L. Butler, E. H. Butler, B. E. Smith, Theodore Comstock, Lewis
Mills, Mr.s. Celia Mills, Joseph H. Riley, Hoadley, Bberly & Co., J. M. Trinble,
E. Hall, E. F. Bingham, J. L. Green, J. Morrison, O. H. Lattiraer, P. Corzilius,
Marcus Childs, L. Donaldson and John Miller. The ordinance required that the
High Street line should be completed Sepember 1, 1863; the State Avenue, Broad,
High and Town Street line by January 1, 1S64. The company was authorized to
lay a double track on High Street. The fare was limited to seven cents for single
tickets and five cents for tickets in packages of five or more. In March, 1863, a
contract for 175,000 feet of lumber for the road was awarded to Samuel McClel-
land. On June 10, 1863, the following newspaper announcement was made :
Yesterday, at a few minutes before noon, the first car passed over the street railroad,
and of course it was the observed of the observable. In the afternoon and evening a large
number of passengers from the depot availed themselves of this easy mode of reaching the
hotels. Today the remaining cars will be placed on the track and regular trips will be com,
menced.i
On July 4, 1863, cars were running between the railway station and Mound
Street, leaving each end of the line every six minutes. On December 24, 1863, the
company's cars were crossing the railway track and running as far north as the
Exchange Hotel ; it was announced that they would soon run as far as Tod Bar-
racks. On May 1, 1864, the track was being extended southward to Stewart's
Grove, and on May 13, the cars were running northward past Tod Barracks to
University Street. About thi.s time a discu.S3ion arose as to whether it would be
proper to run cars on Sunday, and on June 19, 1864, Sunday cars were run for the
first time. By ordinance of February 18, 1864, the consolidation of the Columbus
Railroad Company and the Columbus Street Railroad Company was authorized.
The consolidated companies took the name of Columbus Street Railroad Com-
pany; capital stock, $130,000 ; directors, Theodore Com.stock, J. F. Bartlit, Henry
Miller, P. Amos, C. P. L. Butler, Theodore H. Butler and A. C. Hoadley, B. E.
Smith, L. Donaldson, Isaac Bberly and Samuel McClelland. On September 12,
1864, two open cars, the first of the kind in the city, were run to the State Fair.
W. H. H. Shinn, superintendent, resigned October 14, 1864. On February 27,
1865, authority was given by ordinance to charge seven cents fare, or to sell ten
tickets for fifty cents, but on March 15, 1866, the company again reduced the fai-e
to five cents. On July 23, 1866, the following directors were elected : P. Ambos,
J. F. Bartlit, Theodore Comstock, Henry Miller, Isaac Eberly, A. J. Ryan and
George M. Parsons. Theodore Comstock was chosen president, William Fei-son
secretary and Thomas Brockway superintendent. The use of passes was dis-
continued and all outstanding ones were recalled. On April 23, 1867, the fare was
308 History of the City of Columbus.
again raised by ordinance to seven cents for a single tici<et and five cents for tick-
ets in packages of five or more.
At the close of the Rebellion streetcar travel fell off so much that the service
failed to pay expenses and it was seriously proposed to take up the tiaclc and
aliandon the enterprise. The local pride of some of the directors prevented this
and the working force of the company was reorganized, with Isaac Eberly at the
head (if its management. Mr. Eberly- was confronted with an assessment oi $5,700
for improvement of the High Street pavement, which assessment could not be met
out of the I'eceipts. In this emergency the heavy cars and rails then in use wore
sdid to a Springfield company, lighui- cars and rails were substituted, and liv this
exchange enough was saved to meet the sti-eet assessment. When Mr. Eberly
took charge he soon became convinced that a large quantity of tickets was out which
had not been paid for. The old tickets were printed on green paper, the new ones on
j'ellow, and it seemed that the green ones would never cease to come in. In 187^5 Mr.
Eberly substituted ticket boxes for conductors and onehorse cars in lieu n\' those
drawn by two horses. At the end of three years he had the satisfaction of show-
ing a balance in favor of the company on its books. He had r-eceived a salary of
twelve hundred dollars per year. On making his report Mr. Eberly i-esigned and
Mr. Henrj' Miller was elected president. After a few months service wit'iout pay,
Mr. Miller proposed to lease the property and a lease was accordingly made to
Miller & Hutson, who operated the road until January 1, 1873, on which date Mr.
Miller, who owned more than half of the stock, purchased at forty per cent, of its
jiar value, sold his interest to E. T. Mithoff and H. T. Chittenden at seventyfive
per cent., the total amount of the stock being at that time $tiO,000. The newspap-
ers expressed a " hope of better management, more attentive drivers ami conduct-
ors, and less running off the track."
In March, 1874, the repeal of the company's charier was threatened because
of alleged neglect in running the cars to the southern terminus of the road and
failure to keep the cars and tracks in proper condition. In August, of the same
year, complaint was made that the company's track north of the railwaj's was "an
unmitigated nuisance," and that the cars were run north of the railway station
only on Sundays. In giving expression to this complaint the Ohio State Jouninl
observed that " the only thing that mnkes the track tolerable on any part of High
Street is the intolerable condiiion of the street itself" During a contniversy
between the company and the City Couiicil about paving between the r;iils, Mr.
Breyfogle introduced an ordinance repealing the charter of the Neil Avenue line,
and Mr. Hinman offered a resolution of investigation as to whether the railway
company had jiaid for such paving; also whether the property owners had paid
for it, and if the comjiany had paiil for it, what had become of the money. The
Stoic Joitnud of May 10, 1877, contained t!.e following significant observations:
It is suggested, as some gentlemen seem to be anxious to preserve the present rickety
and dilapidated Stationbouse intact, to put it on wheels and rent it to the Columbus Street
Railway Company. By so doing it could be exhibited to the public as a specimen of one of
our princely municipal institutions. It might be necessary, liowever, to label it, as the casual
observer could not distinguish it from some of the palace cars that ornament our princiiial
Street Tuansimiutation. 309
thoroiighl'aie. A hipshot, wiiulbroken liorse might add a little to its outward appearance-
but this would not necessitate any outlay on the part of the Street Railroad Company. They
have several specimens that would be equal to the emergency.
Ill the same pa])er of September 19, 1878, complaint was made that the uortii
part of the High Street line was " slow, irregular and dirty." On August 25,
1878, a petition bearing the signatures of fifty prominent citizens was presented to
the CJouncil declaring the High Street Eailway a nuisance and asking the Council to
lake measures to repair the pavement between the rails and have the nuisance
abated. In compliance with this petition the City Solicitor served notice upon the
company that its tracks on High Street, from Naghten Street to a point 125 feet
south of Friend Street, were so much out of repair as to make it dangerous to vehicles
and a great annoyance to the public, and that unless the company would repair
its track and abate the nuisance caused by it before twenty clays, an injunction
against further operation of said street railroad would be ajiplied for. In the
ensuing September a contract for paving the space between the rails was made.
On October 14, 1880, the company purchased the North Columbus Street
Railway & Chariot Line, whereupon the chariots were discontinued. On January
24, 1880, A. D. Hodgers was elected president, E. T. Mithoff vice president and
E. K. Stewart secretary of the company. In 1883, the company bought some
ground near Franklin Park— then used by the State Fair— for the purpose of
erecting a large stable and carhouse. In February, 1891, the company's carhouse
and stables at the corner of High Street and Chittenden Avenue took fire and
were destro3"ed, together with tweutyfive cars. In 1891, the company erected
buildings and machinery for electric pow«r which began to be applied in driving
the cars on the High Street line January 14, 1891. This machineiy is now suffi-
cient to furnish twenty thousand horsepower, if needed.
On June 25, 1892, the road and its entire equipment changed owners, and the
following directors were chosen : Emerson McMillen, B. J. Burke, G. W. Sinks,
C. D. Firestone, P. H. Bruck and Theodore Rhodes ; president, E. E. Deniston ;
vice president and general manager, E. K. Stewart ; second vice president, E. E.
Sheldon; secretary, James A. Williams. At the time of this transfer the .com-
pany's stock was increased to $3,000,000. Improvement and new lines costing
$ti46,000 are now proposed. The company owns all the street railway lines in the
city excepting the Glenwood and Green Lawn line, which is controlled by the
same parties under a different organization. Electricity as a motive power was
first used on the Glenwood and Green Lawn line in August, 1890; on the High
Street line January 14, 1891 ; on Long Street, September 7, 1891, and on the
Main Street and Mount Vernon Avenue lines November 11, 1891.
On November 25, ]8(j5, the North Columbus Railroad Company was incor-
porated by George Geiger, Samuel Doyle, J. J. Rickly, George E. Deming, Phile-
mon Hess "and Daniel Hess ; capital stock, $35,000. This company had authority
to construct a railway from the northern terminus of the High Street line to North
Columbus. On May 6, 1868, the Friend Street Railroad Company was incorpor-
ated by Thomas Miller, M. C. Lilley, H. H. Kimball, Isaac Eberly, Nathaniel
Merion and Horace Wilson; capital stock, $25,000. This road was completed to
310 History of the City of Columbus.
East Public Lane— Parsons Avenue— July 16, 1869, and on the nineteenth of the
same month one car made regular trips over the line. The extension of this road
to the County Fairgrounds, now Franklin Park, was intended, and was finally
carried that far after halting some time at Miller's Lane.
On May 5, 1870, the East Park Place Street Railroad Company was incorpor-
ated by W. S. Sullivant, W. B. Hawkes, A. D. Rogers, S. S. Rickly, F. C. Sessions
and John G.Mitchell; capital stock, ^25,000, subsequently increased on May 9,
1876, to S50,000. This company had authority to construct a street railway from
High Street on Long to a point " near the centre of Mitchell & Watson's tract,
thence south to Broad Street, thence on Broad Street terminating on the east bank
of Alum Creek."
On August 21, 1871, the company was authorized to build its road from the
east end of Long Street through East Park Place to Albert Street, and thence by
Monroe Avenue and Bi-oad Street to the eastern boundary of the city. A con-
struction contract was awarded to A. S. Glenn, September 1, 1870, and-on Novem-
ber 24 of that year the iron of the track was laid to Albert Street, now Garfield
Avenue, except between Seventh Street and Washington Avenue, and at " Old
Joe's Garden " east of Washington Avenue. By January 1, 1872, cars were run-
ning on the line from High Street to Albert Street. The use of " dummy" steam
engines on the line was authorized by ordinance of November 27, 1872. By August
6, 1873, the road was graded as far as Winner Avenue. In January 1875, the cars
were equipped with "Breless stoves," consisting of hotwater boxes placed beneath
the seats. A fare of five cents to the Monroe Avenue stables, and one often cents
to the Fairgrounds, were charged until October 26, 1875, when the fare was
reduced to five cents for the entire line.
On July 12, 1875, the East Park Place or Long Street Company was author-
ized to extend its line on High Street south to, and to the distance of one hundred
and fifty feet into Broad Street from High Street. The High Street company
objected to this and made threats of an injunction, to avoid which the Long Street
company put down its track in the night. This extension was completed August
27, 1875. On March 6, 1876, the company was authorized to construct street rail-
ways from Long Street on Eighth Street to Mount Vernon Avenue, thence to
Washington Aveuue, thence to Buckingham Street, thence to Eighth Street and
thence to Mount Vernon Avenue. A double track on Long Street from Washing-
ton Avenue to Fifteenth Street was completed October 17, 1881. On August 2,
1886, the laying of a double track on Long Street, from Seventh Street to Wash-
ington Avenue, was authorized after long contention growing out of the narrow-
ness of the street and the fact that the sidewalk on the north side had been placed
too far south by seven feet at Seventh Street, and by twentytwo inches at Wash-
ington Aveuue.
On December 30, 1879, a consolidation of the Columbus, the Friend Street and
the East Park Place companies was authorized and completed by transfer of the
stock of the two corporations last named to the first. The amount of the consoli-
dated stock was fixed at 8100,000, but on December 8, 1880, was increased to
§250,000. An improvement in the character of the street railway service was one
Street Transportation. :!11
of the results of tlii« operation. On Juno 12, 1876, an-ordin:uiec wa.s pushed author-
izing the construction of u track on Hijfh Street from Nagliten Street to tlio north
corporation line, and on October 9 of the same year cars were running on the tracli
for a distance of two miles north of Naghten Street. The company which built
this extension becoming financially embarrassed, it made an assignment, and on
Maj' 8 its property was sold to Jahn Marzetti, R. P. "Woodruff, W. A. Hershizer,
William Powell and P. Merkle for $15,000. These purchasers, together with P. E.
Powell, were, on May 24, incorporated as the North High Street Railroad and
Chariot .Company, with a capital of $30,000. The line was operated on what was
known as the " ten minutes schedule," in connection with a line of chariots which
ran from the railway station southward on High Street in opposition to the High
Street line. In 1885, the road and its equipment were sold to the Columbus Street
Railroad Company and the chariots were shipped to Philadelphia. The standard
gauge was adopted and cars were run the whole length of High Street without
change.
On November 16, 1874, the Columbus »Street Railroad Comjjany was authorized
to extend its road from High Street on Goodale Street to Neil Avenue, and thence
on Neil Avenue to the North end thereof, at the grounds of the College. The
company was foibidden to use any other motive power than that of hoi-ses and mules,
or to charge more then seven cents for a single fare from the College to the south end
of the road, tickets in packages of five and its multiples to be sold at the rate of five
cents each, and children under seven years of age, if accompanied by a grown per-
son, to be carried free; the cars not to be run at a faster rate than six miles
per hour or within less than one hundred feet of each other when going in the
same direction ; no car to stop on a cross walk or cross street; the cars to have the
right of way on the track but not to impede other vehicles by standing longer
than necessary ; women and children not to be permitted to enter or leave a car
while it was in motion ; and drivers, conductors and attaches violating any of
these provisions to be subject to a fine. These or similar rules and regulations were
embodied in all street railway charters granted subsequent to this time. The Neil
Avenue charter was granted for a term of twenty years, the companj" being
required meanwhile to pave the street and keep it in repair between the rails and
switches in the same manner as the main part of the street should be improved.
On June 10, 1889, a double track in Goodale Street and Neil Avenue was
authorized.
On January 23, 1872, the State and Oak Street Railroad Compuny was incor-
porated by William S. Ide, A. D. Rodgers, B. D. Kingsley, R. C. Hoffman and
L. Donaldson, with authority to construct a street railway from the east end of
the State Street Bridge over the Scioto River, along State, Seventh and Oak streets,
to East Public Lane, thence to Broad Street and east on Broad Street to Monroe
Avenue, there to connect with the East Park Place line. The capital stock of this
company was $20,000. On July 31, track laying on this line was completed as far
as Seventh Street. In the charter granted to the State and Oak Street Company
the Council reserved the right to make any improvement on the street without
liability to the company, and protected the city from liability for any damage
312 History of tue City of Coiaimbus.
re.sulling from tho breaking of water, gas or sewer pipes by reason of any change
in the grade of any street, or bj' reason of any other work or improvement
required to be done by the citj-. Provisions similar to these are found in all
charters subsequently granted by the Council. No motive power was allowed other
than that of horses and mules ; the fare was fixed at five cents. On March 13, 1882,
the company was authorized to construct a street railway from High Street on
State to Seventh, on Seventh to Oak, on Oak to Bruce, on Bruce to Pair Avenue,
and thence to the Fairgrounds, with a double track on State and Seventh streets;
and on July 23, 1888, the company was authorized to lay a double track on Oak
Street from Grant Avenue — Seventh Street — to Ninth Street. Extension'of tho
track from Bruce Street to Eose Avenue was authorized May 9, 1889, and on April 6,
1892, the com]5nny obtained permission to lay a double track on Oak Street between
the first alley east of Parsons Avenue and Eighteenth Street. The propert}^ of the
State and Oak Street Railway was purchased by the Columbus Consolidated Street
Eailway Company in 1882, at which time the line was in such bad condition as to
cause much popular complaint. A reform in its service was soon brought about by
its new management, its gauge being made to conform to that of the High Street line,
and the running of its cars being extended from State Street to the railway
station. On January 16, 1882, it was announced that the Consolidated Company
would transfer passengers to or from the Town Street chariots and the State and
Oak Street Railway.
On December 6, 1875, right of way through the High Street tunnel was
granted to the Consolidated Company with the reservation that any other street
railway company desiring the same favor might have it on equitable tei'ms, the
further condition being imposed that the Consolidated Company should not there-
after charge more than five cents fare on its whole line. On November 28, 1883,
the officers of the company certified that the company's stock was fully paid up
and had been increased to $1,000,000. On November 7, 1891, a similar statement
was filed with the Secretary of State declaring that the stock had been increased
to $1,250,000, and it is now, 1892, $3,000,000. On December 22, 1879, the
Columbus Street Railroad Company, the East Park Place Railroad Company, and
the Friend Street Railroad Company, having been consolidated as the Columbus
Consolidated Street Railroad Companj', the new corporation was granted the right
to lay a double track on High Street fi-om the south end of the tunnel to Mound
Street, on condition that the company should keep in repair all that portion of the
street or streets lying between lines drawn one foot outside of and beyond the
extreme outer rails, the company to charge but one fare of five cents in one car
over its lines, a transfer from the North High Street and the State and Oak
Street companies, to be granted for a single fare of five cents. On August 9, 1886,
the company was authorized to lay a double track on High Street from the tunnel
to West Woodward Avenue, the usual conditions being imposed as to paving and
keeping the street in repair. Cars stopped at anj' point to take up and discharge
passengers until October 1, 1885, when orders were given to stop only at the
crossings of streets and alle3s.
Street Transportation. olo
On February 15, 1888, the comiian.y obtained permission to extend its traci<
fi-oni Stewart Avenue to the south corporation line, provided High Street sliouki
bo widened south of Hanford Street. On February 18, 1889, authority was given
to construct a line on Schiller Street, from High to Mruck Street. It was required
that this line should be completed by May 10; that its ears should be run at
intervals of not less than twenty minutes at least twelve hours per day; and that
" no cars should be used on said road if so worn out, broken or so constructed,
or kept in such condition as to imperil the lives, limbs or health of the passen-
gers." On April 9, 1889, the company was authorized to lay a double track from
Chittenden Avenue north to Hudson Street.
Authority to use "electric motors, gas engine motors or cable traction " was
granted September 9, 1889. Various requirements as to maintaining streets and
alleys, and keeping poles, wires and fixtures in good condition, were coupled with
this draft. By ordinance of March 14, 1892, the allowable rate of speed on High
Street, between Goodale and Mound, was fixed at eight miles per hour, and on all
other streets at not over fourteen miles per hour, including stops.
Extension of the tracks from Washington Avenue on Mount Vernon to Reed
Avenue was granted October 1, 1883, and on June 27, 1887, permission was given
to lay a track from High Street on Chittenden Avenue to the State Fairgrounds.
An electric motor — the first to operate in the city — was put on this line at the
opening of the State Fair. It was built under the Short patent. On November
17, 1890, permission was given to lay a double track on Main Street, between
Parsons Avenue and Eose Avenue. An ordinance passed January 25, 1892,
authorized the company to lay a track from High Street on Chestnut to Fourth,
and on Fourth to Chittenden Avenue, including use of the Fourth Street bridge,
this grant to be good for twentyfive years and including the right to use elec-
tricity, cable or other improved motive power. Numerous conditions as to the
operation of the road were coupled with this grant.
On May 1, 1871, a company with an authorized capital stock of 8100,000 was
incorporated by William Dennison, R. E. Neil, G. G. Collins and 11. M Neil to
build a narrow gauge road, and use on it a "dummj^" engine. On September 9,
1871, a contract was made with Samuel Doyle to construct the road in one hund-
red and twenty days. It was to run from the Mock Road, North Columbus, to
Adams Avenue, thence to South Street, thence to Summit Street, thence to First
Avenue, thence to Kerr Street, and thence to Tod Barracks, where it would con-
nect with the High Street line. After an ineffectual attempt to enjoin the con-
struction of the road on Kerr Street, Mr. Doyle succeeded by November 22, 1872,
in completing its grading and masonary at a cost of 123,000, and on October 8,
1873, a " dummy " engine with three cars took an " excurison " to a sale ol' lots in
Doyle's Summit Street Addition. The road, after being operated for a short time
at a loss, was abandoned and its iron and ties were removed.
The Glenwood & Green Lawn Railroad Company was incorporated A])ril 23,
1872, by W. B. Hawkes, A. D. Rodgers, F. C. Sessions, J. L. Gill, W. S. Sullivant,
W. A. Piatt, G. A. Doren, William L. Peck, Robert D. Hague iui<i E. A. Filch, with
authority to construct a street railway on Broad Street and the National Road
314 History of the Crrr of Columbus.
from High Street to the western boundary of the city, with a branch running to
Green Lawn Cemetery. The capital stock of the comijany was $50,000. By July
16, 1875, the track was laid to the western corporation line except over the
National Eoad Bridge, the floor of which needed relaying. The company built a
large stable and carhouse this year. On September 25, 1875, at tiie invitation of
Doctor Hawkes, the members of the City Council, the city officers and a partj' of
invited guests were taken over the line to the Central Asylum for the Insane,
where a collation was served. On July 26, 1881, control of the company was
obtained by B. S. Brown, who purchased two hundred shares of its stock, the
entire amount of paid up capital being 818,000. On April 20, 1891, the company
was authorized to use " electric motors, gas engine motors or cable traction," and
to change the gauge from three and a half feet to five feet two inches, and to
extend the track to the western boundary of the citj'. An ordinance of January
4, 1892, authorized the company to run its cars from High Street to Davis Avenue
at the rate of eight miles per hour, including stops, and froni Davis Avenue to tiie
end of the line, at not more than fourteen miles per hour, including stops. The
road cost originally, about $40,000; in 1891 it was rebuilt at standard gauge, with
electric equipment, at a cost of $150,000.
On December 20, 1875, an ordinance was passed prohibiting smoking "in the
street cars running on the roads now operated or that may be hereafter operated,"
provided the companj- sliould post printed notices to that effect. On February
12, 1877, this ordinance was amended by adding a penalty of not less than one nor
more than ten dollars for violation of the ordinance, and a like fine for refusing to
j)ay carfare. On June 25, 1877, this ordinance was again amended so as to pro-
vide that any person who, on "being requested by an employe of a street railroad
company or of the person operating such car, to desist from smoking on or in any
streetcar fails to immediately do so; or uses obscene, profane or indecent language,
or engages in any quarrel. . . or, without permission, takes a dog on or in such
car," or fails on demand to pay his fare, shall be fined not more than ten dollars
and imprisoned until the fine and costs are paid.
From time to time charters have been granted to a considerable number of
street railway schemes which arc not mentioned in the foregoing narrative because
their history is a paper one exclusively, unproductive of practical results. The
project of building a beltrailway forthe transportation of freight and pa.ssengers —
particularly freight — around the city has been many times proposed and some-
times definilelj^ formulated during the past ten or fifteen years, but as a positive
undertaking it is yet in the future. Of the street railway service at the time of
the present writing — July, 1892 — the concluding remark may be made that, with
the introduction of electricity as a motive power and the improvement in the
trackage and rolling stock already completed or in course of completion, it prom,
ises to be equal in speed, in comfort and in profitableness of operation to that of
any city of equal population in the Union.
NOTE.
CHAPTER XX.
MANUFACTURES.
Dui'ing tlie first fifty years of its existouco Columbus gave no great promise of
ever becoming an important seat of manufacturing interests. The numerous
establishments of tliat kind now existing are mostly of coniparativel,y recent
origin. Not until the Geological Survey had explored them and brought them to
the attention of capitalists throughout the world, were the mineral resources of
Ohio, which constitute the basis of her manufiicturing industries, at all adequately
known. Mineral lands which have since sold for as much as three hundred dol-
lars per acre, were twent3-five j'ears ago disposed of by their agricultural owners
as comparatively worthless. To lands such as these, unlocked by science, made
accessible by railways and utilized by invention, Ohio owes the diversification of
her industries and Columbus owes chieflj^ her industrial consequence. The
extent of the economic revolution wrought by these agencies can be fully
ajipreciated only by contrast with the feeble beginnings by which their opera-
tions were preceded. What those beginnings were, so fiir as the capital of Ohio
is concerned, may now be briefly stated.
The first manufacturing industry in the settlement at the Forks of the Scioto
was that of milling. Even this did not begin until some years after the first
cabins were erected. The only breadstuff attainable was corn, which the settlers
ground in a handmill or cracked by pounding, in the manner already related.
There was no gristmill nearer than Chillicothe, and to this occasional trips were
made by trail through the wilderness. In 1799 or 1800 a sort of mill was erected
by Hobert Balentine on the brook known as Lizard Creek, which poured into the
Scioto not far from the present terminus of Gay Street.' John D. Rush about the
same time erected a like primitive mill on the Scioto a short distance above Frank-
linton.- Both of these were very crude establishments and soon fell into decay.
A horsemill was then resorted to until 1805, when a gristmill was erected by
James Kilbourn, near Worthington.^ Carpenter's mill on the Whetstone, in Dela-
ware County, and Dyer's on the Olontangy (Darby), were erected about the same
timc.^ A mill built by Lucas Sullivant in 1819, stood and still stands on the west
bank of the Scioto, northwest of the present City Waterworks. S. S. Rickly
became proprietor of this mill in 1856, after which event it w;is known as Rickl)-'s
Mill. It was propelled solely by water until 18.53. In 1858 tiic c.-lalilishmcnt*
[315]
31(J History of the City of Columbus.
bore the name of" Ohio Manufacturing Coiiipaiiy, " and was worked by half a dozen
nien."
Of the Worthington Manufacturing Company, incorporated in 1811, a full
account has been given in a preceding chapter. This enterprise flourished so long
as supplies were needed for the War of 1812, but embraced other business than
manufacturing, was too extensive and complex in its operations, and succumbed
in 1820. A sawmill erected on the east bank of the Scioto by Richard Courtney
and John Shields in 1813, and a flouring mill built three years later by Shields on
Pelers's Run, have also been mentioned. The Shields gristmill was driven by water
conducted in a race to an overshot wheel. Alter doing good service for some
years, these mills went to ruin. The Frcamni'-^ ('hfu/iir/c of September 3, 1813,
mentioned that '■ a new lulling mill " was in course of erection on the east side of
the Scioto, "live miles from Franklinton, near Mr. Baekus's sawmills." James
Kooken, "keeper of the Ohio Penitentiary," tluis advertised under date of
August 22, 1815 :
The following articles are manufactured and kept constantly on band at this establish-
ment, viz: Cooper Ware of all kinds: Coarse and Fine Shoes, Cut Nails and Brads, Wrought
Nails and Spikes of every description. In a short time we expect to be able to furnish the
public with Axes, Hoes, Chains, &c., of various kinds; which, together with the above
articles, can be afforded on better terms than they have ever been procured in this part of the
country. S
Martin mentions that along the ravine of Peters's Run were established " in
succession a number of breweries, distilleries, lanyards and ashery" which subse-
quently disappeared. Among the earliest breweries were Converse's, located on
the west side of Front Street, just north of Spring, and Massie & Wood's, which
occupied the present site of the Gas and Coke Company's office. In 1819, 'says
Martin, "Moses Jewett, Caleb Houston and John E. Baker erected on the Scioto,
just above Rich Street, a sawmill upon a new patent plan. The saw was circular,
and was to cut constantly ahead, with no back strokes. " This experiment, after
costing a good deal, failed. Martin continues :
In 1821 Colonel Jewett and Judge Mines commenced the manufacturing of cotton yarn
by horse power in a frame building on Front Street, between Rich and Friend, and after
experimenting with that some time, and also with the circular saw in the mill, the spinning
machinery was removed into the mill, w here the spinning was continued by water power a
few ye:irs. But finally the whole concern was abandoned, and for near twenty years there
has not been a vestige of the building to show where it stood. The frame on Front Street,
where they first commenced the cotton spinning, was for many years known as the " old
factory." About this time. Judge Hines having invented a machine for dressing hemp, in an
unrotted state, in 1822 he and William Bain constructed and put into operation one of the
machines at the Foutheast corner of High Street and South Public Lane. It was propelled
by horse power on a tread wheel. It after some time passed into the hands of Lafayette Tib-
bitts, who worked it until the fall of 1824, when he failed, and the whole concern went down.
About the year 1822, a woolen factory, for carding, spinning and weaving, was commenced
by Ebenezer Thomas and others, on the west end of the lot now (1858), owned by Colonel
W. Andrews, corner of Higli and Noble streets. It was worked first by ox then by horse-
power on a tread wheel. It passed through the hands of different owners without profit to
any. About the year 1834 or '35 the building and machinery were removed and reerected
Mantipactures.
318 History of the City of Columbus.
by George Jeffries, on the west abutment of tlie canal dam, were it was worked by water
power, some two or three years, when the machinery was sold out by piece meal under the
hammer; and so ended that manufacturing establishment. About the year ISol or '32, John
McElvain erected a steam sawmill at the head of the canal where Hunter's warehouse after-
ward stood. It was worked by various piTsons (it is believed without much profit), for some
seven or eight j'ears, when the engine and machinery were disposed of, and the warehouse
erected over it— the mill frame answering as part of the warehouse. In 1843 the warehouse
was totally consumed by fire, but was subsequently rebuilt. The first successful manufactur-
ing establishment, other than common mechanic shops, was the foundry and plough manu-
factory of Mr. [Joseph] Ridgway, established in 1822.
On May 1(>, 1822, Messrs. J. Eidgwaj- & Co., made the following announcment
by advertisement :
The subscribers, having erected a foundry in the town of Columbus, manufacture and
keep constantly for sale [Jethro] Wood's Plough, which, for durability and ease for the team,
is not equaled by any other plough in use. . . . They will last ten or fifteen years, except
share, which will merely require renewing every one or two years. Tlie shares can be had at
the foundry . . . from 44 to li8 cents, according to the No. of the plough ; the farmer can put
them on himself, without removing bis plough from the field. ... All kinds of machinery
casting done on the shortest notice.
A fulling mill, bj^ J. Eansburg, near Columbus, is mentioned in 1822 ; also the
manufacture of horn combs, by Levi Buttles. In 1826 the Eansburg establish-
ment jn'oduced coarse cloth and linen. It was located about one mile south of the
town, west of the Scioto. One of the earliest tanyards was that of Peter
Putnam, located on the northwest corner of Front and Eich streets. Two tan-
neries, one owned by Cunningham and one by Osborn, lay within the space
between High and Park streets. In 1825 Conger's flouring mill and distillery
stood in the hollow back ot Hosier's brewery. Jenkins's pottery was the first. It
stood opposite Putnam's tannery, on Front Street. Gill & Greer (John L. Gill);
were engaged in the manufacture and sale of copper, tin and sheetiron ware in
November, 1826. In the same j-ear David Dean, who was then carrying on the
business of coachmaking "in the village of ButFalo, New York," announced that
Jarvis Pike had been appointed as his agent to introduce the business in
Columbus. In 1827 N. W. Smith informed the public that he had established an
oil mill in Columbus, and wanted to buy flaxseed. Concerning the Ridgway
foundry, ol this period, we have these statements from Mr. John L. Gill :
When 1 came here in 1826, kidgway's foundry was the only manufacturing establish-
ment in the plaie. For several years all the pig metal used was hauled from the Granville
furnace in a twohorse wagon, which made three round trips a week, aggregating about five
tons in that time. This was principally used in the manufacture of plows. The motive
power of the establishment was an old horse working in an inclined wheel of about thirty
feet in diameter. The fuel used for melting the iron was charcoal.'
The original Ridgway Foundry was a frame building which stood on the
present site of its successor, the Hayden establishment, on Scioto Street. Near it
was a big spring, now sniothered. Martin makes the following record of the
origin and dovolopmcut of this concern:
It was commenced in the .spring of 1822 by Joseph Ridgway, then from the State of
New York. For some years he used horse power instead of steam, and the principal article
Manufactures. 319
of manufacture was Jethro Wood's patent plow, of whicli lie made and sold an iniiuensp
number. It was then considered the best plow in use. About the first of Jauuaiy, l.SIJO, he
having associated with him his nephew, Joseph Ridgway, jr., they introduced into their
factory .steam instead of horse power, and extended their business to the manufacturing of
machinery, steam engines, stoves, etc., etc. for many years they did an extensive business,
giving employment to abotit fifty or sixty hands generally. Joseph IJidgway, jr., having
died in 1S.50, the business was continued successfully by the surviving partner and adniinis.
trator, until the spring of ls'i-i, when he sold out and transferred the whole establishment to
Peter Hayden, Esq., since which it has been owned and conducted by Mr. Hayden.
In May, 1828, James S. White advertised tliat he was prepared to make all
kinds of coaches, wagons, hacks and gigs, postcoaches being his specialitj'. His
shop stood on the present southwest corner of Broad and Wall streets, and was
the leading establishment of the kind in the town. Mr. White furnished coaches
to the Ohio Stage Company, and may be considered the pioneer of the great
carriagemaking industry of Columbus. John D. Ball carried on the manufacture
of saddles and harness about the same time on High Street, second door south of
the markethouse. A newspaper writer of January 17, 1829, suggests the utiliza-
tion of the Columbus Feeder as a water power for milling pur])ose8, and rein-
forces his argument by these statements: "The people of Columbus have
recently paid fifty cents for a bushel of cornmcal, when corn was worth but twelve
and a half cents — three dollars per hundred for flour when wheat sold for fifty
cents per bushel." The tannery of John and Samuel Cunning, deceased, offered
at sheriff's sale in February, 1829, comprised thirtyfbur vats and two pools. It
was situated on mlots 130, 131 and 132. A "large, neverfailing spring " was men-
tioned as one of the atti'actions of the premises. In April, 1829, George Jeffries
was engaged in nnakiiig chairs and wheels at his new shop on High Street, " a few
doors south of the woolen factor^-." In February, 1831, Isaac Taylor & Sons
announced a new tannery on Water Street, north of Ridgway's foundry and
south of James Wood's brewery. Lastmaking was about the same time carried on
by Robert Talbott " in.the house recently occupied by John Greenwood, the first
door south of J. Armstrong's Tavern." All kinds of " woolen machinery " were
manufactured by P. Wright, at Worthington. Wilson's tannery was situated on
High Street, at or near the jiresent site of the Butler building. In 1832 John
Abbott & Co., successors to Elijah Converse, conducted the Columbus brewerj',
corner of Front and Spring streets.
In 1833 the production and fabrication of silk began to engage considerable
attention as a possible local industry. A pocket handkerchief exhibited by
Daniel Roe as a product of fibre from his own cocoons attracted notice as a har-
binger to the new industrial faith, and in 1836 we read of the Ohio Silk Company,
of which Joseph Snilivant, Lyne Starling, Junior, and Anthony S. Chew were
members. This company erected a frame factory near Franklinton, planted a
large fielil with mulberry plants, and established an office in the Exchange
Buildings. In 1840 Jcwott \- Hall advertised that they would pay cash fV)r
cocoons of good quality delivered at their store in Columbtis, and added; "As
the State pays a bounty of ten cents per pound to the producer, it has become
an object for all those who are raising the mulberry to feed worms this season."
320 History of the City of Columbus.
But the bounty of the State failed to produce the conditions necessary to the
profitable production of silk in Columbus, and the whole undertaking failed, with
serious loss to those engaged in it. The production of the sugar beet, spoken of
bj' Martin as "another wild chimera introduced about this time," also failed, of
course, since the qualities of climate and soil essential to the success of this
industry did not exisf in Central Ohio. The end of the sugar beet experiment
dates from 1838.
In 1837 we read of the " Coach and Fancy Carriage Manufactory" of R. & S.
Cutler, which occupied a large frame building on the southeast corner of High
Street and Ijynn Alley. Messrs. Cutler advertised the production of " barouches,
chariotees, gigs and sulkies of every description;" also "a supply of elliptic
springs and axletree arms turned." L. Hosier & Co's City Brewery figures
among the advertisements of 1837; in 1838 we read of the "Saddle, Harness and
Trunk Factory " of Edward N. Slocum, at 27 High Street, "opposite the Public
Buildings." In 1839 John C. Deming was announced as a manufacturer of
"portable thrashing machines, clover machines and horsepowers." His estab-
lishment was situated near the Ridgway foundry. Of the Franklin Foundry we
find the following account in Martin's History :
Generally known by the name of "Gill's Foundry" [it] was commenced in 1S3S, by
John L. Gill, William A. Gill and Henry Glover. In 1839, John McCune took the place of
Mr. Glover, and the firm of Gill & McCune continued till May, 1848. From that time the
business continued by J. L. & W. A Gill, till July, 1852, since which time it was con-
ducted solely bv Mr. John L. Gill, until July, 1857, when he associated with him his son,
J. L. Gill, Jr. This establishment commenced business with about twentyfive hands, and
was principally engaged in the maufacture of stoves, plows and mill irons, and did a success-
ful business. For the last few years, the establishment gave employment generally to from
sixty to seventyfive persons. In 1855, Mr. Gill commenced the manufacture of his celebrated
combination steel plow, and is now [1858J manufacturing near four thousand per year. The
amount of capital invested in the establishment is estimated at $50,000.
The location of the Franklin Foundry and Machine Shop was at the corner of
Scioto and Town streets ; among its productions were wood and coal stoves, coal
grates, furnaces tor hotels and dwellings, plows, millgearing and " machinery of all
descriptions." A contemporary concern was that of William Neil & Co., engaged
in the manufacture and repair of stagecoaches.
Martin's history contains this passage:
A bout 1839 or '40, a paper mill was erected by Henry Roedter and John Siebert, on the
Scioto, some two or three miles above Franklinton, where they for some time carried on the
paper making business. It did not, however, succeed well, and Roedter soon passed out of
the concern, and removed to Cincinnati. It was then for a time owned and worked by Sie-
bert and Ernst Frankenberg, and succeeded no better. It then passed into the hands of
Asahel Chittenden, who abandoned the old site and building, and in the fall of 1845, removed
the machinery to a new brick building erected for that purpo.se, just above the national road
bridge, in Columbus, where it was worked for some time by J. L. Martin and R. H. Hub-
bell, and then by William Murphy until it was destroyed by fire, in 184S. It was then
rebuilt and worked by Mr. A. B. Newburgh, until the f;dl of 1849, when it finally closed its
business. The same building was afterwards converted into a machine shop, owned by
Messrs. Swan and Davis, and in July, 1854, it was again destroyed by fire— building machin-
ery and all.
Manufactures. 321
This establishineiit was known as the Franklin Paper Factory. In Novem-
ber, 1838, the Columbus Brewery, formerly Converse's, became the property of
John Keating. John Funston was a soap and candle manufacturer of 1840, located
'' near the new courthouse." In the autumn of 1841, E. Converse & Co. converted
the brick warehouse of Doherty & Leiby into a steam flouringmil] with " four run
of burrs." The proprietors announced that they would make flour for customers
and " exchange superfine flour and bran for wheat " on the following terms :
" Receive wheat and barrel (free of charge) and manufacture flour at fifty cents
per barrel or twentyfive cents including offal ; exchange thirtyfour pounds of flour
and onehalf bushel bran for a bushel of wheat."
Of the oi'igin of the manufticture of starch at Columbus Martin gives the fol-
lowing account:
In 1843, Messrs. C. Colgate and J. J. Wood, havina: purchased N. Gregory's distillery and
grounds, converted the same into a starch factory and commenced the manufacturing of
starch under the firm name of C. Colgate & Co. In ISIG Colgate's interest was transferred to
Sumner Clark, and the business continued by Clark and Wood .until 1849, when Mr. Wood
KILBOURXE
bought out Clark's interest, and the business has since been conducted by Mr. Wood alone.
In 1852, the whole establishment was consumed by fire. The rebuilding, however, was soon
commenced, and in June, 1853, the manufactory was again in operation ; since which it has
been doing a very useful, and, it is presumed, a profitable business, giving employment to
about fifty hands, and using over two hundred bushels of corn per day.*
In 1844, Hayden, Morrison & Co. manufactured carpets at the Ohio Peniten-
tiary, and in the same year O. P. & A. H. Piiiney were producers of agricultural
implements. The store of Messrs. Pinney was at the corner of Broad and High
streets. A rope and cordage factory was managed in 1844 by Mrs. E. J. Mid-
dleton.
Eeferring to the stagecoach manufactory of Messrs. Neil, Moore & Co., the
Ohio Statesman of August 27, 1845, said: " We mentioned the other day that two
21*
322 History of the City op Columbus.
new coaches called Cave Jolinsou and the George M. Dallas, had been constructed
at this establishment. A third is now almost completed to bo called Sam. Medarj'^,
in honor of our able and distinguished predecessor." The factory at tlnit time
employed forty workaien and occupied two buildings, each 181) feet in length.
The construction of railway cars was about to be added to that of coaches.
On April 30, 1846, William H. Brodrick announced that he had taken the
tin, cojjper and slieetiron ware manufactory " formerly conducted by B. Aj^ers on
High Street, opposite the Slate buildings." JVIr. Brodrick had learned the busi-
ness with its founders, Eobert E. Neil and Ellis Ayers.
The steam sawmill of M. L. Sullivaut, located three miles west of Columbus,
becomes conspicuous in the autumn of 1846. On June 10 1847, the Ohio State
Journal remarked :
Until a very recent period it seems to have been taken for granted that very little manu-
facturing could be done here. But improvements in machinery in connection with steam,
are destined we hope to introduce among us as much manufacturing enterprise as is desir-
able. Last year an excellent paper mill was put in operation. This year our enterprising fel-
low citizen, Mr. P. Hayden, is erecting a large stone factor}' over 200 feet in length, which will
employ a large number of workmen. These are but the beginning of what may be looked
for in a few years.
The manufacture of illuminating gas had its incipiency iu 1846'. In May,
1847, the Columbus PajJer Mill was leased by E. H. Hubbell to Everhardt & Barr.
A new iron foundry, by Cole & Standish, at the north end of Front Street, is
advertised in 1847. The Western Marble Works, owned by Doctor Ide and man-
aged by B. K. Bedwell, obtain mention in 1848, which year seems to have been a
notable one for new manufacturing enterprises. Among the more prominent
industries which sprang up about this time were the plane factory of Case & Hall,
Murphy's Paper Mill, near the Scioto River bridge, Hayden's Chain Factory, on
State Avenue, and the new foundry of Messrs. Ambos & Lennox— on the National
Road (Broad Street), Frauklinton — of which Martin says:
This manufacturing establishment was commenced by Charles Ambos and James Len-
nox,' in 1849, with a capital nf some eight or ten thousand dollars. It was designated by the
name of Eagle Foundry, and the firm by that of Ambos & Lennox. After continuing the
business until the spring of 1854, they sold out for upwards of $68,000 ; and it was converted
into a joint stock company, by its present name [Columbus Machine Manufacturing Com-
pany]. The present [1858] company commenced with about thirty stockholders and a capi-
tal of 180,000 They subsequently increased their capital to $100,000. The company employ
about 125 men on an average, the year round, and pay to their officers and hands about
§4,000 on the first day of each month, and turn out in machinery and castings from $140,000
to $150,000 a year. This company put up the iron frame work for the roofing of the State
House, all the iron ceiling, galleries and railings in the same. The ground occupied by the
company is three hundred and twenty by 185 feet. Charles Ambos is, and has been the
Superintendent from the commencement. Samuel Galloway was the first president, but
being elected to Congress in 1854, he was succeeded by that experienced manufacturer, .John
S. Hall, Esq. 11. Crary was treasurer and secretary until January, 1857; when he was suc-
ceeded by P. Ambos as treasurer, and F. G. Jones as secretary. Joseph Coffin has been
chief foreman ever since the commencement. The present directors are, John S. Hall,
P, Ambos, W. E. Ide, F. J. Matthews, Amos McNairy, B. S. Brown, J. P. Bruck.
MANUFACTtTRES. 323
The Eagle Foundi\y building was two stories in height, with a I'rontago of
eightyfour feet on the National Road and 118 feet on the Scioto Kiver. The
upper story was occupied by the machine and fitting departments. The furnace
had capacity for melting 3,000 pounds of metal per hour. Steam engines, plows
and all kinds of castings were produced. Al)out tvventyfive workmen were em]iloj-ed
in the establishment.
The Fountain Paper Mill was put into operation during the summer of 1849
by A. B. Newburgh. It occupied a threestory brick building at the corner of
Broad and Water streets and was capable of producing 150 reams of double medium
printing paper per week. Wool carding " by sleam power " was carried on in 1849
by William Parker, on the northern part Fourth Street. A conteiyporary carriage
manufactory by Blake, Domigan & Co. was situated on the corner of Front Street
and Sugar Alley, between State and Town streets. Hayden's roUingraill figures
extensively in the advertisements of 1849. The Ohio Statesman of May 18, that
year said :
The Messrs. Ridgway of this city have commenced piling up the material for a new and
very extensive manufactory of Railroad Cars, &c. Their new establisliment is to be located
on the west side of the Scioto, immediately on the line of the Columbus & Xenia Railroad, so
that the newly made cars can be put immediately on the track. We understand they have a
large contract for the manufacture of cars.
Pearl Kimball, an experienced car manufacturer of Massachusetts, was
associated with Messrs. Eidgway in this enterprise. Martin says:
They made extensive and costly buildings and preparations west of the river, by the side
of the railroad, and went very extensively into the business under the tirin name of Ridgways
& Kimball. Their cars were of the first quality, and in extensive demand. In 1850 Mr. Ridg-
way, jr., died, but the business was continued by the other two partners successfully, until the
spring of 18.56, when their main building and its contents were entirely destroyed by fire They
never rebuilt it, but continued the business on a smalltr scale, until ahout the first of .lanu-
ary, 1857, when Mr. Ridgway sold out his interest to Mr. ICimhall, who has since continued
the business alone. Before the destruction by fire, they generally gave employment to about
eighty men.
In May, 1849, Orlopp & Wirth announced a new cigar factory at 205 High
Street, " two doors north ol' tieoeral Gale's Hotel and next to 'Squire Bruck's
office." A contemporary " machine and blacksmith shop," by Lennox & Hegin-
botham, was situated "opposite the northwest corner of the Neil House." The
manufacture of boots and shoes had also by this time become an important local
industry. Keferring to it, the Ohio Statesman of November 21 says:
Mr. A. C. Brown, on High Street, alone euiploys constantly about sixty hands, and his
sales amount to from $50,000 to |60,000 annually. About two hundred journeymen are at
present working upon the bench in the various shops, whose wages amount to $60,000 a year.
Over $40,000 worth of boots and shoes are annually imported from the east by our merchants.
On Maj' 24, 1849, was published an advertisement of the trunk factory of
G. W. Peters, situated on Long Street, between High and Front, " a few rods
northwest of the new Methodist Church." Of this infant enterprise and the great
industries which are its lineal results the writer has been favored with the follow-
ing interesting sketch :
324 HlSTORT OF THE CiTY OF COLUJIBUS.
About fortyfive years ago George W. Peters and family, including two sons. George
M. and O. G., moved from Chillicothe, Ohio, to Columbus, on a canal boat, landing at the
headquarters of the canal at the foot of Friend— now Main — Street, which was to the city at
that early time what the Union depot now is. Tunis Peters, the aged father of George W.
Peters, met them as they walked the plank from the canal boat, and together they all walked
up Main Street and south on High to Peters's Run, where was located in the big hollow
(where the present Consolidated Street Railway stables are now situated), the tanyard. and
on the hillside (now the southeast corner of High and Beck streets), the old home of Tunis
Peters, the grandfather of George M. an<l 0. G. Peters. At this home and tanyard George W.
Peters had spent his young days, and upon marrying Sarah A. Merion went to Chillicothe,
seeking his fortune, and started a big tanyard. He used to sail down the canal to Ports-
mouth, Ohio, and then down the Ohio to Cincinnati and St. Louis and purchase hides and
bark and bring them by boat to Chillicothe. But the enterprising young tanner in the hard
times of 1837-S-9 failed, but not discouraged he built small houses on the tanyard, which was
called Petersburg until it burned down at the great fire in Chillicothe.
Here on this tanyard, in one of these small houses, George M. and O. G. Peters were born.
When they arrived at Columbus they were respectively five and three years of age. George
M. and his sister Lucy attended the plain little school at the rear of the old Montgomery
Hotel, at the northeast corner of High and South— now Fulton — Street where the new County
Jail has recently been built. Their father started a trunk factory— the first in th's city and
perhaps in the State — in the basement under their dwelling in the South End near the old
tanyard — now Number .518 South High, just south of Blenkner Street. He tanned the hides
at his father's tanyard with which to cover the trunks, and with hand shears cut up sheet
iron for the bands, for at that time rolled hoop iron was unknown in their manufacture.
Early in life George M. showed mechanical inclinations by helping to make these trunks.
About 1847 George W. Peters bought the lot on the southeast corner of Lop.g and Front
Streets, where he lived and had his trunk factory in the rear of his dwelling, until at the age
thirtyfive he died, July 26, 1852, from overwork. John R. Huglies, who learned the trunk-
making trade with George W. Peters, carried on the factory for his widow until Mr. Ilughts
was able to buy the business, which he has since pursued and which has laid the foundation
for Mr. Hughes's fortune. At ten years of age George M. Peters could make a beautiful
trunk, but his father died just as he was getting a start, and being in debt, the business had
to be sold to save the little home which still stands on the southeast corner of Front and
Long, where Charles M. Peters, the younger brother, was born. Often the father would pat
his son George on the head and say, ''in a few years, my boy, we will buy the lot on the cor-
ner of High and Long (the lot on which now stands Miles, Bancroft & Sheldon's drygoods
house), and build the biggest trunk factory in the world with a big sign on it, G. IV. I'eters
& Sons ; " and, judging from his pluck and enterprise, this no doubt would have been done,
if his energy had not killed him while yet a young man. He did not foresee that within
about a square of that very spot his sons would help to build a great carriage factory and
revolutionize a business that was tenfold more important than trunkmaking.
After the death of his father, George M. Peters was apprenticed to E. & H. F. Booth,
the carriage makers on Fourth and Gay streets, April 1, 1856, at three dollars per week. He
served four years at painting, showed extraordinary skill, became one of the most accom-
plished carriage painters in this country, doing the finest ornamental painting, scroll work,
lettering and varnishing, and after a few years obtained from Messrs. Booth a contract for
doing all the painting necessary in their large trade. Just after the war, against the persua-
sion of Messrs. Booth, George M. Peters struck out in business for himself. Having saved a
few hundred dollars, he, with William and John Benus, bought the little shop of H. H.
Charitjtn, just south of the Third Street Engine House, near Town Street, where they did
carriage repairing, painting and horseshoeing. During the day Mr. Peters helped at black-
smithing, horseshoeing, keeping books, collecting, etc., and at night when the smoke and dust
Manufactures.
326 HiSTORT OF THE CiTY OF COLUMBUS.
of the forges settled down, he and Mr. Benns did their fine painting and varnishing
above the smithshop. About 1865 they bought out the Moore carriage shop on Town Street,
just west of the markethouse, and manufactured carriages in the old fashioned way under
the name of Peters, Benns & Co. But Mr. Peters believed that carriage making could be
revolutionized by proper division of labor and the use of steam power and machinery, and
that instead of selling buggies for $300 apiece, as they then did, they might furnish them for
less than half that price. His partners thought he was a little wild on this subject and
would not encourage him, but at last they allowed him to have his own way, and he con-
tracted with Ayres, Mithoff, Dann & Co., in the Penitentiary, for the wood parts of one hun-
dred buggies, precisely alike, on the duplicate plan, and then put them together cheaply by
systeuializing tlie work. Mr. A. Sells, auctioneer, later of the Sells Brothers' Circus, sold
these cheap buggies on the marketplace at auction, as rapidly as they could be finished up,
at good profits. This was perhaps the first attempt ever made to build and sell buggies on
this plan. Liut Mr. Peters's partners got frightened, thought their wellearned reputation for
fine work would be ruined, and refused to make any more. Nevertheless, after a year or two
of hard times and struggles, Mr. Peters induced C. D. Firestone, a soninlaw of Rev. Lovett
Taft, Mr. Peters's pastor, to put in $.5,000 and join them. Mr. Firestone was a promising
young man, born and raised near Canton, Ohio, and was at tliat time engaged in railway
business at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Mr. Taft was anxious that his soninlaw should come to Co-
lumbus to reside and therefore induced him to accept Mr. Peters's offer to join the firm of
Peters, Benns & Co., but it only took a few years for them to sink all they had, and by 1.S70
they were deeply in debt and practically had failed. However, their extremity seemed to
be their opportunity, for Mr. Peters told his firm that he was going to give up all and start
out on his hobby of making buggies and dashes on the duplicate plan. He begged his part-
ners to join him, but none of them would do so except Mr. Firestone, who, though not a
practical carriage maker and still young, felt sure that he could make the new departure a
success. Without a cent, and deeply in debt, Messrs. Peters and Firestone leased from John
R. Hughes the lot on the northeast corner of High Street and Hickory Alley. By going in
debt they provided a cheap, frame shanty, costing one hundred dollars, and with a few traps
which they bought of the bankrupt firm of Peters, Benns & Co., and for which 0. G. Peters
furnished them security as he had frequently done. Thus equipped they began business life
over again, this time as the Iron Buggy Company. They manufactured one kind of buggy
only, most of which was of iron, and was the invention of Mr. Peters. They succeeded rap-
idly because Mr. Peters could devote his mechanical skill and genius to invention, to divi-
sion of labor and to systematizing the manufacture of vehicles as he had desired to do years
before. Mr. Firestone also entered the field with great energy and ability, and the business
grew with wonderful success. Just then the infant establishment burned down, but it soon
rose from its ashes and in 1875 its proprietors sold their small establishment to H. K. Tuller,
now of the Buckeye Buggy Company, and formed the Columbus Buggy Company and Peters
Bash Company, taking with them as a partner Oscar G. Peters, who had gained valuable
experience as bookkeeper and cashier with Brotherlin, Halm & Co., and Kelton, Bancroft &
Co., also in army positions which he held in the commissary department during the Civil
War. Mr. 0. G. Peters had also successfully carried on a grocery business for some years.
With their joint experience and about $20,000 capital, these three men started the Co-
lumbus Buggy Company and Peters Dash Company at the close of the year 1875. They
began business in a small frame building still standing in the rear of the P. C. & St. L. R. R.
offices, on the northeast corner of Wall and Locust streets, but added building after building
along the railway tracks and High Street, year after year as their business rapidly developed.
Their sales, amounting to about $.50,000 the first year, have increased until they now reach
the sum of about $2,000,000 per annum on an active capital of about $1,000,000, The pro-
ducts of their great factory are now exported to nearly all the countries of the world. They
employ over twelve hundred persons and have facilities for producing about one hundred
Manufactures. 327
vehicles and fifteen luirKheil carriage dashes per day. Their semi-monthly pay-roli amounts
to about $15,000^. The Peters Dash Company manufactures carriage dashes, wheel fenders,
washers, straps, etc., for sale to carriage hardware dealers and carriage manufacturers. These
articles arc made mainly under patents and by machinery invented by George M. Peters.
Of the Haydon establishment in 1850 the following account is given in
Glover & Hendcr.son's City Directory of that year :
Tlie Binningham Works, the property of P. Hayden, are situated on State Avenue, and
on the east liaiik of the Sciolo River. The main building is built of limestone, 19(i feet long,
consisting of a centre building 4(> feet, 4 stories high, surmounted by a handsome cupola,
and two wings, each of 7o feet long. In the rear of the centre building is the engine house,
in which are two engines, one of 50 horse power, the other of 100. Adjoining the engine
bouse, in the north jard, is a mill for rolling scrap iron into bars and rods, capable of pro-
ducing si.x or eight tons of bar iron and three tons of rods daily. In this yard is also a
smitli's shop, ll.i feet long by 32 wide, for making chains, &c. In the south yard is a tan-
nery, SO by :10 fiet, three stories high, designed principally for the mauufacture of morocco.
The maiu building is designed principally for the manufacture of saddlery hardware and
drawing wire. The first floor in the centre building is fitted with machinery for the latter
purpose, anil about three tons of wire, a part drawn to the smallest size, is made each week.
In the nurth wing, on the same floor, are machines for making buckles and rivets. The two
up]ier rooms are used for filing, plating and finishing iron and brass work. Over the wire
room, in the centre building is machinery for spinning, carding, &c. Mr. Hayden employs
from 100 to 1.50 hands.lO
The Oliio Tool Company was incorporated in 1851, with a capital stock of
$190,000. Martin, writing in 1858, stated that it employed at that time about two
hundred workmen, and named the following as its officers and directors: Presi-
dent, George Gere; secretarj' and treasurer, A. Thomas; superintendent, C. 11.
Clark ; directors, O. Allen, W. A. Piatt, A. McNairy, J. R. Swan, George Gere,
P. Hayden, and J. M. McCune. Its chief product consisted for some time of car-
penter's planes ; hence it was commonly known as the "plane factory.'
The Columbus Woolen Factory, incorporated in 1851, began operations April
1, 1852; first directors, A. P. Stone, F. C. Kelton, Theodore Comstock, John
Butler and James Lennox. The factory building stood by the canal, at the foot of
Mound Street. It was equipped with 640 spindles, 20 power looms, nine carding
machines, one napping and brushing machine, and extensive, apparatus for
pressing and dyeing. It consumed 52,000 pounds of wool annually, atid produced
a considerable variety of fabrics, including satinet.s, cassimeres, tweeds, flannels,
blankets and yarns. One quality of its cloth was known as Olentangy doeskin.
The company's dividends, says Martin, were usually paid in additional stock, or in
manufactured goods. The enterprise was never financiallj' successful, and finally
ended, much to the relief of its stockholders, with the accidental destruction of
the factory by .fire. This event took place August 4, 1870. The superintendents
of the establishment, successively down to 1858, were J. L. Haughton, John H.
Stage, and A. P. Ma.son.
In the spring of 1853 Brotherlin & Halm erected a four.story brick building
for the manufacture of cabinetwarc, and in July of the same year, their produc-
tion actively began. Their fitctory, situated near the canal, in the southwest part
328 History of the City op Columbus.
of the city, was destroyed by fire in 1856, but was immediately rebuilt. Their
warerooms were located on High Street. Their employes numbered about forty.''
The factor}' building was again destroj-ed by fire in March, 1861 but was rebuilt,
and in October, 1862, operations were resumed. In 1864 Mr. Brotherlin died, and
the name of the partnership was changed to that of Halm, Ford & Stage.
A company for the manufacture of hollow woodenware by steanidriven
machinery, erected buildings on the west bank of the Scioto in 1855, and in July,
1856, began operations. The company had a capital stock of $28,000, which sum
proved to be insufficient to pay for the buildings, atid start tiie business advan-
tageously. On Maj' 10, 1858, the factory building was set on fire by lightning and
destroyed. Its officers at that time were: President, George Kanemacher ;
secretary, W. L. Hughes; treasurer, H. Crary ; superintendent, W. H. Beebe.
The Novelty Mills, originally erected by Theodore Conistock west of the
canal, took the name of City Mills, under the ownership of A. S. Decker & Co. —
Comstock, Harrison and Decker — and in 1857 were transferred to a new building
on Fourth Street.
Of additional establishments in successful operation in 1858, Martin
enumerates the following:
The Saw Factory at the corner of Water and Spring streets, propelled by steam — pro-
prietors, Messrs. Ohien and Drake ; several Planing Machines propelled by steam, at which
are also manufactured doors, sash, blinds, etc. ; Messrs. Swan and Davies's Foundry and
Machine Shop, on the west side of the river, established a few years since, and giving
employment to some twentyfive to thirty men ; the new steam Paper Mill of Messrs. Hines
and Miller, erected in the fall of 1857, and which commenced manufacturing paper in
January, 1858; the Coffee and Spice Grinding Mill, established by Messrs. Rose and now-
owned by C. P. L. Butler, Esq., worked by steam power; Messrs. Shoedinger and Brown's
Furniture Manufactory ; and two extensive breweries in the south end of the city, one
owned by Messrs. Hoster and Silbernagle, and the other by Mr. John Blenkner.
The first Franklin County Fair was held in October, 1851. A newspaper
review of the exhibit said : " Of manufactured articles there were but very few.
A fine assortment of cabinet work from the shop of Dryer & Co., and a splendid
lot of harness work and saddles, a large portion of which was from the shop of
Mr. Starr, comprised nearly everything under this head. ... Of farming imple-
ments there was but a small assortment."
One of the current industries of 1851 was the manufacture of iron fencing, and
kindred articles, by J. G. & M. Krumm, whose shop was on South High Street, near
Peters's Eun. Rickly's new distillery is mentioned in 185J ; also a new machine
shop, near the railway station ; Halm's cabinet shop and Chadwick's carriage
factory, on Eich Street; the Columbus Stone Dressing Company, "in rear of How-
lett's Factory;" the carriage factory of E. & H. F. Booth, corner of Third and Gay
streets ; and the Lennox machine shop, in rear of the American House. In 1853
the Booths employed fortyfive persons in their carriage business and manufactured
two hundred buggies. Their sales for the year amounted to $40,000 ; average
wages paid, $2.00 per day. In 1865 they erected a new factory building of four
stories. J. A. Shannon's carriage fiictory, on the eastern l>ank of the Scioto, just
below State Street, employed, in 1853, over seventy persons. Its wareroom was on
Manufactures. 329
East Slate Street. In Novembei-, 1854, Mr. Shaonon sold his establish niciit to Blake,
Williams & Co. In April, 1853, a new machine shop was opened at the corner of
Front and Spring by Charles L. Lewis and B. P. Sylvester. TheBiukeyc Machine
Sho]) was fitted up about the same time b}' C M. Ridgway. It occupied the building
known as the Old Paper Mill, at the east end of the National Road bridge. The
repair shops begun about the year 1853 by the Columbus & Indianapoli.s Railway
Company soon l>ecaino extensive. They were located about a quarter ot" a mile west
of the station. In November, 1802, these sho]js were destroyed b3' fir^', but thcj' were
immediately rebuilt on a more extensive scale, and were eqnip]ied and used for the
mtuiufaeture ot cars, ;is well as Uiv i-epairs. William Romans, u master meclKinic
and an inventor of considerable imte, was in charge of their machinery.
THE KILBOURNE & JACOBS MANUFACTURING COMPANY,
COLUMBUS, OHIO.
The furniture factory of Hughes & Beebe rose to noticeable magnitude in
1854. It stood beside the canal, near the commission house of Buttles & Corn-
stock. In the same year Hyde & Schlapp erected a brick building for the manu-
facture of doors and blinds at the foot of State Street. A contemporary enter-
prise was that of tlie Stone & Lime Comjtany, which purchased five acres of ground
just west of the Penitentiary, " leased Colonel Medary's farm for ten years, with
the privilege of quari'yiiig stone on any part thereof," and put down a branch
track connectini;' theii- quarries with the Piqua & Indianapolis Railway. The
Ohio Tool ConqKiriy's establishment was mentioned this year as " one of the most
entensive of the kind in the West." Its payroll averaged about $0,000 and its
))rodnct a value of ntioiit S2n,000, monthly. The steel used by the company was
maiiufactui'ed expressly foi' it by William Jessup & Sons, Btigland ; its iron was
supplied from Pitisburg and from the works of P. Hayden. In 1857 the com-
330 History of the City op Columbus.
pany employed about 350 hands and its sales were roundly stated at $200,000. A
corn broom and brush factory was conducted by B. E. C. Bardwell, on High
Street, opposite the County Courthouse. The trunk factory of J. R. Hughes,
situated on High Street, near Long, obtained conspicuous mention. In 1853 about
eighteen million bricks were manufactured and laid up in walls, but the supply
was not equal to the demand. In 1854 the number of bricks produced was about
twentj' millions and the yards then in operation were thus catalogued : Atchison
five, Ramse}' two, O'Harra two, Temple, Stipe and McElvaine each one; whole
number of workmen employed, 185. Common laborers in the yards were paid
twentytwo, and moulders thirtyseven to fortyfive dollars per month. In 1859
Stipe's yard produced 30,000 bricks per day.
1855— Boiler shop, H. D. Langdon and Neil McKennon ; blacksmithing,
Tresenrider & Noble ; bookbinders, Neereamer & Behmer ; sash, doors and blinds,
Biddle & Bancroft ; tubs and buckets, Leaman & Carlisle.
A new bi'ewery, bj' Charles S. Say, on Front Street, was announced in June,
1858. On June 20, 1859, the hub and foUoe factory of Adam Luckhaupt, one mile
east of the city, on the National Koad, was destroyed by fire. In 1865 a company
organized by John Short, began the manufacture of agricultural machines; its
shops and office were at the west end of the National Road bridge. In 1862, the
Columbus Cabinet Company was organized, with eighteen stockholders, and
bought the building know as the Comstock propert}', to which, in 1864, a two-
storjr addition was made. Rishtine, Leonard & Co's paper mill on Friend Street,
west of the canal, is mentioned in 1863. The firm of Ford, Stage & Co. was organ-
ized in February, 1865, for the manufacture of furniture, in which it soon became
extensively engaged, employing, in part, convict labor.
The Ohio Furniture Company was incorporated Juno 28, 1866, by George
Gere, John G. Mitchell, J. S. Ford and Alfred Thomas. Its factory was estab-
lished on West Mound Street, its salesrooms on South High. In 1890 it employed
l-'5 men and its trade had extendeil to many States besides Ohio; its officers
were, B. S. Brown, president; D. E. Phillips, secretary, treasurer and general
manager ; Charles Baker, Smith Spencer, W. H. Stage and F. E. and Charles H.
Hayden. The company's factory was destroj-ed by fire during the spring of 1867,
but was rebuilt. On June 6, 1866, a "steam brick company" was incorporated
by David Auld, Henry Miller, Theodore Leonard, Edward Hall and J. C. Auld ;
capital stock, $50,000. During the same season the Franklin Machine Works
were established on Water Street by J. S. Andrews, William McNulty, M. R. Wil-
liams and D. H. Royce, all practical mechanics. The Capital Manufacturing Com-
pany was incorporated December 26, 1866, by J. A. Campbell, W. J. Conger and
D. W. H.Day; capital stock $30,000. Its purpose was the production of brushes
and wirework by convict labor.
A business in sawraaking was begun about the year 1854, bj- James Ohlen,
who, with very modest resources, made such progress as to enable him to erect a
factory at the corner of Spring and Water Streets. In 1866, this establishment
was considerably enlarged ; in 1869, it was producing about eight hundred .-aws,
of dittereiit sizes an<l patterns, per day. The Capital City Foundry, McDonald &
Manufactures. 331
Shilling, made a specialty in 1867, of the Wilson steel plow. In March, 1867,
Albert Gemiinder engaged in the manufacture of pipe organs on South Sixth
Street.
In December, 1866, the tanneries then in operation were thus oiuiraeratod :
D. A. Hamilton's, at the foot of Rich Street; Kraner & Go's., at the foot of Bank
Alley, near Hoster's Brewciy; Louis Buchsieb's, on South Front Street; Frank
Sehlcgettcr's on the canal, near the south corporation line; Adolph Bick's, on
Mound Street west of the canal ; and C. C. Smith's steam tannery, then recently
established, situated on the canal, near the Mound Street crossing.
Of the origin of the Columbus Sewer Pipe Company, incorporated March 7,
1869, the following interesting account appeared on September 29, 1870, in the
Ohio State Journal :
Some two years ago it was d.scovered that the peculiar clay and soa])stone shale along a
ravine on the farm of Mr. .Joseph Guitner, three miles north of Columbus, was much like the
clay out of which was manufactured the celebrated Middlebury stone sewer pipe. Samples
of this clay were taken to Middlebury, put through the ordinary process, and the result was
a very superior article of sewer pipe. This led to investigation by scientific men and more
experinienls. The clay was pronounced superior in many respects to the clay at other places
where sewer pipe was manufactured, and the equal of the best iu every respect.
The Columbus Sewer Pipe Company was organized with 1100,000 capital, and B F.
Rees, Windsor Atcheson, S. Medliery, James A. Wilcox, Philemon Hess, Joseph Guitner
and S. S. Rickly as directors. B. F. Rees was elected president and William Wassail, super-
intendent. Mr. Wassail had managed several sewer pipe manufactories in England and in
this country, and brought to the business here the lessons of experience. The company pur-
chased of Mr. Guitner fifteen acres of land along the ravine, and made preparations to secure
machinery and put up a large manufactory. Last spring work was commenced in earnest,
the manufactory was erected on the high ground near the Worthington road, the machinery
was put in place, two kilns were erected, and in May operations were commenced. This was
in the way of an experiment. The result was satisfactory beyonl the brighest anticipations
and the work was extended. Two more kilns were put up and machinery perfected.
The Brown, Hinman & Huntington Company — B. S. Brown, E. L. Hinman
and B. N. Huntington — dates its origin back to the earlj' fifties, when it was
know as the partnership of Hall, Brown & Co., which title it retained until 1866,
when the name of Brown, Hinman & Co. was adopted. In 1885, the company
was incorporated, with a capital stock of $200,000. Its business is chiefly that of
manufacturing agricultural hand-implements. The compan3''s trade has had a
wide range including considerable export.
On December 29, 1866, the Columbus Eolling Mill Company was incorporated
by J. F. Bartlit, E. E. Neil, Theodore Comstock, P. W. Huntington and William
Dennison ; capital stock, $400,000, of which $383,000 was ultimately paid in. The
first meeting of stockholders was held in January, 1867. Subscription books
were opened in that month, extensive buildings were erected on a tract of thirty
acres of ground purchased for the purpose on the left bank of the Whetstone, near
the Panhatidle Railway crossing; and on September 2, 1872, the mill began oper-
ations. Its officers elected in January, 1873, were : B. S. Bi-own president; II. A.
Lanman secretary and treasurer; C. Lewis superintendent, and Samuel Tlioma,s
332 History of the City of Columbus.
gjiicral manaL^cr. The pi-imary purpose of the mill was the manufacture of iron
rails, in which business it made a fair profit until the railways began to lay tracks
of steel instead of iron, in consequence of which change the establishment was
converted, at considerable expense, into a steelrail mill, and continued as such
until Januar}- 1, 1883, when, in consequence of the increased cost of raw materials,
all of which had to be imported under heavy duties, the concern ceased opera-
tions. It employed at that time about four hundred men. In July, 1SS3, a plan
was bro.ichod for changing the equipment and business of the concern to the man-
ufacture of structural iron, but this did not meet with general acceptance. After
consuming a large part of its resources in repairing the damage done by a tornado
which \n'ecUu(l its buildings, the company resorted to the manufacture of open
hearth .^teel, in which it continued for about si.x: months, under the presidency of
Mr. Iv L. Ilinnian. Insufficiency of capital and excessive cost of materials, com-
pelled the suspension of this business also, throwing some hundreds of workmen
out ofcm])lo\ ment. After remaining idle for some time the property was sold, at
great saerilice for what it would bring. Tlic fate of the Columbus Eolling Mill
was that will, h has overtaken most of the smaller eslabli~h nients of its ehiss, and
of many others of other classes; it suceiinilieil to the competition of stronger
establishments and the insupportable cost of raw inalei'ia's.
In 187(1 the hlast furnace of the Columbus li,,n ('oiii|iaiiy was erected on the
left bank of tlie Whetstone, a short distance north of the lolling mill. It wa,s put
into operation December 21. Its original directors were S. Baird, president and
superintendent; B. E. Smith, William Denni.son, II. .1. .lewett, 1). S. Gray, M. M.
Greene, R. B JSfeil, B. S. Brown, Waller C. Brown and P. Ilayden. In March,
1871, the comijaiiy decided to increase its capital stock from ?15(J,000 to S200,000,
and build an additional furnace, but this was not done. The establishment was
finally broken up and removed to the Hocking Valley.
The Fi'anklin Iron Company was organized in 1872; capital stock §150,000;
dii-ectors, Isaac Eberly, president; E. Barcus, superintendent; John Greenleaf,
secretary and treasurer; B. E. Smith, W. G. Beshler, Theodore Comstock, W. B.
Brooks, H. Mithoff and J. Eeinhard. The furnace was located on the east bank of the
Scioto, in the southwestern part of the city: and was erected under the supervision
of Samuel Thomas, of Zanesville. Its equipments being complete, its fires were
first lighted on October 28, 1873, the match being applied by Mi.ss Florence
Eberl}-, daughter of the president.
The Columbus Pipe Foundry, for the inaiuifaeture of cast iron pipe, did its
first mouhling on December 1, 1870, in the presence of about forty interested citi-
zens.
The Door, Sash and Blind Factory on Broad Street, Wo.st Side, started in
1871 with the following directors: W. A. Piatt, R. 1!. Adams, \. D. liodgers, K. F.
Trone and T. Price. William A. Platl was eh. .sen presi.Jeni :.nd Frank Ilickock
secretary and treasurer.
The Columbus Window Gla.ss Com]iaiiy was organized Aiijinst 30, 1873; caj)-
ital stock §75,000; F. C. Sessions, president; J. A. Jeffrey, tre:; surer ; Edward
Ford, superintendent ; G. S. Brooks, secretary. The company's factoiy was
Manupactitres.
333
erected on the west side of the river near tlic lower liridi^o of tlie Iloekiiig Valley
Railway. Active operations hcgan early in 1874, In 1S80 the eslahlishniri.t was
leased for a term of years to Robert C. Schmertz, of rittslmrnli. After a brief
period of active cxisteTice the enterprise was abandoned.
The CohimbiiN ('hair Coinjiany. foi' the manufacture of cane seat ehaii's, was
orsranized April iT.. I^Ti'; capital st..,k «40,0n0 ; S. S. Riekly, president ; Henry
Mason, secretary and snpcrinlcndcnt ; Horace Wilson, treasnrer.
COLUMBUS MACJIINE COMPANY.
The Schaefing Tile Com]mny was a creation of 1872, and began to erect its
works in November of that year on East^riond Street, near Alum Greek; capital
stock $50,000; directors. Loienzo English, Thomas Miller, R. C. Hoffman, Michael
Haviland and Messrs. Thone and C. 8. Glenn. Other enterprises of 1872 were the
scraper factory erected in the northeastern part of the citj- by Mitchell, Doty &
Leonard; and the Ohio Rent Work Company's factory situated neai- the Whet-
334 History op the City of Columbus.
stone, west oi' Goodale Park. The directors of the Bent Work Company were :
Thomas Hibben, president; R. H. Gardner, secretary and treasurer; R. E. Neil,
J. W. Andrews, George J. Eodenfels, H. M. Neil and W. W. Williams. The
destruction of the company's factory by fire caused it to cease business.
A meeting of rail manufacturers was held January 14, 1874, at the Neil
House ; president, Daniel Mathias, of Pittsburgh. Numerous cities were repre-
sented. The Western Eail Mill Association held a meeting in Columbus on April
8, same year. An Ohio Tile Makers' Association was organized at a meeting of
the tilemakers of the State held in Columbus, on February 8, 1880. The Western
Nail Association held a meeting at the Neil House May 13, 1885, for the purpose
of fixing a scale of prices and transacting other business. The factories repre-
sented were numerous.
Brief mention of some of the larger industrial establishments of Columbus may
now form a fitting climax to the story of the rise and development of the manu-
facturing interests of the city.
The Kilbourn & Jacobs Manufacturing Company, incorporated in October,
1881, has become known the world over for its productions in wrought steel, for
which it has a large export trade. Its present officers are: James Kilbourn,
president and general manager; H. L. Jacobs, superintendent; F. C. Eaton, treas-
urer; and F. W. Hubbai'd, secretary. The present capital stock of the company
is $500,000 ; its annual business exceeds the value of $1,000,000. The company's
principal shops, twelve in number, cover, with storage grounds, a space of eleven
acres.
The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company had its beginning in 1878. It is a large
producer of coalmining machinery propelled by compressed air and electricity;
also of chain belting. Its principal factory building covers an entire acre of
ground. J. A. Jeffrey is its president and general manager, C. W. Miller its sec-
retary.
The Columbus Bolt Works have held a conspicuous place among the more
prominent manufacturing establishments of the city since 1874. The president of
the company that year was R. E. Neil ; its trea.surer and general manager, H. A.
Lanman ; its secretary, F. G. Waddle. It is a producer of bolts, nuts and carriage
hai'dware, for all of which its trade has a continental range. The value of its
annual product is about $400,000.
The Columbus Machine Company is the present culmination of the oldtime
Eagle Foundry and Machine Shop of Ambos & Lennox. Its principal products
are blast furnace, Corliss and stationary engines, and other heavy machinery. Its
works occupy an entire square fronting on Broad Street, west of the Scioto.
Kobert B. Collier is its superintendent and manager, R. M. Weaver its secretary,
and Stephen Monypeny its treasurer. William Monypeny is its president.
The Newark Machine Company, transferred to Columbus from Newark, Ohio,
where its 8ho])s had been destroyed by fire, began operations in the old Gill Car
Works October 30, 1884. The company employed at that time about 300 men,
and manufactured about $5,000 worth of agricultural machinery and implements
per daj-. Its present officers are : President, J. P. McCune ; vice president, F. J.
Manufactures. 8:55
Picard ; secretary, Tliomas Woo(l\v;ir:l ; treasurer, P. S. \Vrii,'ht; su|H'riiiien(leiit,
Abraham Miller.
The Case Manufacturing Company takes its name (rom J. M. Case, whose pat-
ents it iLses in the manufacture of mill machinery and equipments. Its career
among the great industrial establishments of Columbus began in 187!) ; the value
of its present annual product is about $400,000. Its president is J;imes Watson ;
vice president, John F. Oglevee ; secretary and li'casuror, David Greene.
The Fish Press Brick Company was incorporated March 17, 1S87, l>y W. and
VV. H. Fish and Edwart Herbert. Its principal proprietors are now largely inter-
ested in cutstone, cement and other industries.
The Ohio Paving Company is identified in its origin and devL'lo])nient with
the street improvement enterprises which, during the last of the eighties, revolu-
tionized the thoroughfares of Columbus. The company manufactures theHallwood
paving blocks, of which it has a capacity of producing 100,000 daily. Its officers
are: President, N. B. Abbott; vice president, Theodore Rhoads ; engineer and
manager, H. S. Hallwood ; secretary and treasurer, L. E. Putnam. Captain
Abbott, the company's president, established the ('olumbus Paving Company in
1876.
The Columbus Watch Companj' had its origin in 1876 but became incorpor-
ated in 1882, and on July 27 of that year moved into its new building at the
corner of Thurman and New streets. Its president, Dietrich Grim, has studied
and a]iplied himself to watchmaking as a profession all iiis life. Associated with
him are many skilled mechanicians of similarly thorough training. The secretary
and treasurer of the company is W. H. Savage. The works are extensive, cover-
ing nearly two acres of ground.
The Patton Manufacturing Company began business in Columbus in 1874.
It has an important branch at Jefferson vi lie, Indiana, under the management of
William D. Patton. The founder, chief manager and proprietor of the business is
■Colonel A. G. Patton, whose son, A. V. li. Patton has charge of the Columbus
department. The company manufactures hollow ware, of which it claims to be
the oldest and largest producer now in existence.
The Columbus Cabinet Company, organized in 1862 by eighteen German
mechanics, manufactures all kinds of furniture and bank and bar fixtures on an
extensive scale. An account of its origin has already l)een briefly given. Its
present directors are : Heiay Lo wer, president ; John Strickler, manager ; Louis
Foster, secretary and treasurer; J. W. Bleile, I. S. Beekey, Frederick Kolb, J. R.
Cook, C. R. Wheeler and J. W. Lauterbach.
The Jonathan Mills Manufacturing Comjjany is a large producer of flouring
mill machinery and apparatus; L. C. Newson, president, Jonathan Mills, vice
president and general manager, W. A. Hardestj-, secretary and treasurer.
The Columbus Bridge Company is a corporation dating from 1886. Its chief
products are viaduct and railway bridges, roofs and iron substructures. President
D. C. Sawj-er; vice president, B. J. Arthur; treasurer, Theodore G. Gordon;
engineer and superintendent, F. C. Lewis.
History of the City of Columbus.
^, <:ij. Jl^o^^^r^
MvLnselll'CO N}
Manufactures. H37
The Buckeye Buggy Company begun business in 1882 on Higli Street, near
Spring. It is now one of the most important (actoi's in the great carriage manu-
facturing interest in Columbus. In March, 1888, its splendid seven story factory,
located near High Street, west of the Union Station, was destroj'ed by fire. The
company rebuilt its works on a twoacre tract fronting on High Street, north of
the Station. The officers of the company are: President, A. L. Wilson ; vice pres-
ident, F. L. Hughes; secretary, F. W. Hughes.
Additional manufactui'crs of wheeled vehicles and their fixtures are the fol-
lowing : Anderson Carriage Company, Capital City Carriage Gonipany, Colum-
bus Carriage Manufacturing Company, Franl^lin Buggy Company, M, & E. K.
Haj-es, John Immel & Son, Joyce Brothers, Moehi Brothers, New York Steel
Vehicle, Wheel & Carriage Company, Ohio Buggy Compan}', Pioneer Buggy Com-
pany, The M. E. Schrock Conijiany, Scioto Bugg}' Compan\', Snj'dcr & Miller,
United States Carriage Company, White Brothers, The William C. Reynolds ('om-
pany, The Griswold-Sohl Company, The Ohio Forging Company and The John W.
Brown Manufacturing Company.
The M. C. Lilley & Co. Regalia Maniifiictory, said to be the largest establish-
ment of the kind in existence, was founded in 1865 by Captain M. C. Lilley, John
Siebertand Henry and Charles Lindenberg. Its productions cover the entire range
of emblems, badges, banners, jewels and other paraphrenalia used by secret societies
and kindred organizations. Its present officers arc: President, Charles H. Lin-
denberg; vice president, John Siebert ; secretarj- and treasurer, William Scarlett.
It has not been intendeil nor has it been possible to mention, much less to
fully describe in this chapter, all the manufacturing enterprises which have been
attempted or established in Columbus during the eiuhty years which have elapsed
since the origin of the city. To have done this, had it been possible to do it,
would only have wearied the reader without enhirging essentially the scope of his
information. The purpose of the chapter has been accomplished if it has traced
in general outline the progress of manufacturing in the city, and pi'esented such
details as intelligibly indicate the character and measure of its development.
NOTES.
1. Martin.
2. Ibid.
3. The following statements concerning this mill appeared in the Ohio State Journal
of August 6, 1866; "Another landmark gone. The old mill near Worthington, the first
considerable mill built in Franklin County, is being demolished and the material used in the
construction of a private residence for H. Kilbourn Taller, Esq. It was built in 1805 by
Colonel James Kilbourn, Agent of the Scioto Company."
4. Martin.
6. Ibid.
6. Western Intelligencer.
7. Board of Trade address.
22*
338 History op the Citt of Columeds.
8. As part of the historj' of the starchmaking industry in Columbus, the following
document has some points of interest :
"This is to certif}' that the undersigned Julius J. Wood and Eli W. Gwynne have
this day formed a limited partnership pursuant to the provisions of an act of the General
Assembly of' the State of Ohio "to authorize and resulate limited partnerships," passed
January 20, 184(), under the name and firm of Julius J. Wood - tliat both of said partners
reside in the city of Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio — that Julius J. Wood is the general,
and Eli W. Gwynne is the special partner —that the general nature of the business to be
transacted is the manufacture and sale of starch and such other business as is ordinarily
incident thereto — that said Gwynne is to contribute to the common stock the sum of five
thousand dollars of which he has paid in one thousand, and is to pay in the residue in
monthly instalments of one thousand each, commencing on the eighth day of December
next — and that said partnership commenced on the eighth day of November, A. D. 1849,
and is to terminate on the eighth day of November, A. D. 1851."
9. Mr. Lennox was originally proprietor of a small shop at the corner of Broad and
Third streets.
10. Peter Hayden, the founder of this establishment, came to Columbus from the
State of New York about the year 183.5. He was quick to observe that Central Oliio
abounded in timber useful for certain kinds of manufacturing, and immediately made
propositions for employment of the Penitentiary convicts, most of whom were then idle.
The propositions were accepted, and resulted in Mr. Hayden's settlement in Columbus.
Thus he began a business which soon became important. Meanwhile his New York interests
developed rapidly, and in due course of events he started an additional factory at Newark,
New Jersey, and made engagements for employment of prison labor in California. For the
sale of his large product, resulting from these various enterprises, Mr. Hayden opened
wholesale stores in the principal cities, east and west. In order to obtain a regular and
reliable supply of fuel for his factories, he bought considerable tracts of coal land in the
Hocking Valley, and thus became extensively engaged in mining.
11. The pioneer in the manufacture of furniture in Columbus was Andrew Backus'
who opened a small shop for the purpose near the Mound, in 1816.
12. The following table compiled from the reports of the Board of Trade shows the
variety and the extent of the manufacturing interests of Columbus in the year 1888;
MANUFACTURES IN 1888.
ESTAB-
LISH-
MENTS.
w'rkm'n
ED.
$ 708,000
642
11 000
23
13,000
11
SJ.TO
15
41 ,445
124
2.J5,000
315
5r>,100
69
532,400
617
507,500
398
4,2.50
37
7,200
21
175,400
433
107,050
333
72,300
278
30,200
43
38.075
82
192,500
97
535,000
1,321
1,433,250
1,513
171,700
195
25,400
47
90,500
102
173,000
SO
69,500
422
101.000
62
110,000
61
55,700
1(50
50,000
65
4,500
19
381,800
189
33,000
24
113,000
102
15,000
14
1,85U
6
264,000
114
1,138,700
1,008
487,735
397
40,500
45
2,600
10
138,000
147
25,500
56
87,500
111
16,000
16
352,000
331
68,000
62
Agricultural Implements
Awnings, Tents, etc.
Bakingpowder and Yeast
Baskets
Blacksmitliing
Bolts and Nuts
Bookbinding and Blank Books
Book, Newspapers and Job Printing.
Boots and Shoes
Boxes (Wood and Paper)
Brass Foundry and Finishing
Bread, Crackers, Confectionery, etc-
Brick Makers
Brick Contractors
Bridges
Brooms and Brushes
Candles, Soaps, Oils, Animal Fat
Carpentering, Contractors, Builders-
Carriages and Wagons
Carriage and Wagon Material
Carriage Mountings and Platings
Cement, Lime and Plaster
Chemicals and Drugs
Cigars
Coffins and Coolingboards
CoflFee and Spices
Coloring, Dyeing and Laundry Work
Cooperage
Carpet Weaving
Doors, Sash and Blinds
Drain Tile
Edge Tools and Files
Electrotyping
Engraving
Flouring Mills and Mill Machinery..
Foundry and Machine Shop Products
Furniture
Galvanized and Sheet Iron Work-
Hair Work
Harness and Saddlery Hardware
Hosiery and Knit Goods
Ice
Iron Fencing
Jewelry and Watches
Leather
213,748
18,000
10,920
4 250
51,550
105,000
40,400
323,700
169,740
11,150
8,475
1.54,875
101,820
101,525
68,7.50
30,800
51,400
617,475
807,6.35
96,800
19,000
40,300
53,000
92,840
30,400
26,635
43,550
16,500
4,100
76,814
12,2.50
43,100
7,625
3,475
62,8.50
487,146
166,046
22,265
3,700
59,510
12,500
36,4.50
8,350
163,000
32,-500
; 707,000
46,750
62,000
8,320
195,115
301,000
103,.500
724 ,,594
1,002,0.50
24,800
29,500
854,500
266,000
466,000
1.32,583
105,950
742,.500
3,189,100
2,211,300
315,.500
54,000
106,000
795,000
357,640
175,000
370,410
181,500
105,000
10,400
343,000
26,500
1.30,000
18,000
8,378
1,015,000
1,5,59,000
4.S5,641
98,200
7,900
261 ,500
•55,000
126,200
26,000
312,000
235,000
History of the City of Columbus.
MANUFACTURES IN 1888.— Continued.
ARTICLES.
Liquors (Malt)
Lithographing
Locks and Locksraithing
Lumber and Mill Work
Mantels and Grates
Marble and Stone Work
Mattresses and Bedding
Merchant Tailors
Mineral and Soda Water
Millinery
Oil Cans and Pressed Work-
Paper
Painting and Paper Hanging
Patterns and
Patent Medicines
Photographs
Pumps, Plumbing & Plumbing Sup'l's
Steam Engines and Boile:
Shirts^
Sewer Pipes
Stoves, Ranges, Hollowware, Tinware
Trunks and Valises —
Warm Air Furnaces--
Miscellaneous
Total -
$ 850,000
10 000
4,100
660,400
14,000
99,500
6,500
153,000
25,700
39,800
48,000
95,000
123,500
34,100
38,.500
51,600
1.52,672
215,000
6,500
205,000
288,.500
36,500
29,000
2,290,500
2,950
173,920
14,7.50
49,925
5,920
154,395
4,620
34,250
25,750
61,800
110,650
14,818
25,884
114,228
99,176
8,300
65,000
155,304
27,075
20,7.50
557,117
58,000
8,1.50
1,049,800
31, .500
202,650
13,!I00
692,500
33,320
96,400
105,000
140,000
331,200
20,500
91,400
112,000
.508,414
242,200
26,050
245,000
733,269
88,850
62,000
2,682,826
$14,310,277 14,804
S6,.368,392 .$ 26,075,215
CHAPTER XXI.
INDUSTRIAL EVENTS.
Oil Juno 2(), iy4H, the Mochaiiics' Beneficial Society, of Columbus, met tor the
t'oniiiil opening of its new iiall. The occasion was important. The society was
the first enduring association of industrials organized in the city. Its building,
the completion and occupation of which it celebrated, had been built from its own
resources, and was named the Mechanics' Hall. Its president, at the time of the
opening, was A. G. Hibbs, its secretary John Greenleaf. On behalf of himself
and four others the president presented to the society a portrait by William Wal-
cutt, which lie described as a likeness " of our distinguished follow citizen and
mechanic, Mr. James Eussell, the inventor of the matchless planetarium." Con-
tinuing Mr. Hibbs said : " Mr. Russell commenced life in the State of New Hamp-
shire without the advantages of wealth; his trade was that of a cabinet maker.
At something above the age of twenty years be moved to Ohio, and for the last
thirty years [he] has been extensively known as a machinist of almost unparal-
leled ingenuity. During all this time he has been originating and perfecting the
peculiar and apparently' complicated yet simple machinery by which a little child
may be made to exhibit, with unerring fidelity, the motions and position of the
solar system."'
Another speaker of the occasion was Aaron F. Perry who delivered a formal
address in the course of which he said: "This society was instituted in the year
1830, and received an act of incorporation from the legislature of the State in the
following j-ear. For several years its members were very few, and it received lit-
tle attention. But there were some who continued to cherish the impulses which
first prompted them, and under every discouragement adhered to their original
design and kejjt u]) its organization."
Speaking of the objects of the society Mr. Perry said:
It was originally designed to be, and now is, a society of mechanics, and as such the
members contribute to a fund for the relief of each other in case of sickness. Provisions are
also made for visiting and attending upon sick members, and that upon the decease of a bene-
fit member a specified sum of money shall be paid to his widow. ... It has another general
purpose in view, the benefits of which are intended to be confined to no particular class of
citizens ; that is, to create and sustain a fund devoted to facilities for general improvement
in literature, science and valuable knowledge by means of a library and public lectures.
L341]
342 History of the City of Columbus.
The act of the General Assembly incorporating the society was passed March
9,1831. It provided: "That Phiio H. Olmsted, Moses R. Spurgeon, Jonathan
Neereamer and Charles Love, with their associates, who have associated them-
selves together in establishing a society in the town of Columbus for advancing
the best interests of the mechanics, manufacturers and artisans hj the more gen-
eral diffusion of knowledge among those important classes of community, and for
the purpose of more conveniently and effectually affording relief to unfortunate
members of said society, together with such persons as may hereafter become
members of the same, be and they are hereby created a body corporate."
About the middle of April next following the passage of this act, the members
of the society met at Young's Coffeehouse to elect officers. On April 7, 1833, the
following were chosen: President, Jonathan Neereamer; Vice President, Robert
Pollock; Treasurer, Philo H. Olmsted; Secretary, Smithson E. Wright; Trus-
tees, Thomas Wood, William A. Piatt, M. R. Spurgeon, S. Thompson, A. Sites ;
Stewards, John Borland, John Otstot, Edward Davis. Until the society was pro-
vided with its own hall it held its meetings in the engine house on State Street.
A regular meeting was held on the first Monday of each month.
Next, in order of time, among the important industrial associations of the city
was the Columbus Typographical Society, which came into existence in 1832.
The officers of this society, chosen December 31, 1834, were : President, William
C. Morrow; Vice President, Charles L. Murray; Secretary, Lyman Shepherd;
Treasurer, P. J. Howe; Standing Committee, I. B. Halsey, P. J. Bartholomew,
A. Dorough.
Among the industrial phenomena of this period was the frequent publication
in the newspapers of such notices as the following, which appeai-ed under date
of February 16, 1836 :
One Cent Reward, but no Charges. Ran away from the subscriber February 6, bound
girl by the name of Mary Keen, aged nearly fourteen years. All persons are hereby forbid
harboring trusting or employing her, under penalty of the law.
The commonness of such notices indicates that many children — thoughtless,
perhaps, yet still children — were in those days made outcasts " under jjenalty of
the law" excluding them alike from home and employment.
The competition of the Penitentiary elicited at an early day the protests of
labor in Columbus. In April, 1835, a large meeting of mechanics was held at
Heyl's Tavern to consult, it was said, as to their general interests " so far as the
same might be injured by the cheap labor convicts in the State Prison." Joseph
Ridgway, Junior, presided at this meeting, and Smithson E. Wright was its sec-
retary. Nothing especial was done except to appoint a committee to ascertain
"what is to be the future policy in the management of the Penitentiary on this
question."
The subject was further agitated from year to year, intermittently, for several
decades. Pursuant, we are told, to an appeal addressed to all who were opposed
to the " prison system " then existing, "a vast assemblage of mechanics and other
citizens of Columbus and vicinity, variously estimated at from five hundred to one
Industrial Events. 343
thouBund, ;i8senibled within and around the Baptist Cluirch " on July 1, 1839.
A. Stotts was ciiairman of this meeting, and George W. Slocura and W. I). Morgan
were its secretaries. Its resolutions declared : " That the present Penitentiary
system should be wholly remodeled ; and while we unhesitatingly proclaim our
conviction of its injustice, and its degrading tendency and demand its repeal, we
deny that wo are called upon, either by good sense or precedent, to provide a sub-
stitute."
This meeting was followed by another, on the sixteenth of the same month,
at which "the mode of employing the State convicts in the Ohio Penitentiary
under the authority of law " w.as severely denounced. The matter had its par-
tisan phases then, as since, anti the competition of convicts in the labor market
was always a fruitful text for the party which did not happen to have, for the
time being, the responsibility of penitentiary management.
The stock books of the Mechanics' Savings Institution were opened to subscrib-
ers October 30, 1838; commissioners, P. H. Olmsted, J. Neereamer, N. B. Kelley
and Thomas Woods.
On February 25, 1832, the General Assembly passed an act " to authorize and
encourage the establishment of agricultural societies" in the several counties of
the State. It did little more than provide a method for the organization of such
societies. An act of similar purport was passed on March 12, 1839.
A called meeting of the Ohio State Agricultural Society was held at Circle-
ville July 14, 1837, and the following officers were elected : President, Joseph
Vance; Vice Presidents, John I. Van Meter, Felix Ren.ick, Allen Trimble and
William Miller; Treasurer, S. G. Eenick; Secretary, P. K. Hall; also a board of
directors. The next annual meeting was appointed for Circleville, October 17,
1838.
On January 8, 1839, in pursuance of a suggestion from the Licking County
Agricultural Society, "a numerous meeting of the citizens of Ohio" was held at
the Statehouse for the purpose of forming a State Agricultural Society. Anthony
Walke, of Ross County, was chairman of this meeting; George W. Sharpe, of
Delaware, and Alexander Waddle, of Stark, were its secretaries. The representa-
tives of Franklin County in this convention wore: J., J. L. and G. K. Miner,
J. SuUivant, A. W. McCoy, R. Neil, David Nelson, A. S. Chew, John A. Lazell,
A. Stinimel, A. Brotherlin, William Miller, William Styerwalt, John Noble, Samuel
Medary, William Doherty, B. Thompson, J. Eidgway, Junior, William N. Hub-
bell, Demas Adams and John McElvain. A constitution was adopted declaring
the purpose of the society to be "to encourage domestic industry in general."
Any citizen of the State could become a member on advance payment of a fee of
one dollar, and any county society might become auxiliary to the Slate organiza-
tion. Samuel Spangler was chosen president, M. L. SuUivant recording secretary,
A. S. Chew corresponding secretarj' and Lincoln Goodale treasurer. One of the
nineteen vice presidents was Jeremiah Miner, of Franklin County, which was
further represented by Eobert Neil, Alfred Kelley, S. G. Eenick and William Neil
in the Board of Directors. Eesolutions were adopted favoring the early establish-
ment of an agricultural paper, under direction of the managers of the society ; pro-
344 History of the City of Columbus.
viding for a committee to memorialize the General Assembly for an appropriation
from the State treasury; recommending the organization of auxiliary societies ; in the
different counties; requiring the Board of Directors to appoint each year some
member of the society to deliver an annual address; directing that the General
Assembly should be memorialized, in the name of the society, to provide for an
Agricultural Survej' of the State in connection with the Geological Survey then in
progress; and providing for a committee of five to consider the propriety of pur-
chasing a tract of land for experiments and establishing thereon an agricultural
school. A further resolution provided for memorializing the General Assembly
for an act to incorporate the society as a joint stock company; shares, ten dol-
lars each. The following persons were named as members of the Executive Com-
mittee: Eli W. Gwyne, Eobert Neil, A. S. Chew, M. L. SuUivant, J. A. Lazell,
W. M. Anderson and J. Dille. This committee was instructed to establish an
agricultural paper in Columbus, as soon as the necessary funds could be had, and
appoint a suitable person to conduct it.
On July 12, 1840, a meeting of stockholders of the State Society was held at
Circleville; on October 22, 1841, the society held an "annual exhibition" at
Chillicothe.
These attempts at the organized encouragement of agriculture seem to have
l^roduced no permanent or very satisfactory results. They awakened popular inter-
est, however, and led to the establishment of an agricultural paper, which served
an exceedingly useful purpose as a monitor and medium of communication to the
farming element of the State. That paper was the Ohio Cultivator, published in
Columbus by M. B. Bateham, beginning in January, 1845. Early in its existence
the Cultivator suggested that a State convention should be held for the organiza-
tion of a permanent State Board of Agriculture by which proper encourage-
ment might be given to county agricultural societies, an agricultural survej' pro-
moted and means found to stop the destruction of sheep by dogs. Upon this sug-
gestion the following contemporary comment was made: " There are not prob-
ably, more than half a dozen regularly organized agricultural societies in the
eightyone counties of the State ; and not more than half that number are in healthy,
vigorous operation.''
In pursuance of Mr. Bateham's advice and solicitations a state agricultural
convention numbering about 200 delegates was held at Columbus, beginning June
25, 1845.'' It was called to order by Governor Mordecai Bartley, on whose motion
Bx-Governor Allen Trimble, of Highland, was chosen chairman. J. T. Worthing-
ton of Madison, G. Keen of Portage and S. Modary of Franklin were appointed
vice chairmen ; Alexander Waddle of Clark and W. H. Ladd, of Jefferson, were
named as secretaries In the afternoon the delegates inspected an exhibit of
plows and other agricultural implements, accompanied by samples of wool from
different parts of Ohio, and from New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
Some specimens of Durham cattle, owned by M. L. SuUivant, were also exhibited.
During the sittings of the convention reports were received from committees on
plows, silk and wool, a State Board of Agriculture was appointed, and the Gen-
eral Assembly was memorialized to pass, at its next session, a law to accomplish
^a^
Industrial Events. 345
the following objects: 1. The formation of county or district agricultural socie-
ties with corporate powers, said societies annually to choose delegates to a State
Society which should assemble once a year at Columbus and choose from its own
membership a State Board of Agriculture. 2. An appropriation of seven thousand
dollars annually, $2,000 of whicii should be at the disposal of the State Board, the
rest to bo distributed to the count}' boards. 3. Protection of the woolgrowing
interest by the imposition of a tax on dogs. 4. Collection of agricultural statis-
tics. 5. More effectual punishment for fruitsteaiing and the destruction of fruit
trees. 6. Better facilities for tlie education of young men in the country, especi-
ally in such sciences as pertain to agriculture. 7. Formation of township farm-
ers' clubs and libraries. 8. More general diffusion of agricultural information.
9. Eepeal of the existing law relative to agriculture. The proceedings of the
convention were published in the form of an ad<lross to the farmers and friends of
agriculture in Ohio.
On October 22, 1845, the members of the State Board appointed by this con-
vention met at Columbus. There were present Messrs. Allen Trimble, Grcenbury
Keen, Samuel Spaiiglor, Darius Lapham, J. P. Kirtland, J. H. HallocU, Joseph
Vance, Samuel Medary and M. L. Sullivant. Mr. Sullivant was chosen chairman
and Mi-. Lapham secretary. Joseph Ridgway was appointed to prepare a memo-
rial to the General Assembly and the following resolution was adopted ;
That this Board do recommend to the farmers and mechanics of the State to hold a Con-
vention and Fair at the City of Columbus in the last week of September or first week of
October next.
As a result, doubtless, of the foregoing proceedings '' an act for the encourage-
ment of agriculture" was passed by the General Assembly, and became a law on
Februaiy 28, 1846. This law provided for county-treasury aid to county and dis-
trict agricultural societies; and for the award of premiums by such .societies on
improvements and products ; also for an annual report of such awards and improve-
ments, and of county agricultural conditions to the State Board of Agriculture.
After thus providing, the act named fiftythree persons who should comprise that
Board, and prescribed the manner of its organization and succession. The act fur-
ther directed that on the first Wednesday in the next ensuing April after its pas-
sago the members of the Board, " or any ten of them," should organize; that it
should therealter meet annually in Columbus on the first Wednesday after the
first Monday in December ; and that " the president of each county agricultural
society, or other delegates therefrom duly authorized," should be admitted to take
part in such meetings and during the same should "elect suitable persons to fill
all vacancies in the Ohio State Board of Agriculture." An annual report from
the Board to the General Assembly was required, and the act of March 12, 1839,
"to authorize and encourage the establishment of ogricultur.il societies " was re-
pealed.
On the appointed day in April, 1846, ten of the members named in the act of
February 28, met in Columbus. They were Felix Kenick, A. E. Strickle, Allen
Trimble, S. Medary, M. L. Sullivant, William Gill, David Gregory, Anson How-
ard, Jacob Pugsley and John Ciianoy, Allen Trimble was chosen president of
346 History of the City of Columbus.
the Board. S. Medary secretary and M. L. Sullivant treasurer. An executive
committee was appointed and rules for the government of county societies were
prepared, together with a list of questions in response to which such societies
might furnish the information on which the annual report of the Board might be
based.' At a subsequent meeting held on October 28, same year, the Board
adopted resolutions urging the county societies to report statistics and appoint
delegates to the annual meeting; advising the formation of farmers' clubs for
mutual improvement, and admonishing the General Assembly to provide for the
traveling expenses of the Board's members. The ^rst salaried member of the
Board was Professor W. W. Mather, who, in 1850, was chosen as its agricultural
chemist and corresponding secretary.^ After serving two years Professor Mather
resigned and was succeeded as corresponding secretary by George Sprague, who
served four years. In 1857, J. H. Klippart became the secretary, in which posi-
tion he died (in 1878) after serving nearlj- twentytwo years. His successor, for
six years, was W, T. Chamberlain, who resigned to accept the presidency of the
Iowa Agricultural College, and was succeeded by L. N. Bonhani, the present sec-
retary. Before the Board employed a secretary its annual reports were prepared
by its president.
On February 8, 1847, the General Assembly passed an act limiting the mem-
bership of the State Board to ten, five to be elected annually for the term of two
years. The original members named in the act were Allen Trimble, M. L. Sulli-
vant, S. Medai-y, Diirius Lapham, A. E. Strickle, Arthur Watts, M. B. Bateham,
John Codding, J. P. Kirtland and Isaac Moore. By further legislation a State
Agricultural Fund was created and placed at the disposal of the State Board.
On December 6, 1848. the Board met in Columbus and resolved to hold a
State Fair in the ensuing September. A committee was appointed to receive propo-
sitions as to location, but owing to the subsequent outbreak of the cholera the
action of the Board was recalled and the first Ohio State Fair did not take place
until October 2, .3 and 4, 1850, when it was held on the ground then known as
Camp Washington, near Cincinnati. One of its notable features was an "agricul-
tural ball," given at the Burnet House. During continuance of the exhibition a
daily extra train was run between Columbus and Cincinnati.* Since 1850 the
State Fairs have been held, in the order of their occurrence, at the following
places: Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton, Newark, Columbus, Cleveland, Cincin-
nati, Sandusky, Zanesville, Dayton (twice), Cleveland (twice), Columbus (twice),
Dayton (twice), Toledo (twice), Springfield (twice), Mansfield (twice), and, since
1874, continuously at Columbus.
The project of organizing a horticultural society for the city was broached
and currentl}' discussed in December, 1844. It was carried into effect at a meet-
ing of citizens held at the United States Courthouse on April 10, 1845. At that
meeting, of which Bela Latham was chairman and M. B. Bateham secretary, a
committee was appointed to frame rules of government. The members of this
committee were M. B. Bateham, Joseph Sullivant, Samuel Medary, John Burr,
A. E. Glenn. Joseph Ptidgway, Junior, and Joel Buttles. At a subsequent meeting,
held May 12, a constitution for the Columbus Horticultural Society was adopted.
Industrial Events. 347
and its officers were chosen, as follows : President, Bela Latham ; vice presidents,
W. S. Sullivant and Samuel Medary; secretaries, Joseph SuUivant and M. B.
Bateham; treasurer, John W. Andrews; and a board of managers. The society's
first re,i<ular meeting was held at the United States Courthouse, June 7, 1845, and
on September 26 of that year its first exhibition of fruits and flowers took place.
Another exhibit was made at the Ambos Hall July 9, 1846, and on September 3
and 4 of that year the society held its annual fair at the Senate Chamber. The
display at this fair was very highly commended. Premiums were awarded to the
excelling exhibitors. The society's third annual fair was held on September 8
and 9, 1847, in a lower room of the Old Statchouse. This was a meritorious dis-
play of fruits, flowers and vegetables, and numerous premiums were awarded.
At the annual meeting in March, 1848, Doctor I. G. Jones was chosen president in
lieu of Bela Latham, who had served until that time, but owing to failing health
declined to continue in office. Doctor Jones continued to serve until his death.
In 1848 the society regularly meland held an exhibition every Saturday evening in
" its room back of Gwynne's store." Its fourth annual fair was held on September
5 and 6 in the Old Hall of Eepresentativcs, which, says a contemporary chronicler,
was " fitted up in the most tasteful style, with sheaves of corn, festoons of ever-
green and beautiful collections of living exotics." The exhibit, it was said, was
ver3' rich and beautiful. Of apples alone there were about seventy kinds, while
the flowers included "all the varieties that grace the garden or grow in the con-
servatory, wreathed into bouquets by the fair hands of the ladies." During 1849
and 1850 the society's active operations were suspended on account of the cholera.
The expediency of establishing a society garden began to be discussed early in
1851, and on July 5 of that year a committee which had been appointed to con-
sider the project reported that various offers of land for a garden had been
received, the tract preferred being one of ten acres " situated on the west bank of
Alum Creek, about two miles from High Street, on the Granville Plank Eoad."
This tract was offered by Samuel Barr for two hundred dollars, conditioned upon
its use as a garden for five years. The ground was purchased, and on July 18,
1851, a picnic was held upon it by the society, but after much money had been
spent in improving the tract it was found to be too wet for a garden. It was
therefore sold April 1, 1866, to Jane Bell, from whom it was purchased by the
Franklin County Agricultural Society. In 1868 suit was brought by the heirs of
Samuel Barr lor the proceeds of this sale because of alleged forfeiture of the con-
ditions on which the land was originally deeded to the society. The suit was
settled in 1872, the society agreeing that $3,000 of the proceeds of the sale and
accrued interest, should be held perpetually by the society as a " Samuel Barr
Fund for horticultural purposes." The purchase money not being all paid until
1878, the society, meanwhile dormant, was then reorganized, with Henry C.
Noble — elected in 1866 and now reelected — as chairman. Exhibitions were held
by the society in June, 1878, at the rooms of the State Board of Agriculture, and
in September, same year, at the City Hall. At the annual meeting in May, 1879,
Hon. N. S. Townshctul was elected president.
348 History of the City op Columbus.
In 1841 we hear of more protests by workmen against the " farming out" of
" felon labor " at the Penitentiary. In 1844 an Anti-Prison Monopoly Associa-
tion " conspicuously opposed the system of contract labor then in vogue, and vig-
orously petitioned the General Assembly for its abolition. The association was
represented to be an organization of the " mechanics and workingmen of Colum-
bus." A meeting of" mechanics " at the United States Courthouse November 20,
1845, condemned "the unjust system of prison monopoly," as the contract system
was then called, and suggested that a Ktate convention be held to denounce it.
The scheme of industrial association advocated bj' Charles Fourier was con-
siderably discussed throughout Ohio in 1845, and lectures on the subject were
delivered in Columbus by the apostles of the scheme during that year.
A State assembly of nurserymen and fruitgrowers was held in Columbus on
September 29 and 30, 1847. Its proceedings were published in pamphlet form.
One of the earliest labor strikes of which we have any record was an affair
of journeymen carpenters in 1848. On April 12 of that year about fifty members
of that craft held a moetjng at the United States Courthouse and marched in pro-
cession, with a band of music and a banner conspicuously inscribed "$1.50."
Franklin's birthday anniversary, January 17, was celebrated on that date, in
1848, by the printers of the city, who signalized the occasion by holding an oyster
supper at the American House, at which addresses were delivered by Samuel
Medary, Henry Eeed, J. H. Bwing, State Senator George D. Hendricks, Matthias
Martin and others. A " Farmers' Association " was organized January 20, 1849,
for the purpose of regulating the price of cordwood. The Ohio Statesman of
April 21, same year, said: Such is the extent of improvements going on in this
city at present that it is difficult to find hands to do any kind of work, not already
engaged. A.s regards bricklayers and stonemasons, they cannot be got at all."
A Woi-ld's Industrial Fair was held at London, beginning May 1, 1851. The fol-
lowing committee to receive and forward Ohio exhibits was appointed by Gov-
ernor Ford: M. L Sullivant, president; S. Medary, treasurer; M. B. Bateham,
secretary ; Peter Hayden, Jo.seph Sullivant, J. G. Gest and Arthur Watts.
B}' actioti of the State Board of Agriculture, it was directed that the Second
Annual State Fair should be held at Columbus in September, 1851, provided the
citizens of the capital would contribute the sura of 13,000 to pay expenses. A
committee to raise this sum was appointed by the City Council, and was success-
ful." The fair took place September 24, 25 and 26, 1851, on a tract of thirtyfive
acres lying in the angle formed by the National Eoad (Broad Street) and the
Washington Turnyikc, near the Old Courthouse, in Franklinton. This land was
owned at that time \>y M. L. Sullivant. In the organization of its management
the State Board made the following appointments: Police Marshal, A. W. Brown ;
Superintendent of Mechanics' and Manufacturers' Hall, W. A. Gill ; Superinten-
dent of Machinery, James Lennox; Superintendent of Domestic Hall, J. M.
Wcstwater ; Superintendent of Horses, B. Blake; Superintendent of Eefreshment
Department, C. P. L. Butler; Superintendent of Improvement of Grounds, R. M.
Pcckham. Hun. William Allen was chosen to deliver the annual address The
fair surpassed in some respects that held in Cincinnati the year before and was
InDDSTRIAI, P]VENTS. 341)
very l.ivgly attcniled. Thorecoijits at the ( 'incinnati fair wore S7,2S5 ; at Cdliiin-
bus, $8,209. An agricultural ball was given at tlic Odeon.
The Fi-anklin County Agricultural Society met at the City Ilall, Septemlier G,
1851. A constitution for its government was reported by M. L. Sullivant, Jolui
Clark. Gr. S. Innis ami S. (i. Harris, and was adopted Officers chosen : Pirsidint,
Samuel Medary; Vice jjresident, Samuel Brush; Treasurer, Gr M. Peters; Secre-
tary, William Dennison; iManagcrs, Pliny Curtis, David Taylor, Jaiues O'llara,
William L. Miner and W. H. Rarey. A committee for each township was
appointed to obtain subscribers to the constitution. The society held its first
annual fair on the State Fair Grounds, near Franklinton, Octobei' 22, 1851. The
exhibit was well spoken of but was evidently very meagre in some departments.
Sixtyfive county fairs were held in Ohio this year, about twontytive of them for
the first time. The State Board of Agriculture met in Columbus, December 3,
1851, M. L. Sullivant presiding, and adopted resolutions offered by Ex-Governor
Trimble asking the General Assembly to provide an experimental fixrm. A prop-
osition to remove the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb to such a farm was
stricken out. It was deculed at this meeting to hold the next State Fair at Cleve-
land.
The Franklin County Agricultural Society held its annual meeting at the City
Hall May 1, 1852, and elected the following officers: President, Samuel Brush;
Vice President, Jacob Sly; Treasurer, Robert Hume, Junior; Secretary, Benja-
min Blake; Managers, M. L. Sullivant, W. H. Rarey, W. L. Miner, Eli F. Jen-
nings and Lucian Buttles. Efforts were made to raise funds to purchase a perma-
nent site for the fair, and resulted in the purchase of a tract described as "a beau-
tiful lot of five and one half acres " called Eastwood, two miles east of the city.
Lucian Buttles, W. L. Miner and M. L. Sullivant were appointed to superintend
the improvement of these grounds. The State Agricultural Society assembled in
the Hall of Representatives on December 8, 1852, Arthur Watts, of Ross, presid-
ing. Delegates were present from sixtythree counties, and reported total receipts,
$23,823.69; total expenditures, $17,524.18. The General Assembly was memorial-
ized to authorize county societies to purchase permanent sites for their annual
exhibitions. It was decided to hold the next State Fair at Dayton. The World's
Fair to be held in New York in 1853, was extensively advertised this year in Ohio.
On June 24, 1852, a National Agricultural Convention was held at Washington.
Among the Ohio delegates thereto were M. L. Sullivant, W. W. Mather, S. Medary,
S. P. Chase and N. S. Townshend. On October 31, 1852, a State Pomological
Convention was held at the City Hall. A large variety of fruits was exhibited, a
State Pomological Society was organized, and delegates to an American Pomolog-
ical Congress to be held September 13, 1852, were appointed.
The Second Annual Fair of the Franklin County Agricultural Society was
held in 1852, beginning October 7. At the annual meeting of the society, held at
the City Hall April 30, 1853. it was reported to be in a highly prosperous condi-
tion. Bight acres of land had been bought and paid for, and had been provided
with appropriate buildings and stalls. The Fourth Annual State Fair was held at
Dayton in 1853, on September 2(1, 22 and 23.
/
350 History of the City op Columbus.
On January 11, 1851, the printers of Columbus met at the American House,
and oro-anized a "Union Societj." Resolutions were adopted condemning the
introduction of printing as one of the industries of the Ohio Penitentiary, and
resenting insinuations made in the Ohio Senate that Columbus printers were
"robbers of the treasury." The Columbus Typographical Union met on February
5, 1851, at the Mechanics' Hall. On February 9 the Union was addressed by
Professor Mather at the United States Courthouse.
On March 23, 1853, a meeting of Columbus carpenters was held at the City
Hiill J. H. Cole presiding. The resolutions adopted by these carpenters " demand
and insist upon " an increase of twentyfive cents per day in wages to enable them
" to support the rapidly increasing expenses of living." The journeymen tinners
of tlie city struck for higher wages in August, 1853, and the " bosses " are said to
have acquiesced in their demands. On February 27, 1854, the " planemakers "
employed by the Ohio Tool Company marched through the city with music and
banners during the day, and held a meeting in the evening. The demonstration
grew out of some disagreement with the company. In July, 1854, the stone-
cutters of the city struck for an increase of wages to two dollars per daj'. We
hear of no more labor trouble in the city prior to the financial crisis of 1857,
during the continuance of which industrial distress became general.
On July 14, 1853, a trial of mowing and reaping machines took place in the
Sullivant meadows, west of Franklinton. The trial was at that time a great
novelty, and awakened general interest. On December 7, 1853, the State Agri-
cultural Society held its eighth annual meeting at the Odeon. New members
were chosen, and a resolution was adopted to memorialize Congress for a donation
of 200,000 acres of land to endow an agricultural college in each State. In 1864
the State Fair was held on the grounds occupied by the works of the mound-
builders, at Newark. In the .same year W. S. Sullivant planted a cornfield of
twelve hundred acres '-adjoining the town of Franklinton." The Franklin
County Fair of 1854 was held in September. A competition in horsemanship by
ladies was its most conspicuous feature. Five ladies contested for the prizes,
which were a sidesaddle, a set of silver spoons, a gold pencil, and a discretionary
premiums of ten dollars. The chairman of the awarding committee was John G.
Breslin. On December 6, same year, the State Agricultural Society held its
annual meeting at the Odeon. A majority of the committee on permanent loca-
tion of the State Fair reported adversely, and a resolution was adopted declaring
that such location would, at present, be inexpedient. Competition in stock and
agricultural implements was invited for the next fair, regardless of State bounda-
ries, and the State School Commissioner was requested to consider the propriety
of introducing agriculture as a study for advanced scholars in the common schools
of Ohio. A National Department of Agriculture was favored. A resolution
endorsing the agricultural college at Oberlin, of which Hon. N. S. Townshend
was President, was offered, but in lieu of it the society adopted a resolution
petitioning Congress for a grant of 200,000 acres of land for the permanent
endowment of such schools. A joint evening meeting of the agricultural and
pomological conventions was held. A premium of $25 was awarded to
Industrial Events. :^51
W. H. Ladd, of Jefferson Count}-, on foiirtoon Silesi:iii sliocj), wliicli ho liad
imported direct from Silesia. This importation was considered very imporlant to
the woolgrowing interests of the State. Messrs. M. L. and Josepli SuUivant were
engaged this year in preparing for extensive (arming enterprises in Illinois.
The State Fair of 18.'j5 was heki September 18-21 on the grounds previously
occupied for the purpose, near Franklinton. The attendance was very large;
that of September 20 was estimated at 25,000. Among the novel features of the
exhibition was a contest in equestrianism by ladies, of whom eight entered the
lists A "brigade" of ponies with uniformed boj- riders seems to have given
maeh amusement. At the close of the exhibition the premium livestock was
marched and countermarched around the ring, with music. Premiums to the
amount of $7,000 were awarded. An address was delivered at the Floral Hall
by Professor Kennicott. The grounds on which the fair was held were .the scene
of General Harrison's conference with the Indians on June 25, 1813. The pre-
cise spot at which this conference took place is supposed to be marked by a tree
yet standing. An illustration of this tree, as the " Harrison Elm " will be found
on page 247 of Volume One of this work. The Franklin County Fair of 1855
closed September 14 with a fine display of equestrianism by lady competitors.'
On January 15, 1856, the State Board of Agriculture met in Columbus and
decided to hold the next State Fair at Cleveland. On December 4 of the same
year the Board held its annual meeting at the Columbian Hall. During its
sittings a contemporary meeting of citizens of Columbus ai^pointed a committee
to inform the Board that the city would offer liberal inducements for the perma-
nent location of the fair, but this effort was not successful. The Bo.ird once
more decided against permanent location. In 1857, the year of thefinuncial crisis,
a great m^iny mechanics of the city were out of emploj'ment. The reason
assigned for this was that no money could bo had to pay tho woi-kmen for their
labor.
The State Fair of 1858 was held at Sandusky. The Franklin County Fair
took place in September. The State Board of Agriculture met in Columbus Decem-
ber 9 and was unsuccessfully importuned by a committee of the City Council to
permanently locate the State Fair at the capital. The fair of 1859 wns held at
Zanesville. The annual report of the Franklin County Agricultural Society, pre-
sented at its annual meeting on May 7, 1859, recommended the purchase of four
additional acres of ground. On February 2, 1859, the journeyman cordwainers of
Columbus held a meeting to protest against Penitentiary contracts for the manu-
facture of boots and shoes. A convention of sugargrowers, at which some speci-
mens of sorghum were exhibited, was held in the city November 12. The journey-
man tailors met at Weuger's Hall December 3 " to take into consideration the
present depression of wages." The Ohio Pomological Society assembled at the
Atheneum Eeading Room in the Deshler Building, December 8 Officers were
chosen, and fruits were exhibited. The State Board of Agriculture hold its annual
meeting beginning at Secretary Klippart's office December 6. Subsequent sea
sions were held in the Armory and the Senate Chamber. Mr. McMillan, of
Greene County, offered a resolution declaring that immediate steps should be taken
352 History op the City or Columbus.
for permanent location of the State Fair at some central point. Mr. Williams, of
Butler, opposed this, saying the failure of the fair during the last two years had
been owing to financial stringency and unfavorable weather. T. C. Jones, of Del-
aware, thought tiie failure was due to other causes, and if the fair was to be located
permanently was opposed to placing it at Columbus. A substitute was adopted
providing for location at one place for two consecutive years.
I860. — The State Fair of this year was held at Dayton. The Franklin County
Fair was held during the first week in September. An equestrian contest took
place in which nine ladies competed for the prizes. The general prize was won
by Miss Grubs. The display of fruits, vegetables and manufactures was meagre,
and the absence of cheerful amusements was complained of
1861. — The Typographical Union signalized the anniversary of Franklin's
birth, January 17, by holding a banquet at the Ambos Hall. Samuel Medary pre-
sided. The toasts and speeches were numerous. A meeting of sorghum growers
was held at Gill & Sons' Agricultural Hall January 7. William B. Hubbard, of
Columbus, was chosen President of the United States Agricultural Society. The
State Fair was held at Dayton September 13-17. The Franklin County Fair began
September 3.
1862. — The State Board of Agriculture met in Columbus January 8, and
decided to hold the next State Fair at Cleveland. Typographical Union Num-
ber 5 met June 7 and elected oflScers. The County Fair began September 9.
Its receipts were $1,293.14; the expenses of the society from January 1, 1862, to
January 1, 1863, were, $2,207.02.
1863. — The State Board of Agriculture met in Columbus January 7. Its Sec-
retary. J. H. Klippart, was delegated to visit an international exposition at Ham-
burg, Germany, the ensuing June. The Franklin County Fair begaij September
8 ; the State Fair September 15.
1864. — A meeting of woolgrowers was held in the Senate Chamber January
5, S. D. Harris presiding. The State Board of Agriculture met in Columbus Janu-
ary 6. A resolution was adopted asking the General Assembly to raise the appro-
priation for the support of the oflSce of the Board to $3,000. A resolution offered
by Mr. Stevens, of Hardin County, providing that subsequent State fairs should
be held at Columbus was rejected. A State convention of sorghumgrowers was held
in the city January 5. The State Fair was held in September at Stewart's Grove,
south of the city. The County Fair began October 4.
1865. — A meeting of woolgrowers was held in the Senate Chamber January 3;
one of sorghumgrowers was held January 4. The State Board of Agriculture
met January 6. The State Fair was held at Stewart's Grove, beginning Septem-
ber 12. The County Fair began September 5. A meeting of Columbus trades
unions held at the City Hall November 28, adopted resolutions favoring a reduc-
tion of working hours to eight per day. An ordinance of the City Council fixing
the rate of hackfare at twentyfive cents per passenger for day, and fifty cents for
night service, was disregarded by the hackmen, who were thereupon arrested and
fined. The hackmen resented this by a socalled strike, during the continuance of
which they denied the use of their hacks to the public.
Industrial Events. 353
18G6. — A State meetitifr of woolijrowers was held January 2. An ansociation
of Franklin County woolgrowers was organized at the Capitol April 28. This
association met June 9 and appointed a committee to report on the feasibility of
erecting in Columbus a building suitable for a permanent woolgrowing agency.
At a subsequent meeting held July 28 it was decided to organize a joint stock
company, with a capital of $10,000, "to be used exclusively in protection of the
woolgrowers' interests by maintaining a value to wool corresponding with eastern
quotations." The State Board of Agriculture held its u.sual session in January.
At a meeting of trades unions held at Naughton Hall January 25, an Eight Hour
League was organized. The Carpenters' and Joiners' Union held it first annual
ball at Naughton Hall February 22. Thr jouriK^yrnun tailors of the city struck
against an alleged reduction of wages early in January. A Clerks' Association was
organized in August. The State Fair was held at Dayton. The County Fair
began September 11. The Cigarmakers' Protective Union gave its first ball
December 31.
1867. — A State convention of woolgrowers was held January 8. The Frank-
lin County Woolgrowers' Association held its first annual meeting April 27. A
festival in honor of Franklin was held by the Typographical Union January 19.
The State Agricultural Convention was held January 9-11. The committee on
location of the State Agricultural College rejjorted tliat the lands donated for the
college had all been sold at an average of fiftythree cents per acre. The Franklin
County Fair was held on the grounds of the society, east of the city, beginning
September 10.
1868. — The State Woolgrowens' Association met in the Senate Chamber Jan-
uary 8. The State Board of Agriculture met in its rooms in the Capitol January
9. A Franklin County Farmers' Club was organized January 25. The case of the
Franklin County Agricultural Society vs. the County Commissioners, was decided
September 29. The decision vested the society with the control of money raised
by taxation for the improvement of its grounds. A convention of railway conduc-
tors was held at the Goodale House, December 15 and a Grand Division of the
Brotherhood of Railway Conductors was organized.
1869. — The State Board of Agriculture met in the Senate Chamber January
6. The Ohio Woolgrowers' Association had met at the same ])lace the day before.
A Bricklayers' iJnion was organized January 8. The Columbus Arbeiter 'Verein
organized June 26. The Franklin County Fair began September 7; the State
Fair was held at Toledo during the same month. The Railway Conductors' Asso-
ciation of the United States held its second annual convention October 20, at the
Ambos Hall.
1870. — The Ohio Woolgrowers' Association met in the Senate Chamber Jan-
uary 4 ; the State Board of Agriculture held its annual session at the same place
January 5. The Northwestern Flax Association met in Columbus January 26.
A horse fair, under the direction of the Franklin County Agricultural Society
began June 15. The State Fair was held at Dayton. A committee was appointed
by the Franklin County Agricultural Society to secure permanent location of the
354 History of the City of Columbus.
State Fair at Columbus. The members of this committee were, David Taj'lor,
Waller Brown, C. P. Landoii, Baldwin Gwynne, L. A. Bowers and John M. Pugh.
The Society's Board of Managers decided July 2, to buy twentyfive additional
acres for the enlargement of its grounds. A strike of the Stonecutters' Union took
place June 21, causing a suspension of work on the Cathedral and other buildings.
1871. — The Ohio Woolgrowers' Association met January 3 The State Board
of Agriculture began its annual session in the Senate Chamber January 4. The
State Fair was held in September at Springfield. The Franklin County Fair
began September 3. A trades union was organized at the City Hall January 27.
1872. — The State Board of Agriculture met at its rooms in the Capitol Jan-
uary 2. A paper on the Eelation of Geology to Agriculture was read by Professor
Orton. A resolution locating the State Fair permanently at Columbus was lost by
a vote of 25 to 28. Trustees for the State Agricultural College were elected. The
State Fair was held at Mansfield. The Franklin County Fair was held in
September.
1873. — The Ohio Woolgrowers' Association met at the Capitol Januar}' 8.
The State Board of Agriculture met in the Senate Chamber on the same date. The
order of United American Mechanics held a parade in the cit}- February 22.
Delegations were present from Springfield, Delaware and other neighboring towns.
The State Fair was held at Mansfield. The County Fair took place in September.
A strike of locomotive engineers on the Panhandle lines occurred in December.
1874. — The State Board of Agriculture met in the Senate Chamber January 7.
A resolution was adopted favoring the location of the State Fair at .some large city
for a term of five years. A bill introduced in the House of Kepreseniativcs by
Mr. Heitman passed the General Assemblj- and became a law February 10,
authorizing the Commissioners of Franklin County to levy a tax to pay for
improvement of the grounds of the Franklin County Agricultural Society and to
discharge its debts for land purchased. The State Board recouvened in Colum-
bus February 17, to hear proposals for location of the State Fair. Decision
was made in favor of Columbus for the term of five years, the vote standing seven
for Columbus to three for Dayton. An Industrial League was organized in May.
The Franklin County Patrons of Husbandry held their first annual picnic at the
Fair Grounds June 13. There were at that time about twenty granges in the
county, with from fifty to sixty members each. The State Fair ^as held at the
County Fair Grounds eaidy in September. The County Fair was held in the first
week of October. In December of this year the city was crowded with idle work-
men and measures of public relief for the unemployed were taken.
1875 — Conventions of woolgrowers and breeders of shorthorn cattle were
held early in January. The State Board of Agriculture met January 6. The State
Grange and Patrons of Husbandry held secret sittings in Columbus March 10-12.
The Franklin County Patrons of Husbandry held their annual picnic on the Fair
Grounds June 22. The Shorthorn Breeders' Association met in annual session at
the same place September 7. The Columbus Centennial Association was organized
October 20 at the First Congregational Church. Mrs. W. E. Ide was chosen
President, Miss Mary G. Olds Secretary. The State Fair began September 7. A
Industrial Events. 355
meeting in behalf of organizing an exhibit at the Philadelpliia Centennial was
held at the Board of Trade Koom October 2. A committee to canvass for exhibits
was appointed.
187t). — The woolgrowers', sheep breeders' and shorthorn breeders' a.ssocia-
tions met January 4. The State Board of Agriculture began its annual session
January 6. The State Fair took place on the County Fair Grounds September
4-8. The State Horticultural Society met at the Board of Trade Eoom Septembers.
A German Harvest Festival, accompanied by a street parade, was held at the
Fair Grounds October 4.
1877. — "Woolgrowers and breeders of sheep and shorthorns held their usual
January meetings. The State Board of Agriculture convened in the Senate Cham-
ber January 3. The Board held a second meeting at the Capitol June 5, and
decided, six to four, to hold the next State Fair at Columbus. A great strike of
railway employes took place in July. On the nineteenth of that month the sheriff
of Licking Countj' reported to Governor Young that striking firemen and brakemen
on the Baltimore & Ohio Railway refused to permit trains to depart from Newark,
and asked for the assistance of the State militia. The Governor immediately
ordered four companies of the National Guard to Newark. On July 23 riotous
strikers destroyed a large amount of property at Pittsburgh. Up to this time all
had been quiet at Columbus, but on Sunday afternoon, July 22, an assembly of
firemen and brakemen of the Panhandle line was held in Goodale Park and
resolved that no more freight trains should leave the yard, until former wages were
restored. No trains arrived at the Union Station during the night of July 22.
Efforts to take out two or three trains were thwarted by strikers. The railway
freight traffic was at this time generally embargoed throughout the country.
The passenger business was also greatly disturbed. Chicago, Louisville, Cincin-
nati, Zanesville, St. Louis, Albany and other cities were visited by mob rule and
riotous proceedings. At Columbus July 28, Mayor Heitman, supported by the
police, endeavored to protect the movement of trains, but all such efforts were
ineffectual. On Sunday, July 29, the Police Commissioners authorized the appoint-
ment of one thousand uniformed special policemen for the preservation of peace
and the protection of property. A large number of these were on duty the fol-
lowing night. They were aided by the Columbus Cadets. On July 30 the move-
ment of freight trains on the P. C. & St. L. line was prevented by a mob, which
also dictated the terms on which passenger trains might go out. The Little
Miami trains were allowed to run without hindrance. The police force being
inadequate to prevent the interference of strikers with the useof railway property,
the Governor was appealed to for military assistance, and immediately ordered
out twentythree companies of the National Guard. This vigorous action had a
most wholesome effect ; on August 1 many trains were sent out under protection
of the military, and the rule of the mob was practically broken at Columbus, as it
had already been at most other cities where it had prevailed. The Union Station
was still kept under guard for a day or two, but by August 4 all disturbance had
and most of the troops were ordered home.
356 History op the City of Columbus.
1878. — Meetings of the woolgrowers' and of the merino sheep and shorthorn
cattle breeders' associations were held January 8. The State Board of Agricul-
ture met in tlie Senate Chamber January 9. On the tenth a Sheep Registry
Association met and elected officers. The location of the State Fair at Columbus
became this year practically permanent. A meeting of the bcekccper.s of
Central Ohio was held at the Fair Grounds October 16. The Ohio State Grange
held its sixth annual meeting at the Senate Chamber December 10.
1879. — Annual meetings of woolgrowers and of sheep, shorthorn cattle and
swine breeders took place January 7 and 9. The State Board of Agriculture met
January 8. The State and Franklin County boards held a joint session February
26, at which the County Board agreed to pay half the cost of eroding eighty
stalls, provided the State Fair should be continued at Columbus for two years.
The conditions wore complied with, the sum of $4,000 being pledged by the
citizens of Columbus. The Stonecutters' Union elected officers January 30. The
Ohio Butter and Eggs Association met at the Park Hotel Maj' 14. The Little
Miami Railway Beneficial Association met at the Union Station February 26, and
elected officers. The State Fair was held during the last days of August.
1880. — Meetings of the shorthorn, sheep and swine breeders, and of the State
Board of Agriculture were held January 6 and 7. A State convention of sur-
veyors and engineers took place at the office of the Code Commi.ssioners January
15. A convention of tilemakers was held at the Board of Trade Room February
10. A State convention of miners assembled at the same place July 14. The
State Fair began August 31. Riotous demonstrations in connection with a strike
in the Sunday Creek Valley required the intervention of military force in
September. The State Agricultural Society met at the Board of Trade Rooms
December 8. The Master Barbers' Union gave a supper to their employes
December 13. The Ohio State Grange met in the Senate Chamber December 15.
1881.— The State Board of Agriculture met at the Board of Trade Room
January 6. A State Convention of cidermakers was held at the same place
March 9. Employes on the High and Long Street Railways struck for an
advance from $1.10 to $1.25 in their wages May 9. A State convention of
undertakers was held at the Board of Trade Room June 8.
1882. — Meetings of the State Board of Agriculture and the associations of
woolgrowers and of swine, shorthorn and Jersey cattle breeders were held Janu-
ary 3. The Ohio Spanish Merino Sheep Breeders' Association was organized at a
State meeting of sheepbreeders held at the Board of Trade Room February 22.
A State convention of miners was held at the Board of Trade Room April 19. A
permanent association was organized. The State Fair began August 28.
1883. — Meetings ot woolgrowers were held January 9, March 30 and Septem-
ber 5. The associations of sheep registry, beekeepers, and of swine, Jersey cattle
and shorthorn breeders held their annual sittings January- 9. The State Board of
Agriculture met on the same date. The Ohio Spanish Merino Breeders' Associa-
tion met at Schneider's Hall January 10. A Farmers' Institute held its sittings
January 16 and 17. The Ohio Institute of Mining Engineers met in annual session
January' 17. The Ohio Society of Surveyors and Civil Engineers was in session
Industrial Events. 857
from January 17 to 19. The Grand Lodge A. O. U. W. met in the Odd Fellews'
Tompio, February 14. A Slate association of wooldealers was organized at the
Ca])itol, April 17. A State convention of miners was held at Union Hall, May 1
and 2. The Capital City Assembly No. 2, 111, Knights of Labor, elected officers
at the Union Hall, June 19. Officers of the Columbus Trades Assembly were
chosen July 15 A semiannual meeting of the State Cutters' Association was
held at the Neil House, July 17. A strike of telegraph operators was inaugurated
at noon, July 19. The Mutual Union men all went out, but very few of the
Western Union men participated. The Ohio Poultry and Pigeon Breeders' Asso-
ciation met in the I. O. O. F. Temple, .September 6. Removal of the State Fair to
grounds bought for the purpose near the Bee Line Railway, in the northern jiart
of the city, was resolved upon by the State Board of Agriculture. After some
hesitation the Fi-ankliu County Board acquiesced in this change.
1884. — The State Association of Mining Engineers convened in annual .session
January 9. The associations of woolgrowers, beekeepers, swine, Jersey cattle and
shortlioi'n breeders, and sheep registry, and the State Board of Agriculture all
held their annual meetings during the same month. A state convention of miners
was held at Union Hall January 22. The Ohio Tile, Brick and Drainage Associa-
tion met at the Board of Trade Room January 13. The Ohio Wool Growers' and
Buyers, Association held its first annnal meeting at the Capitol April 15. A
ditching contest took -place at the new State Fair Grounds, beginning May 1. A
convention of coal miners was held at LTnion Hall, June 19. The State Fair was
held during the first week in September. A meeting of the State Miners' Asso-
ciation ended September 11. The State Horticultural Society met in the Board of
Trade Room, December 3. A Lodge of the United Order of Workingmen was
established in Columbus, January 8. A State Trade and Labor Assembl}' was
organized June 24.
1885. — The usual annual meetings of stockbreeders, woolgrowers and beekeep-
ers took place in January. The State Board of Agriculture convened January 14.
The Ohio association of mining engineers met on the same date at the office of
the State Inspector of Mines. The State association of tilemakers held its sixth
annual convention at the Board of Trade Room February 10. The Ohio Trades
and Labor Assembly convened at the McCoy Post Hall, February 17. A State
convention of miners assembled at LTnion Hall, May 14, and again November 3.
A bricklayers' union was organized April 21. The State Horticultural Society
!ield sittings at the City Hall, September 3 and December 2. The State Fair
began August 31. The journeyman plumbers of the city struck December 1,
against a cut to S2.55 for 8^ hours instead of $3.00 for ten hours. Hon. A. G.
Thurman was chosen in December to act as umpire in the troubles between the
miners and operators in the Hocking Valley. An interstate convention of miners
and operators was held December 12, to arrange a wage schedule. A board of
arbitration was appointed.
1886. — The stock and woolgrowers held their usual January meetings. A
State association of architects was organized at the Park Hotel January 12. The
Ohio surveyors and engineers held their annual meeting on the same date. The
358 History of the Citv of Columbus.
State Agricultural Convention was held at the Senate Chamber January 13. A
delegate convention of tiie various trade and labor unions and local assemblies was
held January 26. A paperhangers' association was organized January 28. The
Tiiemakers' and Drainage Association met at the Board of Trade Room February
9. A strike of street railway employes took place in March, and one of watch-
makers in April. A landlords" protective association was organized April 2. The
National Board of Arbitration and Conciliation met at Columbus May 1. Strikes
of sewer pipe makers and bricklayers occurred in May. Little Miami Division
Number 34 of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Franklin Lodge
Number 9 of Firemen held a social reunion at the Princess Eink May 6. The
National Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Association held its third annual meeting
at the Neil House. The Hocking Valley mining troubles were revived in August.
The new State Fair grounds were formally dedicated August 3L The Thirty-
seventh State Fair — first on the new grounds — began August 31. Columbus
Branch Number 9 of the National Association of Stationary Engineers held a
meeting at Thurman Hall October 27. The Sixth Annual Congress of the Feder-
ation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada
assembled at Druid Hall December 7. The amalgamation of the trades unions
was completed, the united body taking the name of American Federation of Trade
and Labor. The Ohio Poultry, Pigeon and Pet Stock Association met at the
United States Hotel October 28, and decided to hold an exhibition at the City Hall
in January.
1887. — The stockbreeders, woolgrowers, mining engineers and State Board
of Agriculture held their usual January meetings. The woolgrowers held subse-
quent meetings during the j'ear on April 6 and September 2. An interstate
convention of miners and operators was held Februarj' 8, at the City Hall. The
Ohio Tile and Drainage Association met February 8. A Henry George Club met
March 28. A Grand Union Meeting of the International Brotherhood of Locomo-
tive Engineers was held at the Opera House on Sunday, May 29. Welcoming
addresses were delivered by Governor J. B. Foraker and Hon. J. H. Outhwaite ;
Chief Engineer Peter M. Arthur was spokesman for the Brotherhood. The State
Association of Watchmakers and Jewelers held its semiannual meeting at the
American House April 27. The State Fair began August 30. The Central Ohio
Farmers' Institute held its first autumn meeting at the Board of Trade Room
October 20. The Builders' Exchange met at the Board of Trade Room Decem-
ber 28.
1888. — The stockbreeding, beekeeping and woolgrowing associations held
their usual January meetings. The State Agricultural Convention began Janu-
arj' 10. The Ohio Institute of Mining Engineers held its eighth annual meeting
at Lyndon Hall January 12. A Master Painters' and Decorators' Association
was organized January 11. The Lather's Union held its semiannual meeting
January 13. The Executive Committee of the American Wheelmakers' Association
met at the Neil House January 17. The Ohio Coal Operators' Association held a
sitting at the same place on the same date. The Miners' Amalgamated Associa-
tion of Ohio held its seventh annual convention also on January 17. The Ohio
Industrial Events. • 359
Tile, Brick iind Drainage Association lield its annual meeting at the Wells Post
Hall February 11. The Ohio Trades and Labor Assembly met in Columbus
Februar}- 21. In May the stonecutters of the city struck for a reduction of work-
ing hours from ten to nine. A State Association of Ohio Millers was organized at
the Neil House June 27. The Carriage Builders' National Assocation held its
sixteenth annual session in Columbus during the earlier part of October. The
Brotherhoood of Railway Brakemen held its fifth annual convention at the City
Hall October 16. A convention of railway employes was held October 23. An
Ohio division of the Railway Station Agents' Association was organized at the
Neil House December 17. A consolidation of miners' associations was effected by
a convention held in Druid Hall, December 5.
On September 4, 1888, the Ohio Centennial Exposition at the State Fair
grounds was formally opened. By this exposition the one hundredth year of
white settlement on the soil of Ohio, begun at Marietta in 1788, was celebrated. Prep-
arations for it begun in 1886. On January 28 of that year a meeting of repre-
sentatives of the State Arehreological and Historical Society was held at the Capi-
tol, at which the initial steps, so far as Columbus is concerned, were taken. The
chairman of this meeting was General S. H. Hurst, its secretary A. A. Graham.
A committee, with H. T. Chittenden as chairman, was appointed to prepare reso-
lutions to be presented to the General Assembly, which body, on March 12, 1886,
passed a joint resolution in the following terms:
Whereas, Tlie year 1888 marks the end of the century since the first permanent settle-
ment was made in the State of Ohio ; and whereas, this century has been one of greatest prog-
ress in the history of civilization —a progress in which Ohio has taken a leading part; and
whereas it is not only practicable but desirable that the people of Ohio should commemorate
in some appropriate manner the close of the first century of our history and the beginning of
the second ; therefore,
Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the one hundredth anni-
versary of the first settlement of the State, now among the foremost in rank and importance in
the Union, be celebrated during the month of September, in the year 1888, by the holding, at
the capital of the State, of an exposition demonstrating the material and educational progress
and growth of the State during its first century, said exposition to be held on the grounds of
the State used and controlled by the Ohio State Board of Agriculture for State Fair purposes.
For the purpose of carrying out the intent of this resolution there is hereby created a Board of
Directors consisting of nine members, five of whom shall be appointed by the Ohio State Board
of Agriculture, two by the State Archseological and Historical Society, and one by the Horticul-
tural Society, with the Governor of the State a member and presiding officer of the Board. The
Board of Directors shall have the control of all business connected with the preparation and
holding of the Centennial Exposition, and shall establish rules and regulations for the govern-
ment of the various departments connected therewith, making such rules and extending such
encouragement with respect to exhibitors, as shall secure intelligent representation in the-
departmenfs of education, history, art, science, agriculture, horticulture, live stock, forestry,
mechanics, mining, commerce, transportation, merchandise, journalism, domestic manufac-
tures, and all the arts and the industries beneficial to mankind. The Board of Directors shall
define the various departments of said exposition, and appoint commissioners in charge of the
different departments, who shall conduct the affairs of their respective departments according
to the regulations adopted by said Board, and report from time to time to the Board. The
Board of Directors shall report to the General Assembly in 1887 the progress made toward
360 History of the City of Columbus.
carrying out the provisions of this resolution, and in 1888 shall make a full and complete
report of the exposition.
In pursuance of this resolution a Board of Centennial Directors was appointed
as follows : By the Stale Board of Agriculture, L. B. Harris of Wyandot County,
W. S. Foster of Cliampaign, C. D. Bally of Gallia, J. C. Levering of Knox and
Henry Talcott of Ashtabula ; by the Archaological and Historical Society, R.
Brinkerhoff of Eichland and H. T. Chittendeni of Franklin ; by the State Hor-
ticultural Society, Samuel H. Hurst of Eoss. Governor James B. Foraker was,
by the terms of the resolution, exofficio President of this Board, which, on May
5, 1886, elected H. T. Chittenden Vice Chairman, L. B. Harris Treasurer and
A. A. Graham Temporary Seeretarj\ In January, 1887, the Board matured and
adopted a plan of organization and management which provided for the appoint-
ment of a Director-General, one commissioner for each department, a secretary, a
treasurer, a manager of transportation, and three centennial commissioners for
each county of the State. The classification of the proposed exhibits comprised
sixteen departments, viz: History and Archaeology, Science and Education, Fine
Arts, Agriculture, Horticulture, Floriculture and Forestry, Live Stock, Mining
and Metallurgy, Mechanics and Machinery, Manufactures, Merchandise, Com-
merce and Transportation, Printing and Journalism, Woman's Work, Public Ser-
vice and Charities and Entertainments. In pursuance of an additional joint reso-
lution of the General Assembly the States of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wis-
consin, which, besides Ohio, were embraced in the original Northwest Territory,
were invited to participate with her in celebi-ating this centennial. The States of
Massachusetts, Connecticut and Virginia, from which the Northwest Territory
had been derived, were also invited to participate. In May, 1887, General Samuel
H. Hurst, of Eoss County, was appointed Director-General, L. N. Bonham, of
Butler, Secretary, and A. A. Graham and James W. Fleming, of Columbus, Assist-
ant Secretaries. The commissioners appointed for the different departments,
were, in the order of these departments as above mentioned, as follows: A. A.
Graham, Columbus; Edward Orton, Columbus; W. S. Goodnough, Columbus;
S. H. Ellis, Warren County ; N, H. Albaugh, Montgomery; H. Haerliss, Hamil-
ton ; L. G. Delano, Boss ; B. F. Perry, Ashtabula ; I. D. Smead, Lucas ; J. J. Sul-
livan, Holmes ; W. M. Bayne, Cuyahoga ; W. D. Hamilton, Athens ; E.B. Brown,
Muskingum ; Mrs. D. L. Williams, Delaware ; A. G. Byers, Columbus. The
Board asked the General Assembl)' for an appropriation of §100,000, but received,
instead, only $20,000 with permission to bond the State Fair grounds for 850,000
more. These grounds lay two arid a half miles north of the Capitol, just outside
of the corporation boundary. Thej^ comprised an area of one hundred and seven
acres.
The cooperation of the people of Columbus in the work of organizing and
preparing for the exposition was promptly and liberally given. It was chiefly
exerted through and under direction of the Board of Trade, which appointed a
Centennial Committee of its members, and on December 7, 18^6, named twelve
additional committees to canvas for a subscription fund of $100,000 to cover
expenses of the Centennial Exposition, and of the Grand Army and militia
Industrial Events. 3lJl
encampments. In behalf of the city of Columbus, the Board pledged a contribu-
tion of $25,000 toward the expenses of the exposition, and paid over to the State
Board the sum of $23,020 for expenditure in its preliminary work.
In addition to the buildings already provided for ordinary use of the State
Fair, it was decided to erect ten new ones, to be thus designated : Manufacturers'
Hall, Agricultural Hall, Horticultural Hall, Art Hail, Floral Hall, Hall of Metal-
lurgj% Commerce and Transportation Hall, Printing and Journalism Hall,
Woman's Department Building and an Auditorium which afterwards took the
name of Coliseum, and, externally domeshapcd, had the interior arrangement of
an amphitheatre, with sealing accommodations for ten thousand people.
The opening of the Exposition on September 4 was signalized by a parade of
six thousand troops of the Ohio National Guard, then in annual encam])ment at
Camp Sheridan, north of the city. These troops, under Major-Gcneral H. A.
Axliue, were formed in column on Livingston Avenue, whence they marched
north on High Street to Broad, turning into which, they passed in review before
the grand stand, which had been erected for, and was then awaiting the parade of
the Grand Army of the Republic. After the military review, which took place in
the forenoon, the formal ceremonies of the opening took place at the Centennial
Grounds, in the presence of many thousands of people. One of the most strik-
ing features of these ceremonies was a chorus of fourteen hundred children
dressed in red, white and blue, and so arranged as to represent the United States
flag. A centennial ode sung by the children was composed for the occasion by
H. T. Chittenden. The voices were accompanied by the Elgin Band, of Elgin,
Illinois. An invocation was offered by Reverend Conrad Mees, of Columbus.
The chairman and orator of the occasion was Governor J. B. Foraker, who was
presented by Director-General Hurst. An Ohio Centennial Ode was read by its
author, Hon. Coates Kinney. This admirable ode, for the whole of which,
unfortunately, space cannot here be spared, contained the following striking
relating to the industrial progress of Ohio :
In what historic thousand years of man
Has there been builded such a State as this ?
Yet, since the clamor of the axes ran
Along the great woods, with the groan and hiss,
And crash of trees, to hew thy groundsels here,
Ohio ! but a century has gone,
And thy republic's building stands the peer
Of any that the sun and stars shine on.
A hundred years of Labor ! Labor free I
Our river ran between it and the curse,
And freemen proved how toil can glory be.
The heroes that Ohio took to nurse,
(As the she-wolf the founders of old Rome) —
Their deeds of fame let history rehearse
And oratory celebrate; but see
This paradise their hands have made our home !
362 History of the City of Columbus.
Nod, plumes of wheat, wave, banderoles of corn,
Toss, orohard oriflamtnes, swing, wreaths of vine,
Shout, happy farms, with voice of sheep and kine.
For the old victories conquered here on these
The fields of Labor, when, ere we were born.
The Fathers fought the armies of the trees,
And, cliopping out the night, chopt in the morn.
A hundred years of Knowledge! We have mixt
More brains with Labor in the century
Than man had done .since the decree was tixt
That Labor was his doom and dignity.
All honor to those far-fore-working men
Who, as they stooped their sickles in to fling.
Or took the wheat upon their cradle's swing.
Thought of the boy, the little citizen.
There gathering sheaves, and planned the school for him,
Which should wind up the clock-work of his inind
To cunning moves of wheels, and blades that skim
Acroiss the field, and reap and rake and bind.
They planned the school — the woods were full of schools !
Our learning has not soared, but it has spread ;
Ohio's intellects are sharpened tools
To deal with daily facts, and daily bread.
The starry peaks of Knowledge in thin air
Her culture has not climbed, but on the plain.
In whatsoever is to do or dare
With mind or matter, there behold her reign.
The axemen who chopt out the clearing here.
Where stands the Capitol, could they today
Arise and see our hundred years' display —
Steam wagons, in their thundering career —
Wires that a friend's voice waft across a State,
And wires that wink a thought across the sea,
And wires wherein imprisoned lightnings wait
To leap forth at the turning of a key —
Could they these shows of mind in matter note.
Machines that almost conscious souls confess,
vSeeming to will and think — the printing press.
Not quite intelligent to vote —
Could they arise these marvels to behold.
What would to them the past Republic seem —
The state historified in volumes old,
Or prophesied in Gre(!ian Plato's dream !
After the reading of Mr. Kinney's poem, further music and remarks by
Director-General Hurst, Mrs. Governor Foraker, by the touching of a spring,
turned on the steam which started the wheels of the Exposition. Simultaneously
with the pressure of Mrs. Foraker's finger, all the machinery on the grounds
began to move, bunds of mn.sic broke into jo3-ous strains, the people responded
with enthusiastic shouts, and the children's chorus sang the national anthem " Amer-
Industrial Events. 363
ica." The President of the Day then declared the Exposition duly opened, Eev.
Dr. W. E. Moore pronounced a benediction, and the audience dispersed.
On September 5, which was called Welcoming Day, Ex-President R. B.
Hayes presided, and an address, preceded by music and an invocation by Rev. Dr.
Joseph M. Trimble, was delivered by General William H. Gibson. After General
Gibson's, furthei' addresses were delivered, in the order named, by Governor
Brackett of Massachusetts, Governor Lounsbury of Connecticut, Hon. Frank H.
Hurd of Toledo, and Senator L. G. Palmer of Michigan. On September 6, which
was called Pioneer Diiy, Mr. J. E. St. Clair, of Columbus, presided, and after
prayer by Rev. Daniel Horloeker, tielivered an address of welcome. Mr. St. Clair
was followed by Judge W. J. Gil more, of Columbus, who spoke eloquently of the
Ohio pioneers. Rev. Dr J. M. Trimble also delivered an interesting address on
pioneer topics. An Old Folks Singing Class, of Bellefontaine, dressed in the cos-
tumes of sixty years ago, interspersed the exercises with appropriate music. In
the afternoon a poem was read by M. V. Lawrence of Chillicothe, and a further
address was delivered by Judge Taylor, of Chardon, then :tged ninet}' years.
Other special daj's were celebrated during the exposition, in the following
succession :
2. Catholic Societies' Day, September 7, 1888. Address by Rt. Rev. Bishop Watterson.
3. Old Army Reuniowt, September 12.
4. Grand Army Campfire, September 13. Speeches by General W. H. Gibson and
others.
5. Patriotic Order of Sons of America, September 17.
6. State Bar Association, September 19. Speeches by Judge Allen G. Thurman and
others.
7. Grangers' and Farmers' Day, September 20. Speeches by Col. J. H. Brigham, Gen-
eral S. H. Hurst, Mr. S. H. Ellis and Mr. F. A. Derthick.
8. Knights of Pythias Day, September 21.
9. Emancipation Jubilee Day, September 22. Addresses by Rev. James Poiudoxter, and
Bishop B. W. Arnett. Poem, J. Madison Bell.
10. Labor Day, September 24.
11. Methodist Episcopal Church Day, September 2.5. Addresses by Hon. Mills Gardner,
General S. H. Hurst, Doctor Whitlock and General William H. Gibson.
12. Sunday School Day, September 26.
13. School Children's Day, September 27. Elocutionary contest and comi)etitive spell-
ingschool.
14. Ohio Teachers' Day, September 28. Addresses by James H. Fairchilil, Oberlin ;
Professor W. B. Bodine, Gambler; Hon. John Eaton, Marietta; Doctor N. S. Townshend,
State University; Doctor John Hancock, Chillicothe ; Miss Maria Jaques, Dayton.
15. Commercial Travelers' Day, September 29.
16. Presbyterian Church Day, October 2. Addresses by President S. F. Scoville, Rev. W.
E. Moore, Eev. E. C. Galbraith, Rev. G. P. Hays.
17. Grocers' Day, October 3.
18. Odd Felloim' Day, October 4. Speeches by Mayor Bruck, F. R. Gay, of Kindlay ;
W. S. Bell, Zanesville.
19. Ancient Order of United Workmen, October 5.
20. Columbus Day, October 9.
21. Improved Order of Hed Men, October 10.
364 History of the City of Columbus.
22. Frvhibitwn Day, October 11. Speeches by Ex-Governor Clinton B. Fisk, Rev. M.
N. Bennett.
23. Woman's Christian Temperance Union, October 12. Addresses by Miss Susan B.
Anthony, Ex Governor U. B. Fisk, Miss Emma Willard.
24. Locomotive Engineers, Firemen and Switchmen, October 16.'
The following description of this singular triumph of a Columbus mechanic's skill and
patience appeared in the Ohio Statesmanoi May 3, 1842:
" The great zodiac will describe a circle of more than fortyeight feet, while Herschel,
being thrown off the table, will describe a circle of sixtysix feet. The celestial sphere is about
four feet eight inches in diameter, which contains the sun, Mercury, Venus, the earth and the
moon. The superior planets are placed upon the outside of the sphere and are to run horizon-
tally at all times, making their regular periodicals around the sun in their regular periods ; also
Jupiter, Saturn and Herschel, having their satellites revolving around them in their proper
order with their inclinations to the plane of the ecliptic; also Saturn, with his two concen-
tric rings, with their proper inclinations, retaining at the same time their proper direction.
The armillaiy sphere is a beautiful structure, and is a great addition to the orrery, over and
above the first effort of Mr. Russell. This plane sphere contains about five hundred cog
wheels, large and small, principally brass. The whole machine will weigh about one ton and
a half, cotiiposed principally of cast and wrought iron and brass, having but little wood
about it."
The machine produced eightyone separate motions.
2. The counties represented were Brown, Belmont, Champaign, Clark, Crawford, Dela-
ware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Hamilton, Henry, Highland, Hocking, Jefferson, Knox,
Licking, Lorain, Madison, Montgomery, Marion, Muskingum, Perry, Pickaway, Portage, Preble,
Richland, Koss, Summit, Union and Wayne. Among the delegates were M. L. Sullivant,
R. E. Neil, David Nelson, S. Baldwin, Samuel Medary and John Bishop, of Franklin; Gover-
nor M. Bartley of Richland, J. P. Kirtland of Cuyahoga and Allen Trimble of Highland.
3. The statements here made as to this meeting are taken from manuscript kindly sub ■
milted to the author by Hon. Norton S. Townshend, From the same scource the following
list of Presidents of the Board, in the order of their service, has been derived : Allen Trim-
ble, M. L. Sullivant, Arthur Watts, Samuel Medary, R. W. Musgrove, James T. Worthing-
ton, W. H. Ladd, Alexander Waddle, J. M. Millikin, Norton S. Townshend, Alexander
Waddle, D. E. Gardner, T. C. Jones, Norton S. Townshend, N. J. Turney, W. B. McClung,
Daniel McMillen, James Fullington, J. W. Ross, William Lang, James Buckingham, L. G.
Delano, R. C. Cannon. S. Harmount, J. B. Jamison, J. M. Pugh, B. W.Carlisle, L. B. Wing,
D. L. Pope, R. Baker, W. N. Cowden, W. S. Foster, C. D. Bailey, L. N. Bonham, J. H. Brig
ham, John Pow, and J. G. Russell.
4. Hon. N. S. Townshend.
5. This Fair was described by Mrs. Frances D. Gage, in a series of communications to
the Ohio State Journal entitled " Letters Out of the Kitchen."
6. The members of this committee were W. A. Piatt, A. A. Bliss, John Miller, William
Dennison, B. B. Blake, S. Medary, W. A. Gill, J. D. Osborn, L. Buttles, J. W. Milligan, A. P.
Stone, D. T. Woodbury, L. Hoster, H. Crary and Uriah Stotts.
7. Premiums were awarded to Miss McElhenny, of Hamilton Township, Jlrs. Phelps of
Blendon, Mrs. Williams of Hamilton, and Mrs. Stambaugh of Franklin
8. In reference to the finances of the Exposition the Ohio State Journal of December 17,
1888, contained the following statement :
Industrial Events. ;{(;5
"The committee on centennial disliursements held n iiieetinu: .Salunlay, closed up their
affairs and will file their report and papers with the secretary of the L,oard toilay. The com-
mittee have raised |7S,3.S6.0S and disbursed all but $18 07, which they turn over to D. S.
Gray chairman of the Finance Committee of the General Council, together with $290.18 of
notes and $2,575.50 of uncollected accounts to apply on the G. A. R. deficit of $11, 400. The
total subscription is $80,093, including the amount thus far paid on the deficit of the G. A. R.
Council. The uncollected subscriptions amount to $2,565.50, or less than 4 per cent., and a
part of this balance will be paid by the subscribers still delinquent. The centennial com-
mission secured of the amount collected $22,nS(), the Ohio National Guard encampment
$2,000, the G. A. R. council $51,G12 30, and expense account 11.709.71.
CHAPTER XXII.
BOARD OF TRADE.
On Saturday, July 17, 1858, a meeting of business men was held at the City Hall.
Not only Columbus but Groveport, Lockbourne, Shadeville, Winchester and other
neighboring towns were represented. The meeting organized by electing Theodore
Conistock chairman and J. B. Bortle secretary. The object of the assembly, as
stated bj' its chairman, was to organize a society to be known as the Board of
Trade of the City of Columbus. The intended purposes of this proposed society,
the chairman further stated, were '• to promote integrity and good feeling and just
and equitable principles in business transactions," and to " protect the rights and
advance the commercial, mercantile and manufacturing interests of the city."
After tills statement the meeting proceeded to organize an association of the
character described, and elected the following officers to serve until July 1, 1859 :
President, H. Fitch; Vice President, J. E. Paul; Secretary, John B. Bortle;
Treasurer, S. S. Rickly; Directors, J. F. West of Shadeville, A. H. Paul of Grove-
port, M. C. Whitehurst of Winchester and Theodore Comstock, Ja«eb Eickly,
Louis Zettler and James O'Kane of Columbus ; Committee on Arbitration, Samuel
Sharp of Groveport, J. W. Pence of Lockbourne, A. S. Decker, J. H. Stage and
R. Main. The directors were instructed to procure suitable rooms for exchange
and business meetings of the association, and a committee was appointed to draft
a constitution and supplementary bylaws to be submitted at the next meeting.
After this we hear of daily meetings of the Columbus Board of Trade, between
nine and two o'clock, at its rooms in the Deshler Block on the corner of High
and Town streets.
On January 4, 1859, the Board appointed delegates to a convention of for-
warders and others interested in the canals of Ohio, to be held in Columbus on the
sixth of the ensuing June. At the same time the Board adopted a series of resolu-
tions, one of which read as follows:
That in the opinion of this Board a sale or lease of the canals of this State would result
in widespread ruin to a very large number of our citizens, a verj' great decrease of taxable
property upon the duplicate and deprivation of a home market for the products of our soil
and manufactures.
This association, apparently the pioneer of its kind, soon disappeared from
the current chronicles of the city. Its existence was doubtless brief. It is evident,
[366]
Board of Trade. 367
however, that the need of some sucli organiziitioii continued to bo recognized, for,
on June 23, 1866, a meeting of citizens eallod for the purpose of oi-gauiziug a
Board of Trade for the city was held. C. P. L. Butler was appointed chairman of
this meeting and James M. Comly Secretary. A committee of five was ajjpointed
to file with the Secretary of State a certificate drawn and signed as follows:
We the undersigned citizens of the State of Ohio, and residing or doing business in the
City of Columbus, do hereby associate ourselves together as a Board of Trade of the City of
Columbus, to be located and situated in the City of Columbuij, County of Franklin and State
of Ohio, where its business is to be transacted.
The objects of the said association are to promote integrity and good faith, just and
equitable principles of business; to discover and correct abuses; to establish and maintain
uniformity in conimerical usages; to acquire, preserve and disseminate valuable business
statistics and information; to prevent or adjust controversies or misunderstandings which
may arise between persons engaged in trade; and generally to foster, protect and advance,
the commercial, mercantile and manufacturing interests of the city, in conformity with an
act of the General Assembly of the Slate of Ohio entitled " an act to authorize the incorpora-
tion of Boards of Trade and Chambers of Commerce," passed .April ?,, 1S6G.
Andrew Wilson, Junior, A. Kelley, 0. S Gray, C. S. Dyer, J. M. Comly, W. A. Neil,
E. E. Shedd, John L. Gill, C. P. L. Butler, Theodore H. Butler. James Patterson, W. J. Fell,
Luther Donaldson, John Miller. A. J. Rigre, 11 A. Rushmer, C. W. Douty, G. W. Huflman,
J. H. McColm, H. Bancroft, T. R. Carpenter, N. B. Marple, William Richards. F. M. Holmes^
Jared Forsman, John G. Thompson, Thomas Robinson, James Lindsey, E. A Fitch, Starling
Loving, D. W. H. Day, R. E. Coyle, J. L. Gill, Junior, G. W. Gill, John B. Peters, S. S.
Ricklv. S. M. Smith, W. A. Gill, Junior, J. G. Neil, Richard Xevins, E. G. Field, R. D. Harri-
son, Giorge B. Wright, J. M. Westwater, W. Westwater, D. A. Randall, I. C. Aston, R. E.
Chamjiion, W. R. Thrall, H. H Kimball, W. H. Akin, William H. Reed, A. P. Griffin, F. C.
Sessions, William A. Piatt, Cyrus E. McComb, I. A. Hutchinson.
A proposition to amend the name of the association by adding the words
"and Franklin County," was rejected. A certificate of incorporation was obtained
and at a subsequent meeting held June 30, a constitution of seventeen articles was
submitted and adopted. In pursuance of this constitution ofiScers were elected as
follows : President, W. B. Brooks ; Vice Presidents, Jared Forsman, James Pat-
terson, Theodore H. Butler, James S. Abbott, J. M. Westwater, Earl E. Shedd ;
Secretary, James M. Comly ; Treasurer, C. JSf. Bancroft. Committees on arbitra-
tion, reference and inspection were appointed. The meeting adJDurned subject to
the call of the President.
Speaking of this movement the Oliio Staff Journal of July 31, 1S69, then
edited by General Comly, said :
Columbus needs a Board of Trade. There are questions of comity between wholesale
and retail dealers continually arising of which no written law takes cognizance, but fre-
quently of as much importance to the trade of the city as matters regulated by statute. So
long as we have no Board we shall never have a clean wholesale trade, protecting the inter-
ests of the retail customers fully and properly. There is also another great grievance com-
plained of by the local trade. Agents of foreign liouses are constantly selling on our streets by
sample, competing a: an advantage with our houses, which pay municipal and State taxes.
The State and the city are both deprived of their just riahts by these dealers, who have no
local habitation or name among us. Our dealers who pay rents and add to the business rep-
utation of the city by tasteful storerooms, and who pay taxes to State, county and city,
368 History op the City op Columbus.
have no even chance against these men, who pay none of these. It is due the city (at least)
that they should be required to pay license, or some equitable assessment into the city treas-
ury to offset the amounts paid by our own people. These matters can be properly regulated
only through a Board of Trade, bringing them to the notice of the proper authorities.
Nevertheless, this second organization seems to have been as shortlived as
the first. For reasons not apparent we hear nothing more of it, but again, on
November 9, 1872, a meeting to organize a Board of Trade for the city was held.
This a.ssembly convened at the City Hall in pursuance of a call issued by about
two hundred citizens. John L. Gill was appointed chairman and Jacob H. Studer
secretary. Remarks were made by William Dennison, and Messrs. D. W. Brooks,
R. C. Hoffman, T. Ewing Miller, C. P. L. Butler and S. S. Eickly were appointed
a committee to prepair a constitution and a certificate of incorporation. This
committee reported to a meeting held November 14, 1872, a constitution which
was adopted. At a third meeting held November 21 the following officers of the
Board were chosen : President, John L. Gill : Vice Presidents, T. Ewing Miller,
Theodore Comstock, E. L. Hinman, D. S. Gray, W. B. Brooks and H. Mithoff;
Secretary, H. M. Failing ; Treasurer, Joseph Falkenbach. The total membership
at this time was 143. Bylaws were adopted at a fourth meeting held December 6.
Booms appropriately fitted up for the Board in the City Hall were formally
opened on February 10, 1873, and on February 11 the first regular daily meeting
was held.
Complaints were soon made of languishing interest in this organization,
and various projects for arousing more general and active participation in its
proceedings were proposed. On November 13, 1873, the following otficers were
chosen: President, J. M. Comly; Vice Presidents, T. E.Miller, E. L. Hinman,
E. T. Mithoff, L. Donaldson, D. W. Brooks and Frank S. Brooks; Treasurer, Jos-
eph Falkenbach ; Secretary, H. M. Failing. On November 8, 1873, Secretary
Failing submitted a report for the first half of that year. On December 11 the
Board was addressed by General J. M. Comly and further speeches were made by
William Dennison and T. Ewing Miller. Secretary Failing died March 9, 1874.
On November 19 of that year new officers were chosen as follows: President, T.
Ewing Miller; Vice Presidents, E. L. Hinman, D. W. Brooks, M. Halm, Y.
Anderson, F. S. Brooks, and W. W. Medarj- ; Treasurer, Joseph Falkenbach; Sec-
retary, S. M. Smith, Junior. Officers were again chosen Octobm- 26, 1876, viz:
President, S. S. Eickly ; Vice Presidents, C. P. L. Butler, D. S. Gray, Joseph
Falkenbach, J. M. Westwater, J. B. Hall and Isaac Eberly ; Secretary and Treas-
urer, Charles B. Stewart.
After this the Board again languished, and ceased to make any important
record in the current chronicles of the day, but on May 29, 1880, a movement for
its revival was once more inaugurated. A meeting of business men held at the
City Hall on that date adopted the constitution and bj'laws of the' latest defunct
board and adjourned until June 1, when the following officers were nominated and
presumably elected : President, S. S. Rickly; Vice Presidents, C. P. L. Butler,
Daniel McAllister, M. C. Whitehurst, E. C. Beach, W. B. Hayden and L. C. New-
som ; Secretary, E. A. Fitch ; Treasurer, E. W. Scott. This effort did not pro-
PHOTOGRAPHED Bv BAi^EK.
Residence of Wm. A. Hardesty, 91 Hamilton Avenue, built m 1891.
Board of Trade. 369
(luce satisfactory results, and accordingl3- in March, 1884, the reorganization of
the Board was again proposed by numerous citizens in a card addressed to Presi-
dent S. S. Ricklj'. Accordinglj' on April 80, 1884, a new board was incorporated
by R. B. Sheldon, C. D. Firestone, Theodore Rhoads, P. W. Corzilius and W. A.
Mahoney; a new constitution with 111 signatures was adopted, and on the ensu-
ing May 13 a meeting for reorganization was held at which the following officers
wore elected: President, W.Y. Miles; Vice Pi'osidents, Theodore H. Butler and
C. D. Firestone; Directors, Edwin Kclton, H. C. Lonnin, Theodore Rhoads, Wal-
ter Crafts, G. W. Lattimer, R. E Sheldon, F. H. Kingsbury, E. E. Shedd, P. W.
Corzilius and C. N. Bancroft. The matriculation fees were fixed at fifteen dollars for
individuals and twentyfive for firms. At a meeting on May 15 Charles G. Lord
was chosen Secretary, and Walter Crafts Treasurer, and a temporary office was
established at Number 6, Deshler Block. On June 5 the Board decided to trans-
fer its office to the City Hall ; the membership had by that time reached 140. On
J uly 1 the room at the City Hall was formally occupied, and speeches appropriate to
the occasion were made by W. Y. Miles, A. G. Thurman, S. S. Rickly and W. G.
Deshler. Standing committees were on the same occasion announced. At the
annual meeting of January 20, 1885, an address was deliv^ered by President Miles,
a report submitted by Secretary Lord, and the following officers were chosen :
President, W. Y. Miles; Vice Presidents, Theodore H. Butler and C. D. Firestone;
also a Board of Directors.
The active work of the Board was now fairly inaugurated, and was apparently
destined to be permanent. In his annual report for the year 1884, the President
suggested that, as soon as possible a Board of Trade building should be erected,
and that no time should be lost in securing a suitable location for such a building.
In accordance with this suggestion the Directors were instructed by resolution
offered September 21, 1886, by Mr. Rickly, to consider the propriety of purchasing
a lot and erecting such a building, including a hall suitable for public meetings.
The project was favorably reported by the Directors November 9, and on Decem-
ber 28, 1886, a resolution to erect a building was adopted, and committees on sites
and plans were appointed. The limit of total expenditure was originalij- fi.xed at
$125,000, but was subsequently (August 16, 1887), enlarged to $155,000. Owner-
ship certificates of one hundred dollars each were subscribed for to the amount of
$65,000, and the oldlime tavern property on East Broad Street, formerly known as
the Buckeye House, was purchased as a site. For this property, known at the
time as the Hotel Gardner, the sum of $45,000 was paid.
The work of erecting a building in accordance with plans adopted was soon
begun, but was interrupted by a painful incident, the following account of which
is taken from the Ohio State Journal of May 4, 1888 :
The architect ol the building, Mr. Elah Terrell, had a patent and arched ceiling of his
own invention which has attracted much attention and gives a very beaiiliful appearance to
a room. He has introduced bis arch into a number of buildings in this city and has made it
one of the features of the Board of Trade building. The basement rooms were all ceiled with
this arch, the work being completed a few days ago. These arches are of a peculiar structure,
24*
370 History of the City of Columbus.
They are built of brick over scaffolding and the posts holding it up are removed and the
arch is left to its natural support. The brick composing the arch are laid in sncli a way that
the thrust of the weight is toward the corners of the room and the walls of the Imiidiiifr are
protected by placing around it a powerful iron band sufBcient to bear the entire weight of
the arch, so that the structure could, if necessary force were applied, be lifted out of the room
and placed elsewhere without injury. In order to unite the bricks firmly into one mass, and
form a partition impervious to water, cement is placed between them and the corners are
filled up with mortar.
The ceilings of all the basement rooms were completed some days ago and the men in
the employ of Messrs. Rouzer & Co., of Dayton, who have the contract for the carpenter
work of the building, were ready to remove the supports when the cement had sufficiently
hardened and the arch bad settled. Yesterday Mr. Terrell told the men that as far as the
cement was concerned it would be safe to begin the work. The foreman of the carpentering
department, George Terwilliger, a man well known about the citj', decided to begin immed-
iately. He bad some time since engaged as one of his assistants Samuel Coleman, a carpen-
ter who lives at Number 483 West State Street. Yesterday be employed Jesse F. Beckom, a
carpenter who came from Dayton and was living with his wife and child at the corner of
Russell and University streets. Vv'ith these two men Terwilliger began to remove the scaf-
folding in the room at the southwest corner of the building already engaged to the Franklin
Insurance Company. There were at work about the building at the time from thirty to
forty men, most of them being employed by the iron contractors.
A few minutes after three o'clock these men were startled by a heavy rumbling noise
and the quivering of the west wall, which tottered toward the alley as if about to fall over
and then settled back to its line badly broken and the upper portion leaning an inch or two
inward from the plumb. A cloud of dust arising from the southeast room toM tliat the arch
had fallen. They rushed to that portion of the building and found the basement floor covered '
with a mass of mortar and bricks weighing many tons. Near the east wall and about half
way between Broad Street and the north side of the room the head of a man, Samuel Cole-
man, protruded from the ruins of the arch.
Coleman was extricated from the debris, terribly mangled, and was immedi-
ately conveyed to his home. Terwilliger was also quickly taken out but breathed
his last three minutes later. Beckom was next brought up but died immediately
from the terrible injuries he had received.
The changes and repairs made necessary by this distressing calamity seriously
added to the cost of the building, not to mention indemnities amounting to some
thousands of dollars paid to the injured man and the families of the killed. Work
on the building proceeded, however, and on July 23, 1889, its auditorium was for-
mally dedicated. The interest of the opening for the large audience present was
greatlj^ enhanced by the rare vocalism of Miss Stella McMillin, with accompany-
ing musical performances by the Fourteenth Regiment Band and the Orpheus
Club. Addresses were delivered by J. S. Morton, Allen G-. Thurman, John L.
Gill, Emerson McMillan, S. S. Eickly and E. 0. Randall.
Since the reorganization of the Board in 1884, its interest in the affairs of the
city has been active and important. Among the more prominent themes which
have engaged its atlentiou have been the following: A National Government
building for Columbus; enlargement and diversification of the manufacturing
interests of the city; sanitation and water supply; the reception of delegate con-
ventions ; courtesies to officers of State, the General AiSsemblj- and distinguished
Board of Trade. 371
visitors; a national bankrupt law; the national coinage; labor strikes and ti'ou-
bles; street improvements; abatement of nuisances; the Grand Army National
Encampment; the State Fair ; the Ohio Centennial Exposition; special charities ;
an executive mansion ; sewerage ; signal service, taxation, and municipal reform.
The honorary members of the Board thus far elected have been Allen G. Thur-
man, John L. Gill, William Y. Miles, Samuel S. Rickly, William G. Deshler, Henry
C. Noble, Lincoln Kilbourn and Edward Orton. Its aggregate membership,
according to its latest report, numbers nearly five hundred.
NOTES.
1. Concerning this movement the following statements were made in the Ohio State
Journal of March 'il :
" At the Board of Trade meeting Saturday night, at the request of President S.S. Rickly,
it was decided to close the present board for the purpose of enabling a new organization to
adopt the name and establish a more extensive and thorough association that will embrace
not only the grain, flour and produce interest of the city, but all other branches of trade and
also the manufacturing interests. It was resolved that all the papers and eflfects of the
Board, except the funds, be tendered to the organization. The cash on hand, amounting to
$112.13, was donated equally between the St. Francis Hospital and the Home for the Friend-
less. Resolutions were adopted expressing thanks to the President, S. S. Rickly, for the
impartial manner displayed in conducting the affairs of the Board, as also to Mr. E. W. Scott
for his services as Secretary.
CHAPTER XX:
POLITICAL EVENTS, 1797-1840.
The patriotism of tbe pioneers of the Ohio Wilderness was of a verj' ardent
tj'pe. Some curious evidences of this are seen in the quaint and unsophisticated
zeal with which they celebrated the National Independence Day of that period.
One of the writers of early Ohio history makes this record of the manner in
wliich it was done :'
Independence Day was loyall}' observed when possible, the first recorded celebration
thereof on the Western Reserve being in 1796, when General Moses Cleveland and his
party of surveyors halted at the mouth of Conneaut Creek, flung the American flag to
the breeze, partook of a banquet of baked pork and beans, fired a rifle salute, and proposed
toasts which were drunk in more than one pail of grog. The means of celebration were
not always equal to the patriotic intent. In 1800 a gathering was held at the residence of
Captain Quinby, in Warren, and although there were provisions and liquids in abundance,
there was a lack of musical instruments. A drummer and flfer studied the difficulty, and
finally surmounted it. The one sought a suitable branch from an elderbush, and soon trans-
formed it into a fife. The other cut down a hollow pepperidge tree, and with only a handax
and jackplane made a drum cylinder. With the skin of a fawn he made the heads for the
drum, and corded them on with a pair of new plowlines. The procession was then enabled
to move, and whatever the music lacked in harmony it made up in volume and intention.
On these patriotic occasions, as in all social gatherings, the whisky of the homemade still
was brought into free use, and the man who declined it was the exception and not the rule.
Of the observance of July Fourth, 1814, at Franklinton we have the follow-
ing account in the Freeman's Chronicle:
The anniversary of American Independence was celebrated in this town on Monday
last with the customary festivity. Agreeably to previous concert, about 2 o'clock p. m.,
Captain Vance's elegant company of Franklin Dragoons, together with many invited guests,
repaired to the Lion Tavern, where they partook of a sumptuous and splendid dinner pre-
pared by Mr. Pratt — and the cloth being removed the following toasts were drank, accom-
panied with discharges of cannon :
1. The Fourth of July —May its next anniversary be celebrated under the shade of the
olive.' 3 cheers, 1 gun.
2. Our beloved Washington— Tlie hero, slatefimin, great and good. The chosen instrument
of God. to free us from a tyrant's chain. Revered forever be his name. 3 cheers, 1 gun.
3. General Andrew Jackson. His merit has forced him into notice — may he exceed
our most sanguine expectations. 3 cheers, 1 gun.
[372]
PoLiTioAL Events; 1797-1840. 373
4. The War — Just though precipitate— May the sword never be sheathed until our
i are wiped away and our rights secured. 3 cheers, 1 gun.
5. The navy of the U. S.— May our harbors be defended by the weight of our metal.
3 cheers, 1 gun.
6. The Embargo— More policy in repealing than in making the law. 3 cheers, 1 gun.
7. The general officers of our Army— Fewer speeches and more action. 3 cheers,
1 gun.
8. Tlie Union of the States— Disgrace to him who wishes, destruction to him who
attempts its dissolution — may it be cemented by political and moral rectitude. 3 cheers,
1 gun.
9. The three ranks of our Government— executive, legislative and judicial — may
they preserve a distance which shall prevent confusion, and preserve a connexion close
enough for mutual support. 3 cheers, 1 gun.
10. Republicanism — f hat says what it thinks and does what it says. 3 cheers, 1 gun.
11. The contents of our cartouch bo.xesto demagogues and sycophants — double rations
to the true friends of our republic. 6 cheers, 1 gun.
12. Our naval heroes — Their heads are without a cloud — their hearts without a cover-
ing. 3 cheers, 1 aun.
13. Our major-generals — Their debut and exit tread on each other's heels — The Fable of
the Fox and Flies. 3 cheers, 1 gun.
14. The days of the revolution. They are revived in miniature — may the likeness grow
to the full stature of the original. 3 che^-'rs, 1 gun.
15. The American Republic — Empires have passed away like a dream and Kingdoms
have tottered into ruin — yet may this fair fabric of freedom stand firm against the ragings of
foreign usurpation or the whirlwinds of domestic faction. 3 cheers, 1 gun.
lij. Peace to a troubled World — Liberty to the enslaved of every nation. 1) cheers,
1 gun.
17. The American fair— may they foster their offspring in the lap of plenty and
peace. 3 cheers, 1 gun.
Volunteer — By Mr. Sullivant. Captain John Moore — His private virtues are equal to
his public worth — may his country never want a better officer of his grade.
The first celebration of the Fourth of July in Columbus of which wo have any
detailed account was that of the year 1821, thus described in the Gazette of July 5.
The Fourth of July was celebrated in this town with unusual brilliancy. An oration was
delivered in the Representatives' Hall by Joseph Hines, Esq., and a Hymn and Ode per
formed by the Columbus Handel Society in a superior degree of elegance — after which the
citizens, escorted by the Franklin Dragoons, Columbus Artillery and Columbus Light
Infantry repaired to a beautiful grove at the south end of the town, and partook of a dinner
prepared by Colonel Reed. After the cloth was removed the following toasts were drank,
accompanied by the discharge of Artillery: The day ; President Monroe . . . ; John Quincy
Adams . . . ; The memory of George Washington . . . ; National Industry — the only cure for
hard times; Public Confidence . . . ; Manufactures . . . ; The Farmers of the United Slates . . . ;
The Mechanics of the United States . . . ; Merchants of the United States . . . ; State of
Ohio . . . ; Internal Communication in this State . . . ; The Grand Western Canal of New
York . . . ; The civil authorities of Ohio — Frequent elections, moderate salaries and rotation
in office; the Bank of the United States —the aristocracy of this republic — and behold a
great red dragon, etc : Despotism . . . ; The cause of liberty in Europe . . . ; Republic of Col-
umbia . . . ; Governor Brown . . . ; Henry Baldwin . . . ; The Philadelphia Agricultural
Society . . . ; The last year's loan— If a national debt be a national blessing, next to the
kingdom from whence this precept was derived, the United States are on the broadest road
of being supremely blessed; The American Fair — may they, prefer sowc and industryto
374 History of the City of Columbus.
impertinence and dandyism — the sound of the spinning wheel to the charms of the lute
—but O ? — if they don't may they never be married.
Q The celebration in 18;?2 is thus referred to in the Gazette of July 11 :
The citizens of this town Celebrating the Anniversary of the American Independence
met about 12 o'clock at the place appointed (the acting Governor of Ohio being present on
the occasion) formed procession and marched to the Presbyterian meetinghouse, when the
services of the day were opened by a suitable address to the throne of grace from tlie Rev-
erend Mr. Bigelow. A very interesting discourse was then delivered by the Rev. J. Hoge,
and several pieces of music prepared for the occasion, performed by the Handel Society.
After which the exercises were closed by prayer from the Rev. Mr. Burton, the procession
again formed and marched to the Courthouse and partook of a very excellent dinner.
Mr. Hoge's address here referred to contained strong antislavery sentiments.
Twentvfour "regular" and eleven "volunteer" toasts were drunk; among the
regular ones were these:
Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Charles Carroll. The only surviving signers of that
Instrument which will immortalize their names.
The State of Ohio — The Fourth in the Union, may she be worthy of the high station to
which her rank entitles her.
The town of Columbus — May the enterprise, industry and morality of its citizens make
it worthy to become the great metropolis of a great State.
One of the volunteer toasts was this:
Commodore O. H. Perry — He has erected for himself and his compatriots a monument
of fame which shall endure till Erie's waves shall cease to roll and " Time blots out the Sun."
Of the observance of the independence anniversary in 1826 the Ohio State
Journal of Jul}' 6 narrates :
This day was celebrated in this town with much hilarity and withal decorum. At 12
o'clock the citizens of Columbus and neighborhood to the number of about 300, followed by 24
revolutionary soldiers formed a procession and proceeded to a beautiful grove in the skirts of
the town. After an impressive prayer, the Declaration of Independence was read and an ap-
propriate Ode (composed for the occasion) was sung, a brief address was delivered — another
appropriate Ode (also composed for the occasion) was sung, and the exercises closed by
prayer. After which the assembly sat down to an excellent dinner. [Thirteen toasts were
drunk.] About three o'clock the citizens formed a procession and returned to town, and
after cheering the revolutionary soldiers as they passed through the open rank, dispersed.
Of the celebration in 1827 the Ohio State Journal of July 12 gave this account :
This ever memorable day [July 4] was celebrated in this town with more than usual
splendor. At the dawn of day a national salute was fired. About 12 o'clock a procession was
formed by the marshals of the day, General J. Warner and Captain Joseph M'Elvain, con-
sisting of the military, citizens and Revolutionary soldiers, on the green in front of the
Academy. The procession moved up Rich Street to High Street, and up High Street to the
State House. The assembly being seated, the Rev. J. Hoge made an appropriate and elo-
quent prayer. Samuel Bigger read the Declaration of Independence, and Samuel C.
Andrews delivered the following oration : . . . .
The excellent manner in which the choristers performed the odes added not a little to
the pleasing ceremonies of the day. At the request of the revolutionary soldiers " Yankee
Doodle " was played by the band which seemed to light up their countenances by bringing
to their recollection time long gone by. After the ceremonies at the State House, the company
repaired to a grove at the North end of the Town' where they partook of an excellent dinner
Political Events; 1797-18-10. 375
I)repared by Mr. John Young. R. W. McCoy acted as President, and Messrs. William
Doherty and Ilcnry Brown as Vice Presidents.
Among the thirteen regular toasts drunk on this occasion wore the following :
The nflicera and soldiers of the Revolution — time develops the importance of tlieir deeds
and increases our gratitude.
Education — The Perpetuity of our institutions depends soleiy on the extent to whicli
our minds are enlightened.
Ohio — But yesterday a wilderness, now an empire.
A large number of volunteer toasts were offered, among which were:
By J. R. Swan: Ohio Canal Commissioners — Our great work will remain to future times
a worthy cenotaph of their services.
By Mr. Espy : Columhus — May it be as prosperous as it is beautiful — and as lianpy as
it is prosperous.
On July 4, 1828, a national salute was fired at sunrise, and at noon an assembly
of citizens took place at the Representatives' Hall, where the Declaration of
Independence was read by Nathaniel McLean and an oration was delivered by
Samuel Bigger.
In 1830 the anniversary fell on Sunday, and was therefore celebrated on
Saturday, which was ushered in by a sunrise salute fired " from a piece of
ordnance on State Street, near the bank of the river.'' At noon " a procession, con-
sisting of the clergy, the orator of the day, and the reader of the Declaration of
Independence, sundry grayheaded Revolutionary patriots and a number of citi-
zens, preceded by a good band of music, was formed at Mr. Heyl's Hotel and pro-
ceeded to the State House where the ceremonies of the day were introduced by a
fervent appeal to the Throne of Grace from the Rev. James Hoge. The Declara-
tion of Independence was next read, with appropriate remarks, by John S.
McDonald, Esq., after which an excellent oration was delivered by Doctor M. B.
Wright." Music, vocal and instrumental, was furnished on this occasion by the
Handel Society, and a closing prayer was pronounced by Rev. George Jeffries.
A procession was then formed and marched to the marketplace " which had been
handsomelj- decorated for the occasion by a number of young misses, [and] where
fifty ladies and 100 gentlemen, without distinction of party, sat down to a sumptu-
ous dinner provided by John Young — General Jeremiah M'Lene presiding,
assisted by Robert W. McCoy, Esq., and Colonel William Minor."
Among the meutionable political events of the borough period of which we
have record was a dinner given at Russell's Tavern, March 23, 1821, to General
Philemon Beecher, of Fairfield County, afterwards Representative of the Ninth
District in Congress. Ralph Osborn, Auditor of State, presided, and Lucas Siilli-
vant acted as Vice President. Among the topics and sentiments proposed as toasts
were these : " Our new sister, Missouri ; Henry Clay, the Cicero of the West ;
General Joseph Vance, our Member of Congress-elect; Charles Hammond, the
able advocate of State rights; our ab.sent friend, Hon. William A. Trimble; Hon.
Benjamin Ruggles; De Witt Clinton, Governor of New York; Ethan A. Brown,
Governor of Ohio."
376 History of the City of Columbus.
General Williitm C. Schenck, a member of the General Assembly from Warren
County, died in Columbus January 17, 1821. His remains when sent to the family
residence in Warren County, were escorted through the town "to the limits of
Franklinton," by a long procession comprising the State officers, members of the
General As.scrably, Masonic bodies and citizens. In the election of Benjamin Rug-
gk'S as United States Senator, which event took place May 3, 1821, the curious fact
was noted that while the number of voters was 101, tlie number of votes cast on
on the first ballot was 103; the second 104; on the third 101, and on the fourth 102.
In a communication to the Gazette of May 31, 1821, referring to certain ani-
madversions cast upon the people of Columbus by a member of the General
Assembly, Fahius threatens "the private, personal, demoralizing conduct of
very many of the members of that Assembly during their staj- among us " with
exposure. Much as has been said of the comparative guilelessness of primitive
statesmansliip, it is quite evident that the early Ohio lawgiver was not alwaj-s a
person above reproach.
Mr. Joim Otstot, who was accustomed to take some of the members of the
General Assembly as boarders, informs the writer that tiiey were obliged to con-
form to his family custom of taking breakfast " by candlelight."
Of the partisan methods and prevailing ideas of political propriety' in early
times we have some interesting manifestations. The following editorial observa-
tions are found under date of October 12, 1826 ; *
The habit of treating which, in the gentlest language may be said to have great influence
on the will of voters, public opinion is now decidedly against. . . . Every intelligent man
has noticed the difference hetweeu the manner of electioneering now and ten years ago. The
habit of treating is expiring, though still continued in some degree under the weak author-
ity of custom ; and more of the judgment and less of the passions is now brought into action,
in examining the qualifications of candidates.
As to political speechmaking this writer thus expresses himself:
We have always been free in Ohio from the busting speeches of England, or the stump
speeches of Indiana and Kentucky ; which are nothing more than a mass of egotism and
empty declamation. These brilliant efforts, of the candidates enlighten no man's judgment.
The feelings of the hearers are tried to be enlisted by a long farrago of what tlie speaker has
done, or strong promises given, which most likely the passing wind will float away, of what
he shall do should he be elected. The most intelligent citizens of Kentucky and Indiana
have set their countenance against this custom as useless ; aud one which we think will be
done away as much as treating is with us.
How electioneering was done in the absence of mass meetings for discussion
is indicated by the following notice, published under date of September 25, 1838 :
Shooting Match!! Come one, come all. Charles Higgins, of Prairie Tp., invites his
friends from the several townships of this county to attend a shooting match at his house,
nine miles west of Columbus, on the National Road on Saturday, October 6. He has consulted
his friends of both political parties, and they are desirous of hearing the sentiments of the
general candidates for the ensuing October election ; and both parties are hereby requested
to attend and addre.ss the people.
A letter written from Columbus in 1831 by Mr. Isaac A. Jewett contains the
following sentences ;
Political Events; 1797-1840. 377
The tlislike of " caucuses " is so violent in this section as almost to vertie upon ahhor-
rence. The " independent electors " have been taught to avoid them as political monsters.
I have never seen such violent personal importunity in the solicitation of voters as was pre-
sented at the polls at our last election. The fact is if the candidate for office do not humbly
and anxiously beg the support of the people, they immediately conclude he does not desire it,
and will extend their aid to a more eager, not to say more obsequious candidate.
In the Freeman s Chronicle of January 21, 1814, appeared the follovvinu; adver-
tisement :
40 Dollars Reward. Kanaway from the subscriber in Clark County, Kentucky, on the
eighth inst. a muUitto man slave by the name of
TIM
21 years of age, about 5 feet 10 inches hish. He has a large scar on one of his thighs (I think
the right) occasioned by a Inirn. . . .
Edward Strotsiiire.
The following is taken from the Cohmbus Gazette of March 28, 1822 :
$100 Reward, in Specie. Ranaway from the subscriber, living in Fayette County, Ken-
tucky, on the twentyfourth of May, 1820, a Negro man named
BILL
Now about 34 years of age, about .5 feet 7 orS inches high, rather slender made but very nerv-
ous and active ; of brown mulatto color ; has two remarkable scars, one on his back just below
one of his blade bones (the side not recollected) 2 or 3 inches long, occasioned by the stroke
of an axe ; the other is rather a blotch on one of his cheek bones about the size of a quarter
of a dollar, darker than his other complexion. Bill is a plausible, artful fellow, can read and
write a tolerable hand, and no doubt has a pass and will attempt to pass as a free man. and
by another name. His ears were pierced, and he wore leads in them when he went away. . .
Henry Rogers.
In the Ohio State Journal of June 25, 1829, appeared this ■
Stop the Runaway ! ! ! ! 20 Dollars Reward . . . Ran away from the subscriber liv-
ing near Huntsville, Ala., a Negro man slave named Bob . . . The said Bob is an artful sen-
sible negro, pretends to be pious, .and has been a preacher for the last five or six years among
the blacks. . . It is probable there will be found on close examination some scars from a cut
on his throat or neck. . .
David Moore.
Advertisements of this class wore vcrj- common in the Columbus newspapers
of the twenties, thirties and forties. Under the caption "Slavery in Ohio"
appeared in the Gazette of November 15, 1821, a communication signed Fabius in
which it was stated that during the sessions of the Nineteenth General Assembly
the Senate had under consideration a bill the nineteenth section of which read :
Be it further enacted that when any person shall be imprisoned either upon execution or
otherwise for the nonpayment of a fine or costs, or both, it shall be lawful for the sheriff of
the county to sell out such person as a servant to any person within this state who will pay
the whole amount due for the shortest period of service ; of which sale public notice shall be
given at least ten days; and upon such sale being effected the sheriff shall give to the pur-
chaser a certificate thereof and ileliver over the prisoner to him; from which time the rela-
tion between such purchaser and the prisoner shall be that of master and servant, until the
term of service expires.'
378 UlSTORV OF THE ClTY OF COLUJIBUS.
Twelve of the thirtytwo members of the Senate voted for this bill. They
were Messrs. Baldwin, Cole, Foos, Foster, Harrison (W. H.), McLean, Oswalt,
Pollock, Eugglcs, Wheeler, and the Speaker, Mr. Trimble. A further token of
the prevailing political opinion of those days as to slavery and the African race
is seen in the following resolution passed by the lower branch of the General
Assembly January 3, 1828:
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to bring in a bill to prevent the settle-
ment of free people of color in this state, who are not citizens of another state, by such
penalties, disqualifications and disabilities as they may deem best calculated to effect this
object. ♦
In Fcbruarj-, 1839, Governor Shannon transmitted to the General Assembly
by special message a communication from Hon. James T. Morehead and Hon.
J. Speed Smith, commissioners appointed by the State of Kentucky, under reso-
lution of its legislature of January 4, 1839, declaring that without the concurrent
legislation of sister States bordering on the Ohio River, the laws of Kentucky
inflicting punishment for enticing slaves to leave their lawful owners and
possessore, and escape to parts without the limits of Kentucky, and for aiding,
assisting and concealing such slaves after escape, cannot be enforced. The Com-
missioners, in compliance with instructions, therefore suggest to the General
Assembly of Ohio " the passage of an act to prevent evil disposed persons resid-
ing within the jurisdictional limits of Ohio from enticing away the slaves of
citizens of Kentucky, or aiding, assisting and concealing them after they shall
have reached the limits of that State, and to solicit also the passage of an act provid-
ing more efficient and certain means of recapturing and bringing away abscond-
ing slaves by their masters, or legally authorized agents.
On January 8, 1822, the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans was form-
ally observed, prob.-ibly for the Qrst time. The Gazette of June 10, 1822, con-
tained the following mention of the proceedings ;
Tuesday being the eighth of January, a number of gentlemen, principally strangers
upon business at Columbus, dined together at Mr. Gardiner's Tavern in celebration of the
victory at New Orleans. The Judges of the Circuit Court, Mr. Clay and General Taylor, of
Kentucky, and the late Governor Worthington of Ohio were of the company.
Following are some of the toasts proposed ;
By Judge Todd —The Holy Alliance. May the Genius of Liberty distract their coun-
cils and frustrate their unhallowed purposes.
By H. Clay, E.sq. — Let us look more at home and less abroad for the true sources of
national wealth and prosperity.
By J. C. Wright— Our next president; may he understand the interest of the West,
and have intelligence and firmness to support it.
By Thomas Corwin, Esq. —The province of Texas ; the rightful domain of the United
States of America.
By General T. C. Flournoy — Ttie fair of Ohio. They smile benignly on the brave and
patriotic.
As to subsequent celebrations of January Eighth the chronicles are deficient
until 1835 when, it is stated, the day was festively observed by the Jacksonians.
Political Events; 1797-1840. 379
Salutes were fired, a tall hickory jiolo was raised, surmounted by a broom, and the
Hemisphere office was illuminated.
On January 8, 1840, the Ohio State Journal editorially observed :
This is the "glorious eighth!" We are writing tliis at 2 r. ii. Cannons have been
firing ever since daylight. A magnificent State Convention is now sitting at the Tlieatre. . .
A hickory pole was planted at the southwest angle of the State House last evening. . . .
The military of our city are all out with drums ami fifes.
A banquet was held, on this occasion, at the American House, Samuel Spaug-
ler, of Fairfield, presiding. Table addresses were delivered by Governor Sliannon,
Hon. Thomas L. Hamer, and others
In 1841, the day was celebrated by a banquet at the City House. Toasts were
responded to by Colonel Humphreys, T. W. Bartley, H. A. Moore, B. B. Taylor,
Elijah Hayward, William Sawyer, John Patterson, John B. Hunt, A. E. Wood,
E. Gale, S. D. Preston and S. Medary.
On July 19, 1830, a meeting of mechanics of Columbus was held at the Eagle
Coffeehouse to appoint a committee to tender a public dinner to Hon. Henry Clay.
The members of the committee selected were Joseph Ridgway, C. C. Beard, John
M. Walcutt, John Greenwood, Adam Brotherlin, Jacob Overdier, John Young
and Thomas Johnson. Mr. Clay accepted, for July 22. The newspaper histoi-y
of the affair contains the following passages:
At two o'clock on Thursday last a procession was accordingly formed under the (Hrec-
tion of William Armstrong and Rohert Riordan, marshals of the day, which extended from
State Street to Watson's Hotel. Mr. Clay, followed by several grayheaded veterans of the
Revolution, was then escorted by the committee to the Market piace, where an elegant din-
ner had been prepared by Mr. Young; Joseph Ridgway, acting as President and William
McElvain, Henry Van Home, John Warner and Michael Jt. Sullivant, as Vice Presidents.
The number of persons who sat down, many of whom were mechanics from this town and
vicinity, together with a few respectable strangers, is estimated at from 850 to 400.
Mr. Clay delivered a political address on this occasion, which was received
with much favor.
On November 5, 1836, General William H. Harrison, then an opposition can-
didate for the Presidenc}^ arrived at Columbus and alighted at Armstrong's Tav-
ern, where he was waited upon by a committee which escorted him to " Russell's
spacious dining hall which had been prepared for his reception." An address of
welcome was there delivered by Alfred Kelley, to which General Harrison rejilied,
referring to his first arrival in the State fortyfive years previously. Additional
speeches were made by Messrs. Alfred Kelley, J. B. Gardiner, R. W. Thompson, of
Indiana, and Doctor R. Thompson, of Columbus. General Harrison set out lor
his home the following Monday.
Hon. Richard M. Johnson, Vice President of the United States, arrived in
Columbus, December 18, 1839, and during the evening of that day was given a
complimentary banquet by his political friends at the American House.
In December, 1839, a meeting of Welsh citizens was held at the schoolhouso
on Fourth Street to protest against the action of the lovver branch of the General
Assembly in refusing j^ublication of the Governor's Message in the Welsh langn.'ige
^
380 History ov the City of Columbus.
while authorizing its publication in German. The meeting adopted a resolution
recommending to every citizen of Welsh descent " to perpetuate his mother tongue,
and to teach it to his posteritj-."
Amonsi the earlier political assemblages in Columbus of which we find men-
tion was an " administration convention " which took place December 28, 1827,
and was attended by 220 delegates. Of this assembly, Jeremiah Morrow was
appointed president and William Doherty and Thomas Corwin secretaries. Pres-
idential electors were nominated.
On August 31, 1831, a meeting of citizens favorable to the tariff and internal
improvement policy of the Clay party was held at Young's Coffeehouse. General
John Warner was called to the chair, and Captain John Haver was appointed
secretary. J. M. Walcutt, John Cutler, M. E. Spurgeon, William Armstrong and
Eobert Pollock were named as members of a committee on resolutions. The meet-
ing suggested the following nominations: For Governor, Duncan McArthur; for
Congress, William Doherty; for Eepresentative in the General Assembly, Joseph
Eidgway.
At a National Eepublican meeting held October 29, 1831, Colonel John Thomp-
son presided and D. W. Deshler was appointed secretary. Lyne Starling and
John Bailhache were named as delegates to a national convention to be held in
Baltimore the ensuing December.
At a meeting of citizens held at Heyl's Tavern January 9" 1835, a " State
Eights Association of the City of Columbus and County of Franklin " was
organized, with the following officers : President, George Jeffries ; Vice President,
George M. K. Spurgeon ; Secretary, A. Williams; Treasurer, W. B. Brown; Com-
mittee of Correspondence, John G. Miller, Dwight Woodbury, K M. Miller,
P. C. Gallagher, M. H. Kirby, Eobert Neil, George Eichey. The preamble to the
resolutions adopted contained these declarations:
We believe the principles upon which the Alien and Sedition Laws were successfully
resisted, upon which Mr. Jefferson was elected to the Chief Magistracy, upon which he
administered the Government while in office, to be the true principles of the Federal Com-
pact, and those only which can insure the continuance and safety of our free and happy
form of Government. In the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 and '99, and the
Report on those of the former State in 1799, we recognize not only "true doctrines," but the
true doctrines of the true Republican party ; and find in them the correct definition of these
confederate States.
At a meeting of the Association held February 20, 1836, to make arrange-
ments for the celebration of Jefferson's birthday, D. W. Deshler was appointed
chairman and Eobert Ware secretary.
On August 29, 1835, a meeting of citizens favorable to the nomination of
General W. H. Harrison to the Presidency was held in Columbus. S. G. Flenni-
ken presided and M. J. Gilbert was appointed secretary'. Lyne Starling, James
Kilbourn, William Doherty and John Bailhache were appointed as a committee
to re])ort resolutions to a subsequent meeting.
At an " Anti-Van Buren " meeting held in Februarj-, 1836, Samuel G. Flenni-
ken was appointed president and Smithson E. Wright secretary. Francis Stewart,
PoLTTiCAi, Events; 1797-1840. 3S1
Joseph Hunter, Joseph Ridgway, Senior, James Kilhourn, ami Francis Johnson
were appointed a committee to receive names.
Under date of August 13, 1836, appeared tliis announcement :
A barbecue and shooting match will take place on tlie land of A. W. McCoy, five miles
from the city of Columbus, on Saturday, August 20, at 10 a. m. The candidates for Congress
and the State Legislature are expccteil to address the people.
On September 20, 1836, a " Young Men's Harrison Convention" was held at
the Columbus Theatre. George CoUings, of Highland County, was chairman, and
John L. Minor, of Franklin, one of the secretaries. John W. Andrews, of Colum-
bus, reported an address to the young men of Ohio which was unanimouslj'
adopted.
A State Whig Convention was held at Columbus July 4, 1837 ; James Kilbourn,
chairman, and William B. Thrall, James F. Conover and James B. Bell, secretaries.
William Doherty, Joseph Eidgway, Junior, Lyne Starling, Junior, John W.
Andrews and John L. Miner were appointed as a State Central Committee
A shootingmatch was announced to take place at Charles Higgins's, on the
National Road, nine miles west of Columbus, September 16, 1837. The candidates
for the General Assembly, "of all parties," were invited to be present and address
the people.
The Democratic State Convention of 1838 assembled at the Columbus Theatre
on January 8. The attendance was described as "immeuse." Judge Eber W.
Hubbard, of Lorain, was appointed chairman, and Hon. Wilson Shannon, of Bel-
mont, was nominated for Governor. Hon. A. G. Thunnan was oue of the dele-
gates. An address to the people was prepared and reported by the following
committee appointed for the purpose; William Wall, Carter B. Harlan, Allen G.
Thurman, Edward Jones and John Biglcr. In the evening a banquet in honor of
Jackson and New Orleans took place at the National Hotel. The day was further
signalized b}' a parade of the Columbus Guards.
The attendance at the Whig State Convention which met at Coiumbus May
31 and June 1, 1838, was thus described by the local party organ :'
They [the people] came from ever direction, nmltitude upon multitude, enlivened amid
the cheering sounds of music and marshaled under the " star spangled banner" of our coun
try. By Thursday [May 31] the city was literally filled. Every avenue to it-^ approach was
blocked with the moving mass. The canal was freighted with hundreds upon hundreds. . . .
We shall never forget the moments which we spent in gazing on such hosts of freemen.
They were variously computed at from three to six thousand! So immense was the concourse
that it was iujpossible to procure the names of all present. The list which we puhlish falls
many hundred short.
The crowd " paraded on High Street to the southern pari of the city, thence
on Friend Street to Third and thence on Third to the Public Square." The con-
vention was address by Judge Burnett, Thomas Ewing, Governor Joseph Vance
and General Murphy. Joseph Vance was chairman.
The Whig State Central Committeemen in 1839 were Alfred Kelley, Joseph
Ridgway, Senior, Warren Jenkins, Lewis Heyl and Samuel Douglas.
382 History op the City op CoLiTMnrrs.
A meeting to ratify the nominations of Harrison and Tyler for the Presidency
and Vice Presidency was held December 18, 1839, in the b;isement of the First
Presbyterian Church. Alfred Kelley presided, and Moses B. Corwin, Thomas
Ewino- and Bellamy Storer delivered addresses. On motion of James L. Bates a
committee of five was appointed to prepare resolutions.
The Van Buren (Democratic) State Convention was held in Columbus January
8, 1840. The members of the Democratic State Central Committee in that year
were Carter B. Harlan, Bela Latham, Samuel Medary, A. G. Hibbs, Peter Kauf-
man, John Patterson and John McElvain. Alfred Kelley, who was suggested as
the Whig candidate for Governor, publicly stated that he did not desire to be con-
sidered in that connection. The Whig County Convention held January 25, 1840,
was thus mentioned under date of January 28 : " Pursuant to notice given a large
and respectable meeting of the friends of Harrison and Tyler was held in the
basement of the Presbyterian Church."
The memorable political campaign of 1840 was opened for the Whig party in
Ohio by a great convention of that party held at Columbus on Friday and Satur-
day February 21 and 22. The most extended account of it given by the local press
was that contained in the Ohio Confederate, a weekly paper then edited by John
G. Miller. In that account the attendance at the convention was estimated at
twenty thousand, representing all parts of the State. The Bulletin, expressing the
Democratic view, acknowledged that the " Whigs had effected a great turnout . . .
probably lour or five thousand." The "gathering of the clans ' was thus
described by the Confederate:
For several days previous to Thursday, the twentieth, delegates from all parts of the
State had reached the city, so that on the morning of that day the hotels were already filled
to overflowing ; and throughout the day they continued to arrive in rapid succession, though
without organization and parade. The weather was uncomfortable, the day was rainy ; the
roads were known to be in bad condition ; some who had failed to discern the true state of
the popular mind began to fear least the people should not come ; the apprehension was of
short duration ; rain and storm and obstacles had nothing to do in this matter; and hour
after hour the tide rolled in and the multitude accumulated. The evening [twentieth]
brought with it the accession of many thousands to the throng that now filled the streets of the
city as the setting sun shone out upon the animating scene his brightest and cheerfulest rays.
At this period the united delegations from many of the eastern counties approached the
city. ... On the same evening there arrived twentyseven c.\nal boats bearing delegations
from the southern counties. . . . The morning of Friday opened upon the multitude with a
clear sky and a delightful temperature. Had a stranger entered the city on that beautiful
morning, his eye would have fallen on a variegated scene of surpassing interest which his
tongue or his pen might have striven in vain to describe. Among the numerous ensigns,
colors, decorations and banners with their pithy sentences and heartstirring mottoes as they
waved from the windows of the houses and floated on the standards borne by individuals of
the living mass before him, his eye would have rested for a moment on two extended ban-
ners stretching from roof to roof of the lofty tenements on either side of the street, bearing
the impressive words of truth, Convention op the People, not of officeholders I Har-
rison AND Tyler — TUE pillars of reform. Union of the Whius for the sake of the
Union.
The Ohio State Journal's accoimt, oi' February 22, 1840, contained the following
passages :
Political Events ; 1797-1840. 383
The rain is pouring in torrents while we write ; the nmd is l<iiee(l(-cp in tlie roads ; all
the wintry elements except frost are busy ; but the people are here. The streets of Colum-
bus present, despite the weeping clouds, one solid mass of animated, joyous Republicans,
all clamorous for the Hero of Tippecanoe and the Thames. We watchcil the ingathering of
the people on Thursday and Friday with a view to write a desriiptiori nf it. But we cannot
describe it. From the east, the west, the north and the south tlic [pi(i|ilc poured in in dense
and continuous streams. On they came, rending the blue welkin witli their shouts. . . .
Banners ingenious in device and splendid in e.tecution loomed in theair ; Hags were streaming,
and all the insignia of freedom swept along in glory and in triumph. Uanoes planted on
wheels; . . . square-rigged brigs, log cabins, even a minature of old Fort Meigs; all these
and more made up the grand scene of excitement and surprise.
The number of persons in attendance as members of the convention, is variously esti"
mated at from twelve to twenty thousand. It is impossible to judge of the number with
accuracy, as but a very few of the delegations have reported full lists of their members.
Numerous, however, as has been and is the crowd, all have been fed and sheltered, and cher-
ished. Not a single cheerless or disappointed face can be seen amid the vast assemblage. . . .
Just as our paper is going to press we have the pleasure to state that the immense throng,
though wading in mud and exposed to the "pitiless peltings" of the rain, still exhibits
the best of spirits. All its joyous enthusiasm.
Concerning the parade of Saturday, twentysecond, we have in the .same paper
of later date the following account:
On the twentysecond the windows of heaven were opened and torrents fell as if to show
us that clouds and adversity, as well as sunshine and prosperity, are the lot of those who do
their duty. At an early hour the immense multitude, filling the streets, the pavements, the
houses, began under the direction of skillful marshals to do what seemed the most hopeless
task, to form from such confusion, into the most perfect order. To accomplish this the dif-
ferent vehicles filled and followed by the various delegations wheeled into line from the
various cross streets of the city. Twenty full bands of music, in large cars drawn by four
horses each sent up their music. Immense canoes, each carrying from fifty to eighty men —
one bearing the emblem of our Western Empire State, the Buckeye tree — rising full forty
feet from the stern and carrying a large and beautifully executed portrait of General Harrison
(executed by that accomplished artist, Mr. Wilson, of this city) and all drawn by eight beau-
tiful white horses most skillfidly driven*. A throng of hundreds followed in close column.
Another large canoe, drawn by six horses, and hearing flags and inscriptions, was followed
by hundreds in the same order. Numerous log cabins, the peculiar emblem of the Young
West. . . . Numbers of these rude structures with all their usual accompaniments — the
smoke rising from the chimney of mud and sticks, the horns and skins of animals, the " coon"
and the deer, were seen fastened to the walls — within, and on the roof, sat many of those
who, if they do now inhabit more costly and modern structures, yet have in earlier times
made such dwellings as these their homes, eating the neverfailing "corncakes" of the West.
These were on wheels, and drawn by four and six horses each, and followed by the thous-
ands of worthy delegates who came with them. The skill of the artist had multiplied the
portraits of the " Hero of the Thames and the Farmer of North Bend, " and paintings of log
cabins, as well as the cabins themselves, were borne aloft. The "-Mad River trappers, " with
their cabins, were not behind. . . . Licking with her steamboat under a full head of steam,
black smoke rising from her chinjney, and wheels in motion, drawn by a tandem team of
five or six horses driven with uiipaiMlleled skill I'he men of Guernsey followed with
their beautiful skiir drawn li\ foui horses. . . . Fort Meigs was there, decorated with flags
and arms and strongly garrisoned. The gallant brig from Cuyahoga with canvas spread, her
flag and ensign all in holiday trim, her manly officers and crew returning the cheers of the
crowd while the voice of a hardy mariner mounted in the chains throwing the lead, told the
384' History op the City of Columbits.
fathoms of water (and mud) beneath the gallant bark. . . . One delegation of noble fellows
bore aloft, perched on a pole, the magnificent "bird of Jove," the American Eagle . . . Who
shall portray the deep emotions of the crowd when the empty saddle with the housings and
trappings of General Washington- of scarlet velvet and silver fringe, borne on a white
horse led by one of the Light Guards of the Father of his Country,' passed along .... The
precious and well preserved relic was sent from Marietta by a niece of Washington . . .
After the procession, accompanied by a most splendid escort of the military of Zanes-
ville, Putnam, and of this city, had swept along through the various streets, stretching
miles in length and cheered by shouts from the crowd, and by the waving of flags from
almost every window by the ladies who filled them —then, at noon, the great convention
reassembled. . . . The first orators of the State were listened to and cheered for hours,
amid the falling rain, as they uttered words of eloquence and patriotism. The close of the
evening witnessed the still busv and earnest movements of the excited and determined
multitude. Night came, and still the soul stirring words of talented and eloquent men were
pouring out to groups of thousands, even in the marketplace and wherever the multitude
could find space whereon to rest their feet.
The Convention assembled in the open air, at the corner of High and Broad
streets, called General Resin Beall to preside, and appointed nineteen vice presi-
dents, as follows: Charles S. Clarkson, Hamilton ; William Carr, Butler; Aurora
Spofford, Wood; Isaiah Morris, Clinton; Thomas L. .Shields, Clermont; John C.
Bestow, Meigs; John Crouse, Eoss ; Forrest Meeker, Delaware; George Saunder-
son, Fairfield; Charles Anthony, Clark; Solomon Bentlj-, Belmont; David
Chambers, Muskingum ; Daniel S. Norton, Knox ; Eleutheros Cooke, Erie ;
Frederick Wadsworth, Portage; Storin Ross, Geauga ; Joseph Mause, Columbiana;
Solomon Markham, Stark; Hugh Downing, Jefferson. One delegate for every
ten from each congressional district was chosen to serve on a committee to pro-
pose a suitable person for nomination for Governor, and a committee to propose
Presidential Electors— two at large and one from each district — was made
up in the same manner. These committees met, respectively, in the basements of
the First Presbyterian and Episcopal churches. The convention was addressed
by General Beall, Hon. Thomas Ewing, Charles Anthony, Esq., Hon. John C.
Wright, O. P. Baldwin, Esq., and General W. S. Murphy. Thomas Corwin, of
Warren County, was nominated for Governor, and William R. Putnam of
Washington, and Resin Beall of W^ayne, for electors-at-large. A long platform
was reported by Jmlge Wright from the Committee on Presidential Electors, and
was adopted. From the same committee Alfred Kelley reported a series of
reasons for opposing the reelection of Van Bureu. These reasons were also
adopted, as were resolutions reported by H. Griswold, of Stark, condemning the
secret caucus and machine rule; the creation of offices to make places for favorites,
and the penitentiary system of contract labor. Messrs. Alfred Kelley, Joseph
Ridgway, Senior, John W. Andrews, Robert Neil, John L. Miner, Francis Stewart,
Lewis Heyl, N. M. Miller and Lyne Starling, Junior, were appointed members of
a State Central Committee. "The whole of this day's sitting of the convention,
as well as the formation of the procession of the delegations " stated one of the
reports, " was under a heavy and continual torrent of rain."
This phenomenal convention signalizes an epoch in Ohio politics. It was the
most unique political event in the history of Columbus. Standing in the rain on
■■.-'r-m^Pci'/ff JUi>- Cb
PoLiTicAi, Events; 1797-1840. 385
a midwinter day this body of enthusiastic citizens adopted the following remark-
able declaration of principles:
Resolved, That the permanency of our republican institutions depends upon preserving,
unimpaired, to the several States and to each branch of the General Government, the full
and free exercise of their constitutional rights.
That the practical tendency of our government as at present administered is to concen-
trate all political power and inHuence in the National Government, and to throw the power
thus concentrated into the hands of the President.
That to prevent the attainment of absolute power by the National Executive, and to
restore to the legislative and ju<licial branches of the General Government, and to the several
States, the free and unbiased exercise of their constitutional rights, the following principles
should be adopted and enforced :
First. That the power of the President to appoint and remove officers at his pleasure
which is the great source of his overwhelming influence, should be restricted within the nar-
rowest limits allowed by the Constitution.
Second. That as all offices are created for the benefit of the people, the advancement of
the public good should be the sole motive of official action.
Third. That no person should serve as President for more than one term, so that he can
have no motive to a<lminister the government with reference to his own reelection.
Fourth. That any law which will place the public moneys of the nation in the hands of
the President or in the hands of officers appointed by him, removable at his pleasure, and
therefore subservient to his will, is obviously calculated to increase his power and influence ;
is contrary to the spirit of the Constitution, and is dangerous to thd liberties of the people.
Fifth. That the practice of appointing members of Congress to offices in the gift of the
President, is calculated to corrupt the members of that body and give the executive a danger-
ous influence over the legislative branch of the government.
Sixth. That the immediate representatives of the people are most competent to decide
questions relating to the general welfare of the nation, and that the veto power of the Execu-
tive should seldom or never be exercised except to preserve the Constitution from manifest
violation.
Seventh. That no offices should be created except such as are required by the public
good ; and that the creation of any office, trust or place for the purpose of rewarding partisan
services or gratifying political favorites, is a flagrant abuse that calls loudly for correction.
Eighth. That the practice of considering offices '' the spoils of political victory," bestow-
ing them as rewards for partisan services or taking them away as punishment for political
independence, tends to make men mercenary in their motives, corrupt in the exercise of
their privileges, and to vest in the President despotic power.
Ninth. That the use of official power or the facilities afi'orded by oflicial station to influ-
ence elections is an improper interference with the rights and dangerous to the liberties of
the people.
Resolved, That all salaries or oflScial compensation, of whatever kind, should be a fair
equivalent for the services rendered, taking into view the skill and talents required, and
nothing more; so that pecuniary emolument can never form a leading inducement to seek for
or accept office.
Resolved, That if it be the interest of officeholders to appropriate any portion of their
salaries to electioneering purposes, with a view to sustaining those from whom they hold
their appointments, and themselves in office (as proved to be the case with the customhouse
officers in New York), it is conclusive evidence that those salaries are too high and should
be reduced.
2b*
38(5 History of the City of Columbus.
Resolved, That all officers should be held to a rigid accountability for the manner in
which they discharge their official duties, and especially for all public moneys that uiay come
into their hands.
Resolved, That a careful appropriation of the public money to specific objects— its
scrupulous application to the specific objects only to which it is appropriated, with rigid
economy in its expenditure, are necessary in order to prevent its use for electioneering pur-
poses, as well as to preserve the people from oppressive taxation.
Resolved, That it is the duty of the General and State Governments to secure a safe and
uniform currency, as well for the use of the people as for the use of the government, so far
as the same can be done without transcending the constitutional limits of their authority ; and
that all laws calculated to provide for the officeholders a more safe or valuable currency than
is provided for the people, tend to invert the natural order of things, making ihe servant supe-
rior to the master, and are both oppressive and unjust.
Here follow the reasons for opposing the reelection of Martin Van Buren to
the Pi-esidenc}'. Among these reasons are the following:
Because he practices upon the abominable doctrine that " offices are the spoils of politi-
cal victory," bestowing them as rewards of party subserviency, regardless of the unfitness of
the persons selected, and removing the most faithful and competent public officers for the sole
crime of thinking and acting as free men.
Because he permits and encourages officers holdingappointments under him improperly
to interfere in political contests, thus ' bringing the patronage of the General Government
into conflict with the freedom of the elections."
Following these " reasons " were some declarations condemnatory of alleged
abuses in iState politics, as for example :
The practice of requiring candidates for judicial appointments to pledge themselves as a
condition on which they are to receive such appointments, to decide the most important and
difficult questions which can come before a court of justice in accordance with the political
views of those who hold such appointments in their hands ; a practice so abhorrent to all
correct notions of judicial integrity, and so utterly at war with the safety of our dearest
rights that no legislature previous to the present has had tlie hardihood to think of its adop-
tion.
The practice of members of the legislature discussing and determining, in secret con-
clave, on the most important acts of legislation, so that neither the motives nor the advocates
of such acts can be known to the people.
The creation of offices not required by the public good for the purpose of making places
to be filled by hungry officeseekers, and especially by members of the legislature, thereby
greatly increasing the heavy burden already imposed on the people.
The unnecessary consumption of the time of the legislature, and the enormous in-
crease of expense, occasioned by legislating upon matters of a purely personal and local char-
acter.
The adoption of improper and rejection of proper measures with the sole view of benefit-
ing a political party, regardless of the injury inflicted on the public.
Resolved, That our Penitentiary system, as carried out in practice, operates injuriously
on the interests of a numerous and respectable class of citizens, and should be so modified as
not to come in competition with the free labor of the honest mechanic, so far as the same can
be done without making that institution a burden upon the State Treasury.
A concluding resolution recommended that a cordial popular welcome be extended to
Ex-President Jackson should he, as was then expected, visit Ohio on the next anniversary of
National Independence.
Political Events; 1797-1840. 387
NOTES.
1. J. H. Kennedy in the Magazine of American History for December, 1886.
2. The War of 1812 was then in progress
3. Near where the Excliange Hotel now stands.
4 . Ohio State Jmtrnal.
5. Imprisonment for debt was abolished in Ohio by act of the General Assembly March
1838, to take eft'ect on July 4 of that year.
6. Ohio State Journal, July 29, 1830.
7. Ohio Slate Journal, June 1, 1838.
8. The driver was William Neil, of Columbus.
9. Lewis Bowyer, said to have been the sole survivor of Washington's Lifeguard.
CHAPTER XXIV.
POLITICAL EVENTS; 1840-1848.
The phenomenal campaign of 1840, was predominantly a popular revolt
against caucus dictation, the abuse of patronage and official interference in par-
tisan politics. Antagonism to these things is the keynote of the Columbus plat-
form, and as such rings out with clearness and force which have never been sur-
passed. It was reiterated and emphasized bj- the national leader of the Whigs.
In his letter accepting their nomination' General Harrison had said : " I deem it
. . . proper at this time to renew the assurance heretofore frequently made
that should I be elected to the Presidency I will under no circumstances consent
to be a candidate for a second term." In a letter of June 16, 18-10, the GenoraF
repeated this declaration and further avowed that, if elected, he would never
attempt to influence the elections either by the people or the state legislatures, nor
suffer national officers under his control to take any other part in them than that
of casting their own votes ; that he would never suffer the influence of his office
to be used for purely partisan purposes ; and that in removals from office of those
holding appointments at the pleasure of the Executive the cause of such removals
should be stated, if requested, to the Senate. At the head of its editorial columns
the Columbus organ of the Whigs kept these legends standing :
One Presidential term.
Executive power and patronage confined within the limits of the Consiitution.
Economy in public expenditure.
Rigid accountability of public officers.
The partronage of the General Government not to be brought into conflict with the
freedom of elections.
Such were the predominating ideas of this wonderful campaign They carried
General H;irrison into the Presidency. Their statement is neces.sary to a correct
understanding of the local as well as of the State and National political history of
the period.
One of the most striking features of the campaign was its songs, the most
successful and widclyknown singer and composer of which was John Greiner, of
Columbus.' The origin of another picturesque peculiarity singularly appropriate
to the politics of a pioneer generation, is thus explained :
[388]
Political Events ; 1840-18-18. 389
The Baltimore American, a Democratic newspaper, after General Harrison's nomination
sneeringly remarked concerning him that he was obscure and unimportant ; that for $2,000
a year he would be content to remain in his log cabin and drink hard cider for the balance
of his days. This sneer . . . was seized by the Whigs as their battlecry against the oppo-
sition. It was first adopteil in the city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and on the twentieth of
January, 1840, a transparency with" a log cabin painted upon it was carried through the
streets of that place. It spread like wildflre. The log cabin and hard cider became the
emblems of the Whig party. In song and display they were kept constantly before the peo-
ple. Lug cabins were built in every village, and carried in every procession.''
The historj' of tiie first of the campaign log cabins erected in Columbus begins
with the organization of the " Franklin County Straightout Tip]ieeanoe Club,"
which took place April 9, 1840, on the open lawn in rear of John Young's Baglo
Coffeehouse. A crowd, large lor those days, was present and was regaled with a
barrel of hard cider pi'ovidod by Mr. Young who was a member of the club. An
account of the event says: "The generous liquor was imbided from a gourd. In
the centre of the yard stood the miniature of Fort Meigs kindly bestowed to the
Harrison men iif Columbus bj-the Wood County delegation. . . . Above it floated
two magnificent flags. . . . The Fort was appropriated as a rostrum."' The
crowd was addressed by J. G. Miller, John W. Andrews, Alfred Kelley and W. B.
Llo3'il. A " manifesto ' was signed by about two hundred members, and officers
of ihe club were chosen as follows: President, George Elphinstone ; Vice Presi-
dent, Joseph Leiby and A. Stotts ; secretaries, James Allen and Oren Follett;
executive committee, N. Gregory, J. Neereamer, J. Phillips, S. McClelland and
T. Y. Miles.
On April 18, 1840, a campaign log cabin was raised by the Straightouts, assisted
by " Tippecanoe Clubs 1 and 2 and the German Club" An account states that
"the Hard Cider boys from Madison came in a wagon drawn by six horse?,
adorned with Buckeye boughs and a flag." Addresses were delivered \>y Messrs.
Philips, Heyl, Brush and Backus. The location of the cabin was on the common
just east of the Capitol Square, near the present line of Third Street. A Whig
meeting held at the cabin July 7 was addressed by R. W. Thompson, of Indiana,
and General Murphy, of Chillicothe. At another cabin meeting, held September
14, the principal speaker was Hon. John H. Eaton, who had been a member of
President Jackson's first cabinet.
So strong was the tide of partisan feeling this year that the Fourth of July
was celebrated by the Whigs and Democrats separately — the Whigs at Stewart's
Grove, south of the city, the Democrats* — it was derisively stated — "about
equidistant from the Penitentiary, the Eopewalk and the Graveyard." In the
Whig procession a company of juvenile lancers marched on either side of the
ladies as a guard. The speakers at the Whig meeting were Alfred Kelley, Joseph
Olds, and J. L. Green, of Pickaway, and R. W. Thompson, of Indiana. Of the
speakers at the Democratic meeting the author finds no record.
The Democratic State Convention of 1840 was held in Columbus January 8
Its temporary chairman was Hon. John Chaney, of Fairfield ; its permanent
chairman Hon. Thomas L. Hamer, its vice chairmen John Larwill and William
Milligan. Governor Wilson Shannon was nominated for a second term ; delegates
390 History of the City of Columbus.
to the National Convention were appointed, and the following State Central Com-
mittee was named : C. B. Harlan, Bela Latham, Samuel Medary, A. G. Hibbs,
Peter Kaufman, John Patterson and John McElvain. The platform denounced
native Americanism and endorsed Van Buren's administration. On the same
occasion the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans was celebrated by a ban-
quet, largely attended, at the dining hall of the American House. Samuel
Spangler presided at this banquet, and many toasts were proposed and responded
to. Among the speakers wei-e Governor Shannon and Hon. Thomas L. Hamer.
The great Democratic occasion of the year seems to have been the reception
accorded to Vice President Eichard M. Johnson, which took place August 8 at
Stewarfs Grove, then described as " about a mile from the city on the Chillicothe
road." The attendance is said to have been great and the procession of cor-
responding dimensions. Major W. F. Sanderson was marshal of the day and the
order of march to the Grove was as follows: 1, German band ; 2, marlial music ;
3, First German Artillerists; 4, Vice President of the United States and Governor
of Ohio; 5, Members of Congress and other invited guests; 6, Second German
Artillerists; 7, Columbus Lancers; 8, officers of the day, in carriages; 9, Revo-
lutionarj' soldiers and sailors, and soldiers of the last war, in carriages; 10, Com-
mittee of Arrangements ; 11, strangers from other counties ; 12, citizens on foot ;
13, citizens in carriages; 14, citizens on horseback. The procession formed on
High Street, with its right resting on Broad. At the grove. Vice President
Johnson was welcomed by John A. Biyan, Esq., and delivered an address.
Additional speeches wei-e made by Governor Shannon and Hon. William Allen.
At a Democratic meeting held at the Old Courthouse September 1, -PiiWf
Bruck was chairman, George Kraus vice chairman and Jacob Reinhard secre-
tary. Eesolutions favoring Van Buren and Johnson were adopted.
An antislaveiy convention was held in the city sometime during the year, but
was carefully ignored by the local press. Its date and proceedings therefore can-
not be given.
A body styling itself the Jackson Reform True American Association issued an
address, in July, signed by about 150 names, accusing President Van Buren of
gross abuse of his patronage, and appealing to the " original Jackson men " to
oppose his reelection.
General Harrison, candidate for the Presidencj', arrived in Columbus, unex-
pectedly, during one of the early days in June, and alighted at the National Hotel,
where he was visited by many citizens. To the calls of the crowd which a.sserabled
outside he responded in reply to various personal calumnies. At ten o'clock on a
Saturday morning he quitted Columbus en route to Fort Meigs and was escorted
for some miles by a cavalcade of citizens, led by the Mayor, who on taking leave
made a brief address to which the General responded. Before reaching Worth-
ington he was met by an escort of mounted men from that place, with sprigs of
buckeye attached to the bridles of their horses. From Worthingtou, where he was
enthusiastically received, he proceeded to Delaware, whence, after remaining over
Sunday, he continued his journey to Sandusky. In October General Harrison
f/^
Political Events; 1840-1848. 391
again arrivod in Columbus, and remained some days before iiroceeding to his
home at North Bend.
Hon. John Tyler, candidate for the Vice Presidenej', arrived in the city Sep-
tember 24, anil was welcomed by the Mayor, to whose address he responded, it
was stated, " in a most aide and feeling manner, amid the cheers and shouts of an
admiring and jiiUriotic people." On the next day following, he was present at and
addressed a socalled Jackson reform convention at which General Resin Beall
presided. Additional speeches were delivered by Governor Wiekliffe, of Kentucky,
General Murphy, of Chillicothc, and Mr. Silliraan of Wooster. On the evening of
Deecmbcr 5 the Whigs throughout the city illuminated their houses in honor of
Harrison's election. A congratulatory address was issued about the same time by
tlic Whig State Central Committee, the members of which were Alfred Kelley, N. M.
Miller, P. Stewart, 11. Neil, J. W. Andrews, Lyne Starling, Junior, O. PoUett and
Lewis Heyl.
1841.
On April 4 the death of President Harrison, which occurred on that date,
was announced by Daniel Webster and other members of the cabinet. On
the evening of the seventh a meeting of citizens was held at the Statehouse to
express regrets and condolences. Alfred Kelley was chairman, Joseph Eidgway,
Senior, and Noah H. Swayne vice chairmen ; John Sloane and A. S. Chew secreta-
ries; and William B. Hubbard, Doctor Eobert Thompson and John Sloane mem-
bers ot a committee to prepare resolutions. The meeting was addressed by Hon.
James T. Morchead, National Senator from Kentucky. The resolutions adopted
were expressive of deep sorrow ; also of confidence in Vice President Tyler. A
committee to select a suitable person to deliver a eulogy on the late President was
appointed.
On April 24 a meeting of the Second Brigade, Seventh Division of tiie Ohio
militia, was held at Military Hall, and a funeral procession in honor of the deceased
President was resolved upon. General J. C. Eeynolds was appointed chief mar-
shal, and Major W. P. Sanderson assistant. Colonels James Dalzell and Jesse Hoj't
and Captains Wray Thomas and N. B. Kelley were selected as special aides. Colo-
nel S. Cutler and Majors W. F. Sanderson and H. Daniels were appointed as a
committee of arrangements. General William J. Reese, of Lancaster, was invited
to deliver an oration. The funeral procession was arranged to take place on Fri-
day, May 21, according to the following j^rogramme:
Business to be suspended and buildings dressed in mourning. No banner bear-
ing any political device or inscription to be permitted. The firebells to be tolled
during the procession. The ceremonies of the day to be : 1, prayer; 2, funeral
oration by General Reese; 3, requiem, by the Musical Association; 4, prayer;
firing of three volleys by the military escort. The procession was to be formed
at ten a. m. on High Street, right resting on Broad and column extending south in
the following order :
392 History of the City of Columbus!.
Chief marshal and aids ; militar)' escort, consisting of Colonel S. Cutler's regiment of
cavalry ; orator of the daj' and officiating clergyman in an open barouche ; the Rev. clergy in
carriages ; Assistant Marshal, Major W . F. Sanderson ; Columbus City Band, Columbus
Guards; First German Band; Captain Frankenburgh's Company of Light Artillery; Second
German Band; Captain O. Jacobs's Company of Light Artillery; funeral car drawn by six
horses; horse caparisoned and led by a groom; pallbearers in carriages; Captain Merlon's
Company of Executive Horse Guards will be posted on the right and left flanks as a guard of
honor. Captain Beach's Company of Washington Guards. Captain Steel's Company of
Reynoldsburg Guards. First Rifle Regiment under the command of Colonel Edward Slocum.
Governor of Ohio and ofllcers of State in carriages; Senators and members of the legislature
in Ohio; oflicers and soldiers of the Revolution ; officers and soldiers of the last war ; Mayor
and members of the City Council and officers of the corporation ; judges of the several courts ;
officers and members of the bar and students at law; members of the Medical Faculty and
students of medicine; members of the Franklin Literary and Scientific Institute : members
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Columbus Typographical Society; mem-
bers of the Young Men's Library Association ; Society of Ancient Britons ; members of
the Young Men's Lyceum ; members of the Mechanics' Benevolent Association ; members of
the Fire Departmrnt of the city of Columbus; members of the several temperance societies ;
citizens of the city of Columbus and strangers who may wish to join in the procession ;
Columbus butchers, mounted; citizens from the country, mounted. The procession will
march at ten o'clock precisely. The direction will be up Broad to Third, up Third to Rich,
up Rich to High, up High to State, down State to the First Presbyterian Church where the
funeral ceremonies will take place. The military escort will be halted in front of the church
and receive the civic procession with the highest military honors. The gallery of the church
will be reserved for the military. After the ceremonies shall have been concluded, the pro-
cession will be again formed and march up State to High Street at which point the proces-
sion will be dismissed.
The ceremonies and parade took place in accordance with this arrangement
except that the members of the Typographical Society and the Mechanics' Band
quitted the procession and refused to march in it because of being assigned to a
place behind the carriages where they would have been " nearly suifocated with
dust." The remains of General Harrison were not brought to Columbus.
They arrived at Cincinnati July 5, whence they were taken to the place of inter-
ment at North Bend, the Columbus Guards forming a part of the escort, as already
narrated.
The veto of the United States bank bill by President Tyler produced a great
deal of disappointment and bitter feeling among his supporters of the Whig party.
In Columbus a large number of them held a public meeting at the Markethouse
and passed resolutions condemnatory of Tyler's action. The chairman of this
meeting was J. A. Lazell ; its secretaries were H. Wood and C. H. Wing. Its
resolutions were reported by Joseph Eidgway, H. Wood, N. H. Swayne, J. A. La-
zell and Captain Duffy. A small meeting of administration Whigs held about the
same time — William Neil chairman and Eobert Ware secretary — passed resolu-
tions deprecating criticism of the veto ; but this assembly was immediately followed
by another and much larger one which gave expression to opposite sentiments.
At a meeting of " friends of the veto " held August 20 Jacob Hare was chairman
and Henry Rod ter secretary. At a meeting held in the Markethouse September
25 — Colonel James Kilbourn chairman, and Wray Thomas and James O'Kane
Political Events; 1840-184S. 393
resolutions reported by Alfred Kelley, Noah H. Swayne, John
W. Andrews and others, were adopted, denouncing Tyler's vetoes, favoring a sound
state bank and recommending that a convention of Western and Southern States
be held to consider the deranged state of the currency then existing. The mem-
bers of the Democratic State Central Committee in 1841 wore Bela Latham,
William Trevitt, A. G. Hibbs, A. McElvain and S. Medary. In June a Clay Club
was organized with oflSeers as follows : President, Horatio Wood ; Vice Presidents,
Benjamin Blake and Abram Stotts ; Secretaries, Thomas Y. Miles and John
A. Lazell.
1842.
On July 25 the General .\ssemblj- convened in extra session pursuant to
adjournment in March of that year. Primarily this extra session was held for
the purpose of reapportionment of the congressional districts; secondarily, to
provide relief for canal contractors and laborers; and for the protection of
debtors against the summary execution and sale of their property during
the monetary distress then prevailing. A reapportionment bill reported by
T. W. Bartley passed the Senate and on August 11 was to have been put
upon its passage in the House, but during the preliminary proceedings of that
date nearly all the Whig Senators and Representatives filed their resignations,
leaving both houses without a quorum.' The resigning "Whigs then issued an
address to the people of the State denouncing the reapportionment measure as
an attempted gerrymander which "disarmed the people " and "broke down the
power of the ballotbox by enabling the few to rule and ruin the many." This
summary action produced great excitement. During the evening of the eleventh
a meeting of Democrats to denounce the course of the seceders was held at the
Markethouse, while the Whigs, assembled in front of the Statehouse, were pass-
ing resolutions denouncing the reapportionment bill as a measure "devised for
the express purpose of stifling and suppressing the true voice of the people of
Ohio by such a partial, unfair and unconstitutional arrangement of counties in the
formation of the several districts as to enable a minority of the voters to elect a
large majority of Representatives in Congress." The chairman of the Democratic
meeting was David T. Disney, of Hamilton County; the secretary, C. B. Flood ;
the principal speakers, Allen G. Thurman of Ross, and Ehvood Fisher, of Hamil-
ton. At the Whig meeting speeches were made by Messrs. Wade, Root, Clarke
and Powell of the General Assembly; Judge Wright, of Cincinnati; and Alfred
Kelley, of Columbus. On the thirteentii, James J. Faran, Speaker of the Senate,
wrote to Governor Corwin stating that thirteen Senators had resigned and inquir-
ing whether he considered the resignations as creating vacancies, and if so whether
he would order such vacancies to be tilled by special elections. The Governor
replied that in the absence of a quorum all that either house could do was to com-
pel the attendance of absent members, and that the question whelher there were
such absentees was one for each body to determine for itself An effort w:is mean-
while made bv the partisans of the apportionment to compel attendance of the
394 History of the City of Columbds.
seceders, but without avail. The General Assembly was therefore practically dis-
solved and both Whigs and Democrats quietly dispersed to their homes.
In its phillippics against the seceders the Ohio Statesman charged that while
the legislative officers were endeavoring to serve warrants on the recusant mem-
bers, they were " followed around the streets by a tumultuous and disorderly
multitude," and were grossly' insulted. In a politic:il speech Speaker Faran also
made this accusation, and added : " If the legitimate orders of either branch
directed to the proper officer cannot be executed without the officer being insulted
by a mob, it is high time to inquire whether another place should not be selected
for the seat of government. This will have to be determined by a future legisla-
ture." The removal of the capital from Columbus having already been seriously
threatened, as narrated in a preceding chapter, these declarations were at
once met by an investigation by a committee appointed at a meeting of citizens held
for that purpose. The members of this committee were J. R. Swan, Francis Stew-
art, W. B. Hubbard, P. B. Wilcox, A. F. Perry, Moses Jewett and S. E. Wright.
A searching inquiry was made by these gentlemen, and on September 20, a public
meeting was held at the Engine House for the purpose of receiving their report.
D. W. Deshler was chairman of this meeting and William Dennison secretary.
After narrating the events which followed the legislative secession the commit-
tee reported as its conclusion from investigation of the facts that '' not only was
there no mob on the occasion alluded to but there was really no disrespect
intended or offered by any citizen to any member of t'le legislature, or to any of
its officers.
The Democratic State Convention of this year was held January 8, and again
nominated Hon. William Shannon for Governor. The Whig convention took
place February 11. Its president, as the chairman of such a body was then called,
was General Joseph Vance, of Champaign. An account of it says:' "A little
before twelve the convention assembled in the street in front of the Neil House, a
stage having been erected for the accommodation of the officers and speakers on
the sidewalk, near the Old Courthouse."' Among the speakers were Messrs.
Cook of Erie, White of Licking, SchenQk of Montgomerj', Nash of Gallia and
Bingham of Harrison. Governor Corwin was renominated and the following
State Centi-al Committee was appointed : Joseph Eidgway, Junior, Samuel Z.
Seltzer, John A. Lazell, John Greenwood, Lewis Heyl, A. F. Perry and C. H.
Wing. The anniversary of Washington's birth was celebrated the same day b}' a
military parade marshalled by Major W. F. Sanderson, assisted by C. Runyon of
Columbus, Andrew McAlpin of Cincinnati and Samuel R. Curtis, of McConnells-
ville. The civic procession, it was stated, was " escorted by the two splendid com-
panies of German Artillery," commanded b}^ Captains Jacobs and Ambos, and
"moved through the principal streets of the city with flags and banners and
accompanied by the excellent bands from Cadiz, Harrison County, McConnells-
ville, Morgan County, and Circleville, Pickaway County."
The Freesoilers held their convention at Mt. Vernon in June. Their rela-
tion to the current politics of the time is indicated by the following comment in
the Ohio State Journal : " Of the two great political j^arties into which the country
PoLiTicAi- Events; 1840-1848. 395
is divided they [the antislaveiy men] receive something allied to pity from the
one and the scorn and contempt of the other. And thns related they assume the
attitude of armed neutrals."
Ill dei'ision of the proposed gerrymander, the Whig newspapers were illus-
tralod with drawings in which the general outlines of the congressional districts
as bounded by the defeated bill were converted into monsters of terrific form.
Nevertiieless the dissolution of the General Assembly, by withdi-awal of the Whig
members, in order to defeat this measure, did not produce the effect intended.
Shannon was elected Governor over Gorwin and a General Assembly was returned
which reelected John Brough, then a Democrat, as Auditor of State. In exulta-
tion over the success of its part}', the Ohio Statesman displayed a comic illustra-
tion representing Messrs. Corwin, Kelley, Ewing, Wright and Powell en route to
"Salt Kiver," and jeered its political antagonists with these rasping suggestions :
Banks is obsolete,
Coons is obsoleter ;
Cider some thinks sweet
But vinegar's more sweeter.
The votes cast for Leicester King, the Freesoil candidate for Governor, num-
bered 5.134, and would have elected Corwin had he received them.
On December 10 the General Assembly convened in joint session to count the
vote for Governor, and declared Mr. Shannon elected. On December 15 the
retiring Governor, Mr. Corwin, was given a complimentary banquet by some hun-
dreds of his friends at the Neil House.
1843.
A banquet in honor of the twentyeighth anniversary of the battle of New
Orleans took place at the American House on the evening of the ninth, Samuel
Medary presided. Among the speakers were John Brough, Jacob Reinhard, S.
Medary, T. W. Bartley, E. B. Olds, R. P. 'Spalding and Senator Walton. Music
was furnished between the toasts by the "Columbus City German Bra.ss Band."
On February 11 a meeting in behalf of a bill pending in Congress providing
for the settlement of Oregon Territory was held at the Council Chamber, P. H.
Olmsted presiding. Samuel Medary, William B. Hubbard, J. W. Millig.in, N. B.
Kelly, Joseph Leiby and M.J. Gilbert were appointed a committee "to collect
information concerning the said territory of Oregon," and reported to a subse-
quent meeting held at the United States Court House, February 16. At a second
atljounied meeting held March 11 an address was delivered by General Thomas
Worthington, of Hocking County, and a committee was appointed to correspond
with other States favorable to immediate occupation of Oregon, with refercnco to
"holding a Western Convention on the subject."
On June 1 a political meeting held at the Old Courthouse, Xatiianiel Harris,
chairman, adopted a platform of pi'inciples which declared that the people were
tired of the endless embarrassments resulting from the absence of a sound cur-
396 History ov the City of Columbus.
rency ; denounced all political parties as then organized; favored " a judicious
tariff;" opposed new undertakings of public improvements; demanded tlie
reduction of official salaries ; ojjposed secret jjolitical caucuses, and resolved that
the " friends of the meeting style themselves Republicans." Thompson Bull, Tru-
m.in Sheats, Samuel Kinnear, M. J. Gilbert, Doctor Richej- and JSathaniel Harris
were ap]}ointed a committee to prepare an address.
1844.
The Democratic State Convention of this year met at the City Hall January
8. Its chairman was William Medill ; its secretaries, Thomas J. Gallagher of
Hamilton, and Jonathan D. Morris, of Clermont. Its declaration of principles
was reported by Allen G. Thurman of Ross. David Tod, of Trumbull, was nom-
inated for Governor, and addressed the convention. One of the conspicuous dele-
gates was John Brough. Presidential electors were nominated and delegates
were appointed to represent the Ohio Democracy in the National Convention to
be held at Baltimore the ensuing May.
The Ohio Democracy celebrated the Eighth of January of this j-ear by a
banquet at the American House. Hon. David T. Disney presided, and the toasts,
of which there was a large number, were read by Colonel B. B. Taylor and
Allen G. Thurman, E. P. Spalding, T. J. Gallagher and Messrs. Taylor and Piatt
were prominent among the sjieakers. On January 9 the Juvenile Hickory Club
met at the Council Chamber and elected the following officers: President,
J. Doherty; Vice President, J. A. Markland ; Secretaries, George H. Warren and
R. H. Thompson. An "Irish repeal meeting" held at the Representatives'
Chamber January 10, w:is addressed by Thomas J. Gallagher and Patrick Collins.
In a correspondence of February 8, with Messrs. Reinhard & Fieser, publishers of
the Westbote, Hon. Thomas Ewing deprecated the organization of " native
American societies." On Februarj- 19, it was stated, "a large and enthusiastic
meeting of the citizens of Ohio " then " in the capital," was held at the house of
General E. Gale for " congratulating each other and the country on the passage of
the act to refund to General Andrew Jackson the fine imposed on him by a vin-
dictive federal judge for declaring martial law at New Orleans when necessary for
the defense of the city and the j^rotection of the ' bootj' and beauty ' from the
sacriligious hands of a mercenary soldiery." A dinner was spread and numerous
toasts were proposed and responded to. Hon. Jacob Reinhard was a member of
the committee on resolutions. An additional "Oregon meeting" was held
February 23 at the (Jity Hall for the purpose of pronouncing resistance to " the
groundless pretentions of England," and reiterating the " nobly American
declai-ation " of President Monroe in 1823 that "the American continents were
not thenceforth to be considered subjects of colonization by any European power."
On January 2 announcement was made of a meeting of " liberty men of
Columbun and from other parts of the State" at the City Hall, The call, after
stating that the meeting would be addressed by "Judge King, of Trumbull
Political Events; 1840-18-48 397
County, and S. P. Chase, of Hamilton County," continued: "All true friends of
equal rights and impartial justice ; all sincere haters ol aristoerac3' and ilespoti.sm ;
all who wish to understand the principles and objects, and be informed as to the
prospects of the Revived Libert}^ Party ol' 1771), are invited to attend." On
February 4 a " State Liberty Convention," J. 11. Pavne president, was held at the
City Hall.
The Whig Slate Convention, held in Janiiar}-, Thomas Corwin, President,
nominated David Spangler, of Coshocton, for Governor, and Thomas Corwin and
Peter Hitchcock for " Senatorial electors." The " Senatorial delegates " a])])ointed
to the National Convention were Jeremiah Morrow and Seabury Ford. The
members of the State Central Committee appointed were Joseph Ridgway, John
A. Lazell, Francis Stewart, William Armstrong, Robert Neil, Lewis Heyl, Charles
F. Wing, James L. Bates and C. F. vSehenck. For " private and professional con-
cerns" David Spangler declined the nomination for Governor, and a State Con-
vention to nominate a candidate in his stead was held at the City Hall February
22. At this meeting Hon. Thomas Corwin presided, iind Messrs. William Bebb,
Bellamy Storer and John M. Gallagher were a]jpoinied a committee on resolutions.
A committee comprised of seven delegates from each congi'ossional district was
appointed to recommend a nomination fjr the office of Governor and named
Mordecai Barlley, of Richland County, who was nominated. In April Governor
Shannon resigned to accept appointment as Minister to Mexico, and was suc-
ceeded as Governor by Thomas W. Bartlej', speaker of the Senate.
The National Whig Convention — Hon. Ambrose Spencer of New York, chair-
man— met in Baltimore May 1 and nominated flenry Clay, of Kentucky, for
President, and Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, for Vice President. On
May 7 these nominations were ratified by a Whig meeting at the "New Club
House" of the Clay Club. The speakers at this meeting were Hon. Alfred Kelley,
one of the delegates to the Baltimore Convention; and E. M. ^. Spencer, of
Albany, New York.
Political mass meetings were appointed by the central committees of this year
in every county of the State. Polk and Clay balls were among the local phenom-
ena of the canvass. Barbecues and poleraisings were common. A " brig" called
Harry of the West was fitted up, chiefly at the e!cpense of John M. Kerr, of Colum-
bus, and made numerous "cruises," on wheels, through Central Ohio. Her "gal-
lant crew," we are told, sang some cajJtivating songs. A debate on the political
issues of the day" took place at the Markethou.se June 29 between Alfred Kelley
and John Brough. A mass meeting held by the Whigs at Columbus in September
was addressed by Messrs. Bartley, Bebb, Delano, Bwing, Storer, Corwin and Van
Trump; chairman. Captain Buckley Comstock. The edibles and drinkables con-
sumed at a free dinner spread for the occasion in Stewart's Grove were circum-
stantially enumerated as follows: "1,400 weight of ham; 5,700 pounds of beef,
mutton and pork; 2,] (10 loaves of bread; SOO |nes; 300 pound of cheese; 10 bar-
rels of cider ; 4 wagonloads ol ap]des ; and 25 barrels of water, with a large num.
ber of chickens, ducks, &c., ttc, occupjing some 1,700 feet of table in the grove."
Hon. Thomas L. Hamer addressed a Democratic meeting at the Markethouse Sep-
398 History or the City op Columbus.
teinber 17. Another meeting held by the Democrats September 23 was addressed
by General Lewis Cass, Hon. T. L. Hamer and G. Melville, of New York. A
torchlight procession took place in the evening. The Clay Club was addressed by
Governor Metealf, of Kentucky, September 20, and by General O. Hinton, of Dela-
ware, Ohio, October 1. A Whig meeting and torchlight procession took place
October 23. Hon. James K. Polk was elected President, but the Whigs carried
Ohio, and their candidate Mordecai Bartley, was inaugurated as Governor in
December. On December 5 Thomas Corvvin was chosen United States Senator by
sixty votes to fortysix cast for David T. Disney. The Whig State Central Com-
mittee of 1844 comprised the following members: J. Ridgway, E. Neil, John A.
Lazell, Francis Stewart, C. P. Schonck, William Armstrong, James L. Bates, Wil-
liam Dennison, Charles H. Wing and Lewis Heyl.
1845.
The Democracy celebrated the Eighth of January this year with much cir-
cumstance. Thirteen artillery discharges were fired at sunrise, twentysix at noon
and one hundred more during the day. A mass meeting at which Samuel Medary
presided was held in front of the TJnited State Courthouse, and thence, after a
brief address by the chairman, adjourned to the Capitol Square where a free din-
ner was spread. The farmers had bi-ought in extensive supplies for the occasion,
including whole beeves and pigs, and poultry by the wagonload. After the dinner
an oration was delivered by Hon. David T. Disney, of Cincinnati. The festivities
were continued in the evening at the American House, where Hon. Thomas W.
Bartley presided and thirteen regular toasts, followed by an appalling number of
volunteer ones, were proposed and drunk.
The Democratic State Convention was held July 4, at the United States Court-
house ; Hon. Benjamin Tappan, of Jefferson County, chairman. The resolutions
adopted deplored the death_ of Andrew Jackson, and eulogized his character and
services. Jacob Reinhard, A. Chittenden, S. D. Preston and William Trevitt
were appointed members of the State Central Committee. At a Democratic din-
ner in honor of the Fourth of July, at the American House, Hon. William Allen
presided. Many toasts were proposed and responded to. On December 6 a
Democratic meeting was held at the United States Courthouse " to respond to the
able and patriotic message of the Pi-esident" (Polk), which had just been received.
Resolutions were adopted at this meeting approving Mr. Polk's declarations in
favor of taking "possession of Oregon from California to the Russian territory ;"
his views as to the annexation of Texas; his plan of "preemptions and gradu-
ations .... to protect the hardy and brave pioneers of the West,' and his
recommendation of a modification of the tariff. Among the speakers were A. P.
Stone, T. J. Gallagher and S. Medar^-. James H. Bwing of Cincinnati, vvas chair-
man of the meeting; Matthias Martin and Clement L. Valhindigham were its
secretaries.
Political Events; 1840-1S4S. :',9n
A Whig convention wiis hold in the Eiickeyc Buildiiiics I'Vliriuiiy •_'4 Mini
appointed a State Central Committee, as follows; Jo-ihua Mariin, of (4i-ucno,. chair-
man ; T. W. Powell, of Delaware, secretary ; John A. Lazoll, O. Follolt, Lewis
Heyl and John B. Thompson, of Columbus A Liberty Men's Convention for
Franklin and Madison counties was held at the Clinton Township Methodist
Church in September. W. G. Graham was chairman and W. B. Jarvis secretary.
A county ticket for Franklin County was nominated.
184G.
The Democratic State Convention was held January 8. Samuel Medary was
its chairman ; George W. Morgan and Joel Buttles were its secretaries. David
Tod was nominated for Governor and William Trevitt, Jacob Medary, Jacob Rein-
hard, William F. Sanderson and A. P. Stone were appointed members of the State
Central Committee. A banquet in honor of the New Orleans battle took place at
the American House. John B. Weller presided ; among the speakers were Benja-
min Tappan and C. L. Vallandigham.'" A Democratic Young Men's Convention
was held January 9 at the United States Courthouse. F. M. Stanton of Jefferson
County, called the meeting to order, John B Weller presided, and Matthias Martin
was appointed secretary. A committee of one member from each congressional
district was appointed to organize the State. The resolutions adopted endorsed
the candidacy of David Tod, called upon the young men of Ohio to enlist in the
war against paper currency and corporate wealth, and enjoined the young Demo-
crats ol the State " to embody the arguments against banks and paper money in
written lectures" for publication. E. M. Stanton being called upon to speak
" addressed the meeting at some length in an eloquent manner. " A Hickory Club,
with Elias Gaver as chairman, was organized at the Old Courthouse January 17.
Hon. Allen G. Thurman delivered a speech on the "Oregon question" in Congress
January 28.
The Whig State Convention assembled at the Clay Club Hall February 4,
Joshua Mathiot of Licking, presiding. The first ballot on nomination for Governor
resulted: William Bebb, of Butler, 111; Jame^ Collier, of Jciferson, UO ; David
Fisher, of Clermont, 39 ; Benjamin F. Wade, of Ashtabula, 36; David Chambers,
of Muskingum, 11 ; Benjamin S. Cowen, of Belmont, 13 ; Calvary Morris, of Ath-
ens, 9. Mr. Bebb was nominated on the second ballot. A Whig Young Men's
Ratifying Convention was held at the same place in the evening, John Teesdale,
of Franklin County presiding. Bebb's nomination was endorsed. The members
of the Whig State Central Committee a])pointed for this year were John A. Lazell,
Joseph Ridgway, J. B. Thompson, Joseph SuUivant, James L. Bates and L. Curtis.
A Whig mass meeting held ii\ the Capitol Square August 4 was addressed by
Thomas Ewing and Ranuul (ialloway. Joseph Ridgway presided. Another
meeting, of the same party, held at the Markethouse September 25 was addressed
by William Bebb, William Dennison and Columbus Delano. The vote for Sam-
uel Lewis, Liberty candidate for Governor this year, was 8,898.
History of the City of Columbus.
1847.
On January 2 the General Assembly sitting in joint convention elected
Samuel Galloway as Secretary of State, Albert A. Bliss as Treasurer of State and
Edward Avery as Judge of the Supreme Court. On January 8 the Democracy held
their usual annual banquet at the American House. The president of the occasion
was Colonel Douty Utter ; the vice presidents were John L. Cock, J. P. Bruck, James
H. Ewing and Elias Gaver. An oration was delivered by B. B. Taylor and res-
ponses to toasts were made by N. C. Eead, S. Medary. C. L. Vallandigham, George
E. Pugh, Charles Eeemelin, B. F. Metcalfe and A. P. Edgarton. The Democratic
Central Committeemen for the year were Edwin M. Stanton, J. W. McCorkle,
J. Eeinhard, A. P. Stone and ThomSs Sparrow. The Whig committeemen were
John A. Lazell, Lewis Heyl, Joseph Eidgway, James L. Bates, Joseph Sullivant,
J. B. Thompson and Lanson Curtis. On November 27 Ex-Governor Thomas
W. Biirlley addressed a large Democratic mass meeting at the Old Courthouse in
vindication of the Mexican War.
On March 27 Daniel Webster, then about to journey from Washington to Xew
Orleans, was invited by several hundred citizens to visit Columbus on his return
from the South. Mr. Webster replied that he hoped to arrive at the capital of Ohio
about the last of May, and preparations were made to receive him, but illness
obliged him to return to New York by another route.
A National Convention to take action in behalf of public improvements in
the West was held at Chicago beginning July 5. Eighteen States were represented
in this assembly by about ten thousand of their citizens. Edward Bates, of
Missouri presided; Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, was one of the secretaries. The
following delegates were appointed in June to represent Columbus : Joel Buttles,
Peter Hayden, William Bebb, A. S. Chew, John S. Wood, J. VV. Andrews, Samuel
Galloway, W. B. Hubbard, A. A. Bliss, A. P. Stone, A. B. Buttles, William Denni-
8on, W. S. Sullivant, N. Tallmadge and J. M. Butterfield. The convention adopted
resolutions demanding the improvement of western waterways by application of
national revenues.
1848.
The Democratic State Convention was held in a large hall in the Statesman
building January 8. The candidates before it for the nomination for Governor
were John B. Weller, Eeubeii Wood, Emory D. Potter, P. B. Lowe, Douty Utter,
William C. Walton, W. Lawrence and A. Duncan. Weller was nominated. A.
socalled Committee of Public Safety was appointed, comprising one member from
each congressional district. The platform of principles adopted was reported by
Allen G. Thurman, of Eoss. The resolutions demanded that the Governor should
convene the General Assembly to pass an apportionment law, denounced the Whig
apportionment and favored the appointment of a Committee of Public
One of the resolutions adopted read as follows :
^^ ^ .9cryu^jCC
Political Events; 1840-184S. 401
That the people of Ohio now, as they have always done, look upon the institution of
slavery in any part of the Union, as an evil and unfavorable to the full development of the
spirit and practical benefits of free institutions; and that entertaining these sentiments they
will, at all times, feel it to be their duty to use all power clearly given by the terms of the
national compact, to prevent its increase, and to mitigate and finally eradicate the evil.n
A committee was appointed to issue an address to the people. The usual
annual banquet in honor of Andrew Jackson and his New Orleans victory was held
at the American House, Alexander Duncan presiding. The principal table speakers
were George W. Morgan, Reuben Wood, Alexander Duncan, S. Medary, LeGrand
Byington, E. B. Olds, C!. L. Vallandigham and N. C. Read. A convention of
Democratic editors was held at the American House, January 10, Samuel Medary
presiding. A Democratic supper took place at the American House February 22,
E. Gaver presiding. Democratic State Central Committee: E. Gale, John Wal-
ton, S. D. Preston, Jacob Reinhard, H. Rodter, F. W. Thornhill and William Has-
kins. The Democratic National Convention convened at Baltimore, May 22;
Andrew Stevenson, of Virginia, chairman. Its nominees were, Lewis Cass, of
Michigan, for President, and William O. Butler, of Kentucky, for Vice President.
The Whig State Convention assembled in the Capitol Square in January,
Allen Trimble presiding. The candidates before it for the nomination for Gover-
nor were James Collier, Columbus Delano, Seabury Ford, W. P. Cutler, H. Gris-
wold, H. Ramage, G. Sanderson, J. Ridgway, Senior, S. Mason and B. Florence.
Seabury Ford, of Geauga County, was nominated. Central Committee appointed;
Joseph Ridgway, Senior, John A. Lazell, Horace Lathrop, John B. Thompson,
Lewis Heyl, Lorenzo English, and A. H. Pinney, Franklin; James T. Worthing-
ton, of Madison; James R. Stanbery, Licking; Samson Mason, Clark; John
Cochran, Pickaway ; and Sherman Fi^nch, Delaware. Joseph Vance and John
Sloane were appointed delegates-at-large to the Whig National Convention. A
convention of Whig editors met on the same date, James Wilson, of Jefferson
County presiding. A Whig supper, Governor Bebb presiding, took place February
22, at the United Slates Hotel. Toasts in prodigious number were proposed and
responded to, and Colonel James Kilbourn sang some political songs. The Whig
National nominees this year wore Zachary Taylor for President and Millard Pill-
more for vice president. The National Convention was hold at Philadelphia,
beginning June 7, Bx-Governor J. M. Morehead, of North Carolina presiding.
John Sherman was one of the secretaries. The nominations of Taylor and Fill-
more were celebrated in Columbus, June 9, with bonfires, rockets, fireballs, music
and illumination. A Rough and Ready club was organized at the Council Cham-
ber June 14. On June 22, Martin VanBuren was nominated for the Presidency
by the Free Democracy (socalled Barnburners) in National Convention at TJtica,
New York. A " Free Territory, Free Labor and Free Soil League " for Franklin
County was organized July 5, at the Council Chamber, J. H. Purdy, chairman.
Mr. Westwater reported resolutions, which were adopted. A Whig meeting held
at the Markethouse July 21, was addressed by Thomas Bwing and Timothj' Wal-
ker. Salmon P. Chase addressed a meeting in Truro Township July 25. A Whig
402 History op the City of Columbus.
meeting at the Old Courthouse October 18, was addressed by R. C. Sehenck. John
VanBuren delivered a political address in the Eepresentatives' Chamber October
20. David Smith, a Columbus journalist, presided at this meeting. On Novem-
ber 16, the Whigs "jollified " over Taylor's election to the Presidencj'. " Most of
the Whig stores and several dwellings, the Neil House and the United States
House,'' saj's an account of the occasion, " were illuminated ; the boysblowed tin-
horns and made bonfires and John Kinney let off his fireworks. '
On the occasion of the death of John Quincy Adams a meeting of citizens was
held at the Council Chamber March 1 for the the purpose of attesting appreciation
of the character and public services of that eminent man. The chairman of the
meeting was Joseph Ridgway, its secretary Eli T. Tappan. A committee was
appointed which arranged for a public eulogy upon the life and character of Mr.
Adams, to be delivered April 8 by Aaron P. Perry.
A Liberty and Free Territory Convention held at the Old Courthouse June 19,
Doctor J. P. Kirtland presiding, was addressed by S. P. Chase, James Birney and
othei-s. About 150 persons were present. A Free Soil State Convention in which
S. P. Chase, W. B. Jarvis and B. S. Cowen took part, held sittings in Columbus
December 29 and 30. The resolutions adopted advised independence of both the
old parties, distrusted the increase of corporations, favored a tenhours labor law,
demanded repeal of the black laws and revision of the State Constitution, and
declared for free soil, free speech, free labor and free men. Samuel M. Smith,
E. T. Tappan, J. M. Westwater, J. C. Vaughan and James M. Briggs were
appointed to serve the party as a State Central Committee.
NOTES.
1. Dated at North Bend, December 111, 1839.
2. To Hon. Harmar Denny, of Pittsburgh.
.'). Mr. Greiner's career has been sketched in the history of the Press, of which he was
a conspicuous member.
4. Ryan's History of Ohio. Another account states that the log cabin and hard cider
ideas took their cue from the Washington correspondence of the Baltimore Republican — a
Van Buren paper — and that the language used was this : " Give him [Harrison] a harrel of
hard cider and settle [on him] a pension of two thousand a year, and our word for it he will
sit the remainder of his days contented in a log cabin."
5. Ohio Slate Journal.
6. The name Democrat first came into use as the designation of a national party when
adopted by the Jacksonians in 1828 in lieu of the word Republican by which they had been
previously entitled. The supporters of Adams styled themselves National Republicans. The
name Whig was not assumed by the old National Republican party until 1834, and is said to
have been first used at the charter election of that year in New York City.
7. Tlie resigning Senators were : Seabury Ford, Geauga ; James H. Godman, Marion ,
Simeon Nash, Gallia ; Joseph M. Root, Huron ; Benjamin Stanton, Logan ; William I. Thomas
Miami; A. Van Vorhes. Athens; Benjamin F. Wade, Ashtabula; Alexander Waddle, Clark;
Joseph Barnett, Montgomery; James S. Carpenter, Medina; John Crowell, Trumbull;
Chauncey Dewey, Harrison ; James Henderson, Muskingum ; Elisha N. Sill, Summit.
Political Events ; 1840-1848. 403
Representatives; J. B. Ackley, Meigs; A. A. Bliss, Lorain ; T. G. Brown, Guernsey;
Charles Bowen, Muskingnm ; David Chambers, Muskingum ; Joseph Chenoweth, Franklin ;
Reeder W.Clarke, Clermont; John P. Converse, Geauga ; Eleutheros Cooke, Erie ; Gideon
Dunham, Brown ; Stephen Evans, Clinton ; John Fudge, Greene ; Simeon Fuller, Lake ;
Isaac H. Gard, Darke; Moses Gregory, Scioto; J. S.Hawkins, Preble; Thomas M. Kelley,
Cuyahoga ; William C. Lawrence, Union ; Nathaniel Medbery, Franklin ; W. B. McCrea,
Champaign; Joseph Olds, Pickaway; Simon Perkins, Summit; Thomas W. Powell, Dela-
ware ; John Probasco, Warren ; Robert C. Schenck, Montgomery ; S. H. Smith, Montgomery ;
John V. Smith, Highland; Jason Streator, Portage; Josiah Scott, Harrison; S. F. Taylor,
Ashtabula; Stephen Titus, Meigs; Joseph Updegraff, Shelby; Lorenzo Warner, Medina;
Stephen M. Wheeler, Clark.
8. Ohio State Journal.
9. The United States Court building was then so designated.
10. Then a member of the General Assembly from Columbiana County.
11. This resolution was drawn by Hon. Norton S. Townshend who, though not a Demo-
crat, had been invited to attend the Democratic Convention. The Committee on Resolutions
at first rejected this " plank," but finally, to Doctor Townshend's surprise, accepted it, and
it was reported to and adopted by the Convention, as stated.
CHAPTER XXV.
POLITICAL EVENTS; 1849-1853.
The legislative deadlock in which the General Assembly became involved
during its session of 1848-9 was not only a unique event, bearing a close relation
to the history of Columbus, but an episode of farreaching consequences both to
State and National politics. By means of tlie factional contentions which pro-
duced it and the party helplessness in which it resulted, a few resolute, farseeing
men, with no party following, but a firm sense of justice, were able to force con-
cessions and compel legislation which neither of the predominant political parties
then existing would for a moment have thought of granting, either then or per-
haps for many decades afterwards. So, often, do Progress and Humanity win
their way by humble and apparently accidental means, and in defiance rather
than by the help of the deliberately pianned and powerful agencies which aifect
to control the destinies of men and nations.
The controversy turned upon the election of Eepresentatives from Hamilton
County under an apportionment law which had passed the General Assembly,
under Whig Control, during its preceding session. That law contained these pro-
visions:
So much of the county [Hamilton] as is comprised within the limits of the first eight
wards of the city of Cincinnati shall compose the First District and shall be entitled to one
Senator and two Representatives, the Senator to be elected in the years 1849 and 1S.51 ; and
so much of the county as is not included in the First District shall compose the Second Dis-
trict, and be entitled to one Senator and three Representatives.
The Democrats maintained that in pursuance of the Constitution of 1802 a
county could not be thus divided for election purposes,' and put their candidates
in the field for the whole count}', regardless of the legislative apportionment.
Their nominees, George E. Pugh, Alexander N. Pierce, Edwin L. Armstrong,
Henry Rodter and Alexander Long, obtained the highest vote in the county at
large. The Whigs, adhering to the apportionment, nominated for the First Dis-
trict Oliver M. Spencer and George W. Runyan, who obtained in that district the
highest number of votes. The canvassing board comprised two justices of the
peace and the County Clerk. The justices declared and certified that Spencer
and Runyan had been tluly elected Representatives from the First District ; the
County Clerk, on the -other hand, certified that Pugh and Pierce, as well as the
[404]
Political Events; 1849-1853. 405
three other Domotratic nominees, whose election was not disputed, had hecn duly
chosen as Representatives from Hamilton County.''
This action, together with the general result of the legislative canvass in the
State, produced a situation ideally promotive of contention. The new General
Assembly convened on Monday, December 4, early on which date, " before the
Whig members were out of their beds," as it was represented, the Democratic
Eepresontatives assembled in the Old Statehouse, took possession of the right
hand side of the Hall, and of the speaker's chair, swore in fortytvvo members,
including Pugh and Pierce of Hamilton County, and chose Benjamin F. Leiter,
of Slark County, to preside. Aroused by this action the Whigs hastened to the
Hall, assembled in the vacant space on its left hand side, swore in thirtytwo
members, and chose An.selm T. Holcomb, of Gallia County, as their presiding
officer. The eight Freesoil members were installed both with the Whigs and
with the Democrats. Fortyeight members— twothirds of all (72) — being neces-
sary to a quorum, and ncitluT u\' liie leading parties having that number, neither
could control the organization. The events which followed may be best stated in
the language of their most conspicuous and able participant.
In 1837 Doctor Norton S. Townshend, then a medical student in Cincinnati ^
attended the proceedings, in that city, by which a fugitive slave girl named
Matilda was claimed for rendition to bondage. The defense was conducted by Sal-
mon P. Chase, who was then considered " a promising young attorney, " and was
evidently in profound personal sympathy with the cau.-je he championed. The mas-
terly argument of Mr. Chase excited the admiration of the young student who, on
learning the advocate's name, said: " There is a man whom I can and will vote
for whenever I have the opportunity." The opportunity came. Kow it
came Doctor Townshend himself succinctly relates as follows:'
In 1848, after that student had become a physician and surgeon. in busy practice, he
was nominated and elected to the lower branch of the General Assembly of Ohio by the Free
Soil men of Lorain County, and by them instructed as their Representative, when in the
legislature, " to act with any party, or against any party, as in his judgment the cause of
freedom should require." When the time arrived for the legislature to meet, it was found
that the House could not organize, on account of a difference between the Whig and Demo-
cratic parties — growing out of a division of Hamilton County for election jjurposes which
the Whig party, being in a majority in a previous legislature, had made — both parties hav-
ing claimants for two seats. There were also other contested seats in the House, and besides
these the election for Governor had not yet been decided. After a long struggle, when both
branches of the General Assembly were finally organized, this was found to be their political
complexion : In the Senate the Whigs and Democrats were a tie —Senator Randall, a Free
Soil Whig, was elected Speaker. In the House the Democrats lacked one of having balf the
the members ; the Whigs, adding several Free Soil men who had been elected by the aid of
Whig votes, also lacked one of having half the members. Besides the Democrats, Whigs and
Free Soilers already mentioned, there were two Free Soil members —Colonel John F. Morse
of Lake County, and Doctor N. S. Townshend, of Lorain County— who had been elected in
opposition to candidates of both Whig and Democratic parties, and were therefore independ-
ent of both. Before the House was organized all the antislavery members came together
for a conference or caucus. A gentleman of large political influence, [ Mr. Tappan ] though
not a member of either branch, had been invited to be present and give to the conference the
406 History of the Citt of Columbus.
benefit of his counsel. He urged upon the members of the conference the importance of per-
fect agreement among themselves as aflfording the only hope of securing any antislavery leg-
islation, or the election of any antislavery man to the United States Senate. A resolution
was then introduced pledging each member of the conference to vote upon all occasions as a
majority of the conference should direct To this obligation most of those present agreed.
Doctor Townshend refused to give the requisite pledge, because eleven of the thirteen Free
Soil members present were, to a greater or less extent, under obligations to the Whig party,
and it appeared evident to him that such a pledge would compel him to act only with the
Whig party, and contrary to the instructions of his constituents. Colonel Morse took a sim-
ilar view of the situation, and also declined to give any pledge, believing, with his Free Soil
colleague, that if the Whig party could not be induced to support antislavery men or meas-
ures, there might be a possibility of obtaining aid from the Democratic party. It should be
understood that an antislavery and progressive spirit had begun to be manifest among some
of the members of that party. In the State of New York this was still more apparent, anti-
slavery Democrats being there known as Barnburners, in distinction from the unprogressive
wing of the party who were known as Hunkers. In Ohio many young Democrats were par-
ticipating in antislavery movements under the name of the Free Democracy. At the close of
the conference referred to a resolution was introduced to exclude Morse and Townshend
from future consultations. This served to convince those gentlemen that they occupied a
common position, and must in future act together and independently of others. Had they
submitted to the demands of the caucus, the Whig party would at once have secured the
ascendency, and probably little or no antislavery progress would have been made.
Some time after this Mr. Chase came to Columbus to argue a case before the
Supreme Court. He was waited upon by Morse and Townshend, and requested to draft a
bill for the repeal of the Black Laws. This he did, and the bill was promptly introduced in
the House by Colonel Morse. The Black Laws, very properly so called, prohibited the
settlement of black or mulatto persons in Ohio unless they could show a certificate of their
freedom, and obtain two freeholders to give security for their good behavior and mainten-
ance in the event of their becoming a public charge. And unless the certificate of freedom
was duly recorded and produced, it was made a penal otfense for any white person to give
employment to a black or mulatto. The common school system of Ohio made provision
for white children only, and the children of black or mulatto persons were excluded from
all common schools. Worst of all, no black or mulatto person could be sworn or
allowed to testify before any Court in the State in any case where a white person was a
party. This exposed colored people to all sorts of wrongs, and left them without legal
protection.
The arrangement by which these Black Laws were repealed and Mr. Chase elected to
the Senate of the United States was as follows: William Allen was the choice of the
Democrats for Senator, while Thomas Ewing was the choice of the Whigs. Most of the
Free Soil members, with Colonel jNIorse, preferred Joshua E. Giddings, then Representative
in Congress from Morse's district, and Townshend preferred Mr. Chase, but both of these
Independent Free Soilers cared more for the election to the Senate of some reliable and
strong antislavery man, than for that of any particular individual. Colonel Morse was
therefore authorized by Townshend to propose to Whig members that if they would first
aid in the repeal of the Black Laws and then in the election of Mr. Giddings to the Senate,
he and his colleague would vote for the Whig candidates for the Supreme Bench, who at
that time were chosen by the General Assembly. Doctor Townshend was authorized by
Colonel Morse to make an equivalent proposition to the Democrats, to the effect that if they
would first aid in the repeal of the Black Laws and in the election of Mr. Chase to the
Senate, then the two Independent Free Soil members would aid in electing the Democratic
nominees for the Supreme Bench. Both political parties were especially solicitous to secure
a majority of the Supreme Court, because it was thought probable that questions growing
Political Events ; 1849-1853. 407
out of the division of Hamilton County migiit come before that Court for final adjudication.
A large majority of the Whig members were willing to accept the proposition made to them
by Colonel Morse ; a few members, understood to be only four, knowing the hostility of
their constituents to the antislavery views of Mr. Giddings, or for other reasons, refused
Iheir assent to the arrangement. The proposition made by Doctor Townshend to the
Democratic members was accepted ; Colonel Morse's bill to provide schools for colored
children, and to repeal all previous acts or parts of acts making distinctions on account of
color, passed the House as drafted. The Penate made two or three changes in the bill which
were not amendments. [Exclusion of colored men from jury service was not, at this time
repealed.— .A. E. L.] When the Senate and House came together in joint convention,
Mr. Chase was elected Senator on the fourth ballot, and two of the Democratic candidates
for the Sui>reme Bencli were afterwards elected. Fonunately for antislavery progress, the
Democratic part}' had at that time several popular candidates for the two judgeships, and to
avoid controversy between their friends the two Free Soilers were allowed their clioice from
the number. Wliatever of praise or of blame attached to the agreement, coalition or bar-
gain, by which the Black Laws were repealed and Mr. Chase elected totiie Senate, the entire
responsibility rests with Mor,se and Townsliend. Mr. Chase neither suggested nor directed
the arrangement.
The prolonged mid bitter eoiitfoversy which thus terminated had some very
comical aspects. As Mr. Greiner, the State Librarian, refused to surrender tiie
keys of the Statehouse, the Democratic members were obliged to remain iu position
day and night lest their rivals, the Whigs, might seize their strategical advantages.
From nine a. m., on Monday, December 4, until Saturday, December 23, the
watchful guardians of Democratic interests remained continuously at their posts,
taking their meals and sleeping at their desks, and resorting to various curious
expedients, meanwhile, to sustain and refresh their powers of physical endurance.
Eager to make the most of the situation, the Whig newspapers of the State teemed
with gibes over the personal extremities to which the Democratic legislators were
brought, and contained many a rollicking innuendo as to the unmentionable pur-
poses to which their hats and boots were said to have been applied. The hat of
Speaker Leiter was a special subject of jest, and furnished a choice theme for
newspaper paragraphers and artists. In the slang of current contention the Whig
side of the House was called Chuckery and the Democratic side The Rump. Aside
from the rivalry in ptiysical endurance, the proceedings of the rival factions con-
sisted of little else, from day to day, than monotonous calling of the roll. On one
occasion Doctor Townshend, rising to present propositions of comprise, cliar-
actcrizcd this legislative farce as "child's play," but immediately corrected liiiu-
self by saying that he would not so slander little children. Tlie Ohio Statesman
thus satirized the daily routine of the Whigs :
Chuckery, with its thirty men,
Marched into the Hall, and then —
Chuckery marched out cigaiul
In a written communication to the author of this work Doctor Townshend
says :
The confusion which resulted from the failure to organize the House can scarcely be
described. In the Representatives' Hall of the Old Statehouse Mr. Leiter could be seen
408 HlSTORT OP THE CiTY OF CoLUMBUS.
occupying the Speaker's chair; the Democratic members were seated in front, or to the left
of him. To the right of the Speaker's chair was the seat of General Holcomb, and to the
right and in front of him were the Whigs ; the Freesoil members were seated, some to the
right and some to the left ; they usually answered the rollcall of both the other parties.
Every foot of the Hall not occupied by members was often crowded by visitors who were not
always more orderly than the members themselves. On one occasion Mr. George E. Pugh,
standing upon a chair, was making an energetic speech ; at the same time, from a similar
platform, Mr. Chauncey N. Olds was speaking with equal force ; then a third person, not a
member, mounted upon a chair and commenced a furious harangue to which at once every
one gave attention. Such were the forcible and expressive gestures of the new orator that
even Pugli and Olds paused for a moment, and it was then found that the performance of the
third orator, who was recognized as Peter Douglass, of Cinciunati, consisted wholly of panto-
mime. He had not uttered a word ; a hearty and general laugh put an end to the uproar for
the day.
This disorganization, continues Doctor Townshend, terminated unexpectedly. One of
the Freesoilers whose sympathies were still to some extent with the Whigs, called on Mr.
Townshend, the Freesoil nominee for Speaker, and promised to secure his election by Whig
votes provided he would promise to resign as soon as the contests for seats were all settled,
and allow a Whig to be elected in his place. This was regarded as an attempt to capture the
independent Freesoil vote for the Whig party, and therefore at the next opportuity Town-
shend and Morse voted for Breslin. the Democratic nominee, and he was elected Speaker.
Stanley Matthews, who had been assistant editor of the Weekly Herald, the antislavery paper
published in Cincinnati, was then nominated for Clerk of the House by Doctor Townshend,
and immediately elected. A Whig was elected Sergeant-at-arms, and an organization was
thus secured on January 3.
The Ohio State Journal of Monday morning, December 11, contained these
cutting observations :
The House and city were quiet yesterday morning [Sunday], during the previous night
and all day. The Public Property is safe ! Thanks to the snoring guardians of the public
weal, the chairs, the desks, the inkstands, the sandboxes and the wafer boxes are all in their
seats, and a full quorum present. On motion, at seven o'clock a. m., the roll was called —
the Honorable member from Stark in the chair. . . . The Chair declared " no quorum,"
and the " absent counties " were called but came not. After aassengers came slated preaching
which was listened to with becoming reverence. . . . After divine service the Honorable
chairman refreshed liimself with a short walk.
On Saturday, December 23, a projjosition submitted by the Freesoil members
was adopted bj' which the House was temporarily organized with Mr. Leiter as
Speaker and S. W. McClure, of Summit County, as Clerk. The members then
paired and went home for a little holiday rest. On January 1, 1849, the claims of
Pugh and Pierce were disallowed by a tie vote, 35 to 35, and those of Spencer
and Banyan by a vote of 32 to 38. On January 3 a permanent organization of
the House, with seventy members, was effected, John G. Breslin, a Democrat, of
Seneca County, being elected Speaker.* But the two independent Freesoilers
still held the balance even between the two parties, and without their cooperation
nothing could be done. After more tedious contention a settlement was finally
reached, as narrated bj' Doctor Townshend, who, on January 25, reported from
the Committee on Privileges and Elections in favor of the claims of the Demo-
cratic contestants to be recognized as rightful Eepresentatives of Hamilton
Political Events; 1849-1853. 409
County. In accordance with the understanding arrived at with the Democrats,
the report was adopted and Pugh and Pierce were seated.' This took place Janu-
ary 26. On January 30 the bill repealing the black laws passed the House by a
vote of 52 to 10 and on February 22 Mr. Chase was elected United States Senator.
The choice of Eufus P. Spaulding and W. B. Caldwell as Judges of the Supreme
Court immediatelj- follow-ed, and thus the consummation so much desired by the
Freesoilers was completely eifected.
Of course the Whig partisans and their organs were onriiged by those results
and " a corrupt bargain " was freely charged. Messrs. Townshend and Morse
were especially singled out for unmeasured abuse. Many of the authors of that
abuse lived to atone for it by pcans of eulogy, and the men who were subjected to
it now need no vindication. Time and the impartial judgments of men have
amply performed tliat task, but this record would scarcely be complete without
some local illustrations of the partisan detraction with which the two Representa-
tives who forced the repeal of the black laws and the election of an antislavery
Senator were visited. The philli])pics of the Ohio State Journnl were particularly
bitter, and continued for many months. On the votes of Mr. Morse to seat
Messrs. Pugh and Pierce its issue of Februaiy 5, 1849, made this comment :
A felony may be forgotton when its perpetrator has died— even a murder may pass
unremembered after a time ; but when has a traitor or his treachery ceased to be detested ?
The same paper of Februarj' 12 approvingly quoted from the Neic York
Tribune:
We use calm words ; yet we do not the less feel that the people of Ohio and the Whigs
of the whole Union are the victims of a most scoundrelly conspiracy wherein Townshend is
the chief actor and Morse the obedient tool.
On March 6 this, editorially :
It is asserted that Salmon P. Chase, our Senatorelect, is in favor of free trade. That he
is a freetrader his dickering in such unwholsorae ai-ticles as Messrs. Townshend and Morse
is, we think, abundant evidence.
On April II, referring to the proposed revision of the State Constitution,
this :
Were there 10,000 new constitutions, the General Assembly would be remarkable for
nothing but its rascality, with such members as Townshend and Morse ; for its brutality
with such as Eodter and Leiter ; for its barbarism with such as Mott and Monfort ; and for
its revolutionary insanity with such as Whitman and Archbold.
Another issue of the State Journal which appeared during the continuance
of this paroxysmal humor, contained the following cfll'u.sion from the pen of Mr.
John Greiner:
BEELZEBUB'S C.ATTLESHOW — A DREAM.
I had a strange dream but a few nights ago ;
' Twas of being in hell, at a great catllt^sliow
Where many came in ; for great competition
Prevailed for the prize, at this exhibition.
History of the (vIty of Columbus.
There Beelzebub sat to decide in each case
At this hell of a fair, in this hell of a place,
With one servant only, a genuine Pat,
Whom he kept for an usher. And this one, and that.
As they came to exhibit at Beelzebub's fair,
Were conducted by Pat up in front of his chair.
Now each one that came to compete at this place
Was judged by his " turpitude, guilt and disgrace ; "
If they'd any good qualities, so much the worse.
For they went to their debit, as a matter of course.
And in fact ' twas agreed that he who was worst
In the scale of hell's merit should surely stand first.
This being the case, as one might well know,
A strangelooking company came to the show.
There was Judas Iscariot, who his Master betrayed ;
And fair young Delilah, that treacherous maid ;
And old Ananias, who lived out his life,
Link'd in with Sapphira his perjurous wife ;
And a long train of others — ten thousand or more —
While the rear was brought up by Babylon's w — e.
Old Beelzebub viewed them from front to the rear ;
Then turned round to Pat and says, " Paddy, come here ; "
"At your sarvice," says Pat, "just your will let me know."
" Well, on whom shall I, Pat, this prize here bestow?"
Pat cock'd up his eye, shrugged his shoulders, and swore.
That " the prize is due, shure, to that baste of a w — e
As the wickedest crayther since the days of old Noah."
But just at that moment wide opened the door.
And in, with great haste, strutted two subjects more.
" Be saited," says Pat — " No, we'll stand where we are
'■ Till we find whether this is the place of the fair."
" 'Tis the place of the fair," old Beelzy replies ;
"And we are about to dispose of the prize.
" Do you wish to compete ?" " Well, we do, horse."
"And what are your names? " " They are Townshend and M(
" Och, faith ! " cries Pat, '■ what a beautiful pair !
"They'll take the shine ofl' anything at the fair!"
Old Beelzy turned round, whispered ?at in bis ear,
And said: " Pat, have you knowledge of these fellows here ?"
"Indade, that I have; I know them full well,
"And they cannot be bate in the regions of hell.
" Why, mon, they're the chaps that kicked up that rumpus
"Away up there on earth, in the town call'd Columbus,
"And I know full well that you know theui," said Pat;
" For you can't have forgotten about Leiter's auld hat ;
"And you must remember what a terrible stew
"They got into for voting for Pierce and for Pugh."
" Ah ! I know," says old Beelzy, " and ' twas an unlucky hour
"That brought to my kingdom this ' Balance of Power,'
"And 1 fear, my dear Pat," (and he uttered a groan)
" That this ' Balance of Power ' will oust me from my throne."
" Oust you from your throne! Why, you need have no fear,
Political Events; 1849-1853. 411
"There's a liell where they hve that's worth two of this here ;
" With a Chase and a Hamlin, and such devils in it,
" So never you fear, no not for a minute,
" But give them the prize — they're desarvin' it shure,
"And send them off home, and your throne is secure."
He took Pat's advice, as a matter of course.
And declared off the prizes to Townshend and Morse.
Pat then made a speech in true Irish style.
And closed by suggesting three cheers for Free Sile ;
All hell gave a shout — a most terrible scream —
Which broke up my slumber and ended my dream.
During the legislative session of 1849-50 the apportionment law which had
caused the deadlock in the House gave rise to renewed controversy in the
Senate. That body, consisting of thirtysix members, half of whom had held
over from the preceding General Assembly, convened December 3, 1849, and,
there being then no Lieutenant-Governor, was called to order by a Democratic
member, James Myers, of Lucas County. It had fallen to the lot of Hamilton
County to elect one of the new Senators, and the seat thus to be provided for was
claimed by William P. Johnson, Democrat, who presented a certificate of election
by the voters of the county; and Lewis Broadwell, Whig, who presented an
abstract showing that he had received a majority of the votes cast in the first
eight wards of Cincinnati. Both the contestants were sworn in, but as to
which should have the dis])uted seat the Senate divided on party lines. Eighteen
votes were east for Broadwell to seventeen for Johnson, but inasmuch as the
chairman and clerk recognized Johnson and refused to recognize Broadwell the
votes on all questions of organization resulted in a tie. Finally, on December 28,
Harrison G. Blake, of Medina County, received sixteen votes on the three
hundred and first ballot, and was declared by the chairman to have been duly
elected Speaker. Blake, at the first opportunity, recognized Broadwell, although
it was claimed that be had pledged himself not to do so until the Senate had for-
mally passed upon the Hamilton County contest. The Clerk, who had held over
from the preceding Senate, still refusing to call Mr. Broadwell's name, the
Speaker, Mr. Blake, called it himself This provoked much bitter feeling, and on
January 3 Mr. Lucian Swift, of Summit Count}', offered a resolution reciting by
preamble that Blake, in consideration of Swift's vote for him for Speaker, had
given pledge not to recognize Broadwell in advance of formal action upon his
claims, and declaring, in consequence of the violation of this pledge, Blake's
deposition from tlie speakership. Mr. Blake thereupon vacated the chair, but
was obliged by his partisans to resume it, and after doing so ruled Swift's resolu-
tion out of order. An appeal from this decision precipitated a violent controversy
which continued until January 17, when resolutions were adopted authorizing
Mr. Johnson to retain his seat until his claims to it should be passed upon by the
Committee on Privileges and Elections. Resolutions removing the Speaker were
then successively introduced by Senators Swift and Mj-ers, but were ruled out of
order, as was also an appeal from the ruling. The controversy and blockade of
412 History of the City of Columbus.
legislation had thus eootinued nearly seven weeks when, on January 18, Charles
C. Convers, of Muskingum County, was by undisputed choice elected Speaker,
and the organization of the Senate was at last complete. Mr. Johnson retained
his scat until February 27 when, by a vote of U to 13, he was obliged to relin-
quish it to Mr. Broadwell, who was sworn in as Senator from the First District of
Hamilton Count}-.
Wo now resume the chain of political events, interrupted by these legislative
episodes.
The Eighth of January, 1849, was celebrated by a Democratic supper at the
American House. Colonel James Parker, of Perry County, presided, and
addresses were delivered by Judge Wood and Messrs Pugh, Morgan, Whitman,
Eodter and others. On February 22 a supper, given by Mr. Chase, United States
Senatorelect, took place at the American. The principal speaker of the evening
was Judge E. P. Spalding, In March, 1849, a Joint Eesolution was passed by
large majorities in both Houses of the General A.ssembiy, submitting to a vote of
the people the question of calling a convention to revise the Constitution of the
State. A popular verdict was given in favor of the convention by a decided
majority of the votes cast in the ensuing October election.
1850.
The Eighth of January of this year was celebrated by the usual Democratic
banquet. The Democracy held their State Convention on the same date, Samuel
Medarj' presiding. A Whig meeting of citizens and sojourners was held at the
Old Courthouse February 4. General E. R. Eckley, of Carroll County, presided,
and resolutions were adopted opposing slavery extension and favoring the admis-
sion of California to the Union, with an antislavery constitution. A State Free-
soil convention met at the Old (United States) Courthouse May 2, Rev. Edward
Smith presiding. Resolutions were adopted reaffirming the Buffalo platform of
1848, condemning Webster and other Northern statesmen for abandoning the Wil-
mot Proviso ; and adhering to separate party organization. The Whig State
Convention assembled May 6, at theOdeon. Simeon Nash was its temporary and
David Chambersits permanentchairman, William Johnston, of Hamilton County,
was nominated for Governor. The resolutions adopted opposed the extension of
slavery to any new territory to be thereafter organized. The " friends of univer-
sal peace" held a convention at the Old Courthouse May 18. Their resolutions
favored a "Congress of Nations." The State Constitutional Convention, elected April
1 in pursuance of an act i^assed in February, assembled in the Hall of Representa-
tives May 6. The number of its members, corresponding with that of Senators and
Representatives in the General Assembly, was one hundi-ed and eight. By rea.son
of the cholera epidemic which broke out in midsummer, it adjourned July S to
reassemble in Cincinnati on the first Monday in December. Its work was com-
pleted Mai-ch 10 and ratified by vole of the people June 17, 1851. The death of
President Taylor took place and was announced July 9. As a manifestation of
Poi.iTirAT. Events; 1R49-1858. 413
respect to his memorj- business was suspemioii one hour July 12. On Seplemlicr
17 a eulogy upon his life and services was pronounced at Doctor lloge's
church bj^ John G. Miller. A Democratic State Convention met in the Senate
Chamber. Barnabas Burns was its chairman, C. L, Vallandigham its secretary,
and A. P. Miller, of Butler County its nominee for Member of the Board of Public
Works. A Democratic Publishing Committee, i-ocalled, was appointed early in the
year "to collect facts and argument.';, and circulate them in tract form throughout
the State, and to collect money to defray the expenses thereof" Its members were
Samuel Medary, D. A. Eobei'tson, Th(im;is Sparrow, James M. Westwater and
Mattiiias Martin.
1851.
The Whig State Convention met July 3 in the "New City Hall over the
Markethouse." Its chairman was Hanson L. Penn, of Brown County ; its nomina-
tions were these: Governor, Samuel F. Vinton, Gallia; Lieutenant-Governor,
Ephraim E. Eckley, Carroll; Secretary of State, Earl Bill, Erie; Attorney General,
Henrj' Stanbery, Franklin; Auditor of State, John Woods, Butler; Treasurer of
State, Albert A. Bliss, Lorain ; Members of the Board of Public Works, Daniel
Segur of Lucas, John Madeira of Boss and David H. Lyman of Muskingum;
Judges of the Supreme Court, S. J. Andrews, Cuyahoga, C. C. Con vers, Muskingum,
Peter Odlin, Montgomery, Bellamj- Storer, Hamilton, and George B. Way, Defiance.
The resolutions adopted declared that the Fugitive Slave Law, which had been
apjproved by President Fillmore in September, 1850, " was not recommended by
the President or passed as a party measure, and that entire toleration of opinion
should be allowed thereon." A declaration that General Scott was the first
choice of the Ohio Whigs as nominee for the Presidencj^ was also adopted. In
lieu of John Madeira, who declined the nomination for Member of the Board of
Public Works, Benjamin F. Conwaj-, of Scioto County, was nominated by the
Whig State Central Committee, which comprised the following members; John
B. Thompson, Lorenzo English, Samuel Galloway, John W. Milligan, John Gra-
ham, Theodore Comsto('k, William T. Bascom, E. P. L. Baber, A. B. Buttles, Sam-
son Mason, Thomas W. Powell, C. N. Olds, William Eichards.
The Democratic State Convention met at Neil's New Hull, Edson B. Olds i)re-
siding, and nominated the following ticket: Governor, Eeuben Wood; Lieutenant
Governor, William Medill: Supreme Court Judges, E. P. Eanney, W. B. Caldwell,
J. A. Corwin, T. W. Bartley, A. G. Thurmau ; State Auditor, E. D. Morgan;
Secretary of State, William Trevitt ; Treasurer of State, J. G. Breslin ; Attorney-
General, George E. Pugh ; Board of Public Works, A. P. Miller, G. W. Manypenny,
J. B. Steedman.
The Free Soil State Convention met in the City Hall August 21, Joshua E.
Giddings presidiniT, and made nominations as follows: Governor, Samuel Lewis;
Lieutenant-Gi)vernor, Nicholas Spindler ; Secretarj- of State, H. W. King;
Treasurer of State, A. A. Bliss; State Auditor, John V^oods ; Attorney General,
John Eutgers; Supreme Court Judges, J. Brinkerhoff, S. J. Andrews, E. P.
414 History of the City of Columbus.
Eanncy, B. Storer, W. B. Caldwell. The resolutions adopted ilenounced the Fugi-
tive Slave Law and favored the abolition of slavery in the territories.
A meeting of the colored people of Columbus, held on September 22 at the
African Methodist Episcopal Church, adopted resolutions expressing sympathy
with a band of escaping slaves from Baltimore County, Maryland, who had sue.
cessfully resisted their attempted recapture at Cliristiana, Pennsylvania. The
chairman of the meeting was John T. Ward, the secretary, C. H. Langston ; the
committee on resolutions, C. H. Langtson, L. D. Taylor and John Booker. Hon.
Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, visited the city on political business September 27.
1852.
The Democratic State Convention met in the City Hall Januarj- 8, B. F.
Leiter, of Stark County, presiding. A resolution recommending William Allen as
first choice of the Ohio Democracy for presidential nominee was bitterly opposed,
and a substitute by Mr. Vallandigham, declaring it inexpedient to make any
recommendation was adopted instead. The nominees were : Supreme Court Judge,
William B. Caldwell ; Member of the Board of Public Works, James B. Steedinan.
The Democratic National Convention, held at Baltimore beginning June 1, nomin-
ated Franklin Pierce, of'New Hampshire, for the Presidency, and William E. King,
of Alabama, for the Vice Presidency. The Whig State Convention met in Colum-
bus July 22, Hiram Griswold presiding, and nominated Daniel A. Haynes of
Montgomery, for Supreme Court Judge, and David H. Beardsley of Cuyahoga, for
Member of the Board of Public Works. Edward D. Mansfield and William
Dennison were nominated as Senatorial Electors. The Whig National Convention
met June 18, also at Baltimore, and nominated General Winfield Scott for the
Presidency, on the fiftythird ballot, Webster, Scott and Fillmore being the leading
candidates. William A. Graham, of North Carolina, was nominated for Vice
President. A Whig ratification meeting held June 21 was addressed by William
Dennison ; another, at the City Hall, June 23, wa6 addressed by Samuel Galloway.
The Free Soil State Convention was held at the City Council Chamber February
11, Mr. Paris, of Erie, presiding. The convention expressed its preference for the
nomination of John P. Hale for the Presidency, and adopted a resolution offered
by Mr. Jenkins (colored) declaring that the elective franchise should be extended
to all men, regardless of color.
The Freesoil National Convention, held at Pittsburgh August 10, nominated
John P. Hale for President and George W. Julian for Vice President. Henry
Wilson, of Massachusetts, was Chairman, and Frederick Douglas one of the
secretaries of the convention. A Central ChiiDpowa Club (Scott and Graham)
was organized July 10; President T. V. Hyde; Secretaries, James R. Tuttle,
Martin Krumm, Charles Klie; Treasurer, J. J. Janney. The Whig State
Central Committee of the year was : John Graham, James L. Bates, J. B. Thomp-
son, William Miner, W. T. Bascom and M. Pennington.
Political Events; 1849-1853. 415
In the C-rencral Assembly, April 15, pending diseussioii of ;i fesoliiliini to lend
the arms of the State to Kossuth, Representatives C. L. WL-llor :uid Daniel Buclcell
fell into an altercation, and hurled their sandboxes at one another's beads.
Neither was bit. The affair was bumorouslj- spoken of as "the battle of the
sandboxes." One of the current political rhymes and jests of the campaign was
the following, quoted by Judge Johnson, of Cincinnati, at a groat Whig meeting
at Niagara Falls :
We hang our harps upon the willow
Whenever we think of Ueneral Pillow,
Who dug, by the aid of General Maroy,
. Ditches and breastworks vice varsy.
Horace Greeley addressed a street meeting of the Whigs September 7 ; another
meeting by the same part}', held at Goodale Park September 8, was accompanied
by a parade on High Street. It was addressed by Horace Greeley, Thomas Ewing,
L. D. Campbell, W. H. Gibson, and others. General Sam. Houston addressed an
open air Democratic meeting September 7; another Democratic meeting held
September 11 was addressed by Hon. Stephen A. Douglas. John P. Hale, the
Freesoil candidate for the Presidency, spoke at Neil's Hall September 23.
General Winfield Scott, the Whig candidate for the Presidency, arrived from
Cleveland September 21, and was formally received by a committee the members
of which were Maj'or English, R. W. Me(Joy, Joseph Ridgway, John Noble, Wil-
liam Armstrong, P. H. Olmsted, N. H. Swayne, Robert Neil, H. B. Garrington,
T. V. Hyde and John Chance. From the railwaj' station General Scott as escorted
to the Neil House by the Chippewa Glee Club and other Whig organizations, led
by Machold's Brass Band. While an artillery- salute was being fired, Henry Fet-
ters was mortally wounded by the premature discharge of a cannon. At the hotel
General Scott briefly addressed the crowd whieh assembled to greet him.' In a
subsequent address during his sojourn at Columbus he repelled, with much feel-
ing, a statement that he had caused fifteen German soldiers to be tied to a tree
and flogged during the Mexican War. On September 22 he left for Maysville,
Kentucky, via Chillicothe.
The death of Henry Claj- took place at Washington June 29; on the thirtieth
a meeting of citizens — A. F. Perry Chairman, and J. J. J:inney Secretary — was
held to express sorrow over the event. At this meeting a committee of fifteen to
make arrangements for receiving the remains of the distinguished deceased was
appointed. The City Council, on the same date, passed resolutions of regret, and
ordered its chamber to be draped in mourning. Mr. Clay's remains arrived at
Columbus, under escort from Washington, at 7:30 p. m., July 8, by express train
from Cleveland. The remains were received by committees representing the City
Council and citizens, and a procession was formed in the following order: 1, fire-
men ; 2, hearse, with Captain Schneider's Volunteers as guard of honor; 3,
Committee of Ari-angonients as pallbearers; 4, committee of the United States
Senate; 5, committees from Kentucky and Cincinnati; 6, committees from
other towns and cities; 7. Citj- Council in carriages; 8, citizens in carriages.
416 History or the City op Columbus.
Led by Chief Marshal Glenn and Assistant Marshals Bruck and Hulbiird, the
procession, which also comprised a large body of Masons, moved on High Street
to Town, on Town to Third, on Third to State, on State to High and on High to
the Neil House, where the body was deposited for the night. During this move-
ment all the bells of the city were tolled and minute guns were fired. Large
crowds of people lined the streets along the route of the procession. At the Neil
House brief addresses were made by Hon. William Dennison, of Columbus, and
Governor Jones, of Tennessee. A memorial meeting held at the City Hall during
the evening was addressed by A. F. Perry and William Dennison. Joseph Kidg-
way presided, and resolutions were reported by R. P. L. Baber.
1853.
The Democratic State Convention was held at the City Hall, January S, C. L.
Vallandigham presiding. Its nominations were: Governor, William Medill ;
State Treasurer, John G. Breslin (renominated) ; Secretary of State, William Tre-
vitt; Board of Public Works, George W. McCook.
The Freesoil State Convention met at the City Hall January- 12, Jacob Brink-
erhotf presiding, and nominated : For Governor, Samuel Lewis; Supreme Court
Judge, Eeuben Hitchcock; Secretary of State, William R. Graham; Attorney-
General, Cooper K. Watson ; State Treasurer, J. W. Chaffin ; Board of Public
Works, Alonzo O. Blair. A long series of resolutions was adopted, of which the
seventeenth declared that " sound policy requires a system of free trade with all
nations that will trade free with the United States," and favored direct taxation
as the only fair and just mode of raising revenue.
The Whig State Convention met at the City Hall February 22; T. R. Stan-
ley' presiding. Its nominations were : For Governor, Nelson Barrere ; Lieuten-
ant Governor, Isaac J. Allen; Treasurer, Henry Brachman; Secretary of State,
Nelson H. Van Vorhes; Attorney-General, William H. Gibson; Supreme Court
Judge, Franklin T. Backus ; Board of Public Works, John Waddell. The mem-
bers of the State Central Committee appointed were, A. F. Perry, William Deuni-
son, W. T. Bascom, Samuel Galloway and R. P. L. Baber, of Columbus; John Coon,
of Cleveland; P. Van Trump, of Lancaster; R. M. Corwine, of Cincinnati, and
N. Evans, of Cambridge.
On August 24 a supplementary Democratic State Convention was held at the
Ambos Hall to nominate a candidate for Lieutenant-Governor in lieu of Lester
Bliss who declined. James Myers, of Lucas County, was nominated, and Hiram
H. Barney was at the same time named as candidate for State School Commis-
sioner.
The Martin Koszta extradition case was at this time a subject of current politi-
cal discussion. The unconditional release of Koszta bj- the Austrian Government
was announced in the local press November 18. On May 16 a request of colored
citizens for the use of the City Hall for a public meeting was denied by the City
Council. Pending discussion of the socalled "crowbar bill," in the lower House
Political Events ; 1S49-1853. 417
of the General Assembly, George T. Barnuni, Representative of Cuyahoga County,
was struck and knocked down on the floor of the House by ils Clerk, M. H.
Medary. The trouble grew out of charges made against Medary by Barnum and
referred to a special committee which reported adversely to the accusations.
Medary was arrested.
A demand for general dissolution of the old political parties was cun-ently
made, and was one of the striking features of the politics of this year, both local
and general.
NOTES.
1. Conspicuous among their partisans in maintaining this opinion was Edwin M.
Stanton, the subsequently distinguished Secretary of War.
2. The election took place October 10. The vote stood :
First District -George E. Pugh, f),-1(52 ; Alexander N. Pierce, 6,4.31 ; Oliver M. Spencer,
4,.534 ; George W. Rnnyan, 4,4.51 ; J. R. Hamilton, 96S ; Alexander Webb, 1,009.
Second District.— ¥Awm L. Armstrong, 6,230; Henry Rodter, 6,100; Alexander Long,
6,225; Stephen S. L'Hommedieu, 2,326; John S. Nixon, 2,176; John Martin, 2,277.
3. Article, Salmon P. Chase, in the Ohio Archxological and Historical Quarterly for Sep-
tember, 1SS7.
4. The vote stood, 37 for Breslin to 37 for Leverett Johnson, of Cuyahoga.
a. The vote stood, 32 to 31.
6. In this address General Scott made use of the expressions, " sweet German accent "
and " rich Irish brogue," intended as votecatching compliments. These pbrases were there-
after current among the stock expressions of the canvass, and rather to the detriment than
benefit of the General's political interests.
CHAPTER XXVI.
POLITICAL EVENTS, L854-1860.
1854.
An event which took phiec in Columbus on July 13 of this year, is memor-
able as the beginning of a recast in both State and National politics. It was a
meeting at which delegates were present from all parts of Ohio, and which was
known in the current phrase of that day as an Anti-Nebraska State Convention.
The date of its occurrence was the sistyseventh anniversary of adoption of the
Ordinance of 1787, containing a prohibition of slavery in the Northwest Terri-
tory. It was the beginning of the Eepublican party. In order that its discus-
sion may come in proper historical sequence, some events which jjreceded it will
first be mentioned.
The Democratic State Convention of the year assembled on Saturday, Janu-
ary 7, Matthew Burchard presiding, and was addressed by William Allen, George
E. Pugh, George W. Morgan, and William Medill. It nominated Shepherd F.
Norris, of Clermont County, for Supreme Court Judge, and Alexander P. Miller,
of Butler, for Member of the Board of Public Works, and appointed the following
State Central Committee: S. S. Cox, chairman; James H. Smith, secretary;
Washington McLean, Hamilton ; Amos Layman, Washington ; John Sheridan,
Ashland'; William Parr, Licking; R. S. Cunningham, Preble; "W. D. Morgan,
Columbiana; J. G. Haley, Henry; Frederick Fieser and H. S. Knapp, Franklin.
The usual banquet in honor of the New Orleans victory took place on the even-
ing of the seventh, at the American House. On March 3, George E. Pugh was
nominated for National Senator by the Democratic caucus of the General Assem-
bly. The tide of anti-slavery sentiment was at this time rapidly developing, and
had already acquired sufficient strength to give direction to the current of politi-
cal events. The Kansas-Nebraska bill repealing the Missouri comjjromise act of
1820, gave it an enormous impetus. That bill was reported to the National
Senate by Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, in Januarj^ ; on February 14, a meeting of citi-
zens opposed to the measure was held at the First Presbyterian Church. At this
meeting J. R. Swan presided and resolutions were adopted declaring that the act
of March 6, 182it, forbidding slavery north of latitude 36:30 was a solemn com-
pact between the North and South ; that the North had complied with it in letter
and spirit ; that the compromises of 1850 would be sustained ; that the compro-
mise of 1820 was not superseded by or inconsistent with that of 1850; that the
Nebraska bill was an outrage, and that further agitation of the slavery question
was greatly to be deplored.
On April 3, an Anti-Nebraska meeting of Germanborn citizens was held at
Hessenauer's Hall. John P. Bruck was chairman, Thomas Lindenberg was sec-
L418]
i>i
Political Events; 1864-18(10. 419
retary, and Otto Dresel, Charles Languth, John G. Becket, M. Fassig and L. W.
Wirth were members of the committee on resolutions. The Douglas bill was
denounced.
A State Convention held March 22, to protest against the Nebraska bill, was
addressed by D. K. Cartter, Jacob Brinkerhoff, S. P. Chase and R. P. Spalding.
Letters from Thomas Bwing, B. F. Wade and Charles Reemelin were read, and
resolutions, reported from committee by John VV. Andrews, were adopted. Dur-
ing the meeting, which was held in the Town Street Methodist Church, several
persons, including Representative Allen, of Brown County, were severely injured
by the fall of a stairway.
We come now to the State Convention mentioned at the beginning of thi.s
chapter. Its preliminary sittings were held in the City Hall, its later ones at
Neil's Hall. Its delegates comprised many Democrats and Preesoilcrs, as well as
Whigs, who were opposed to the Nebraska measure. Benjamin P. Leitor, of
Stark County, with whose name we have become familiar in connection with the
legislative deadlock of 1848-9, presided. Joseph R. Swan, of Columbus, was nom-
inated for Supreme Court Judge, and Jacob Blickonsderfer, Junior, of Tuscarawas
County, for Member of the Board of Public Works. The committee on resolutions
comprised the following members, one for each congressional district : Benjamin
Egglcston, James Elliott, David Heaton, T. Cunningham, J. J. Paul, William Alli-
son, W. H. P. Denny, J. Corwin, Homer Elliott, E. Nye, Joshua R. Giddings,
Henry B. Carrington, Joseph Root, Norton S. Townshend, Joseph W. Vance,
Davis Green, John Davenport, E. N. Sill, Rufus P. Spalding, George F. Brown
and Ephraim R. Eekley. The resolutions adopted, after reciting the slaverj' pro-
hibition in the Ordinance of 1787, and announcing a determination to " labor
assiduously to render inoperative and void " that portion of the Kansas Nebraska
bill which abolished freedom in the territories, as well as to oppose " by every
lawful and constitutional means every further increase of slave territory," declared
concurrence in " the recommendation of the people of Michigan," that " there
should be a general convention of the free States, and such of the slaveholding
States or portions thereof," as might desire to be rejjresented, with a view to adop-
tion of more effective measures to resist the encroachments ot slavery. To obtain
concurrence from other States in holding the national convention thus suggested,
a correspondence committee of five persons was appointed. The members of this
committee were Henry B. Carrington, of Columbus, and J. H. Baker, of Chilli-
cothe, Whigs ; Joseph E. Swan, of Columbus, and R. P. Spalding, of Cleveland,
Democrats, and J. ]j!. Coulter, of Columbus, Freesoiler. For the new political
coalition thus begun the name Republican was suggested, but Messrs. Townshend,
Root and Paul objected to the adoption of any party name as premature, and their
arguments prevailed. In the election reports of the ensuing October the fusion was
various!}- mentioned as American Reform, Anti-Nebriiska, Know Nothing, Whigaiid
Know Nothing, and also, occasionally, as Republican. Judge Swan, the nominee
of the convention, was elected by a phenomenal majority of over 80,000.
On August 1, of this year, the anniversary of emancipation in the West
Indies was celebrated by the colored people of Columbus. A creditable proces-
sion marched down Third Street to Monnd, up Mound to High, up High to Gaj',
down Gay to Front, and out Front to Goodale Park, where addresses were deliv-
ered and a dinner was served. The orators of the occasion were William J,
Watkins and Rev. W. Skelton.
1855.
The Democratic State Convention assembled on January 8 in the City Hall,
C. L. Vallandigham temporarily' and Henry B. Payne permanently presiding. A
^
420 History of the City of Columbus.
lelterfrom Hon. Allen G. Tliurman was read, declining renominalion for .'^u]ireine
Court Judge. The Dominations were as follows: Govei-iKir. Wiliiim M(_M|ill;
Lieutenant-Governor, James Myers, of Lucas ; Supreme Couit .Imlui's. William
Kennon, of Belmont, and R. B. Warden, of Franklin ; Auditor, Willinni D.
Morgan, Columbiana; Treasurer, John G. Breslin, Seneca; Seoretaiy of State,
William Trevitt, Franklin ; Attorney-General, G. W. McCook, Jefferson ; Bonrd
of Public Works, James B. Steedmau, Lucas. A long series of resolutiDus was
adopted, demanding revision of the tariff of 1846 so as to riMluto the rt^venue (of
which the Treasury then had a surplus) and exclude bounties: rc-itoratimi of
gold and silver currencj- ; acquisition of Cuba and the Sandwich Islamls ; dec laring
slavery an evil to be mitigated and finally eradicated ; affirming the cjual ami
independent sovereignty" of each State; and insisting upon the ei|ii:il pi oIl. lion
of all citizens, native and naturalized. The usual anniversary festival was held
in the evening, at the American House, Hon. George E. Pugh presiding. Ad-
dresses were delivered by H. B. Paj'ne, R. P. Ranney, S. Medary, S. S. Cox, H. J.
Jewett, G. W. McCook, £). P. Leadbetter and George W. Morgan.
One of the salient features of ihis j'ear's politics is indicated by the following
from the Ohio Statesman of April 6 :
The Murderous TriaTigle ! The pavements of our cit)', especially the corners of our streets,
were found to be thickly strewn j-esterday morning with the Munlerouis Rid TrkuKjle pieces
of paper used by the Know Nothing Councils, and distril)ulel at midnight. . . . These red
triangles are warnings of danger; every Know Nothing is, upon their appearance upon the
corners of the streets and alleys, to rush to his Council armed for de/eme, ecen, to Murder.
An alleged secret Democratic organization, intended as an offset to the Know
Nothing order, was called, in current political slang, the Sag JVichts — a corrup-
tion of German words Sage NicMs, Angl. Say JVothing. The existence of such a
society was stoutly denied.
The American (Know Nothing) State Convention, comprising about five
hundred delegates, assembled on June 5, at Cleveland. Its resolutions denounced
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise ; declared that slavery was local, not
national; opposed all political organizations exclusively of foreignborn persons
and insisted upon twentyone years residence as a prerequisite to citizenship. An
American National Convention was held at Philadelphia June 14, for conference.
Many of its delegates refused to submit to what was termed proslaverj' dictation,
and withdrew.
On July 13 a fusion state convention was held similar to that of the same
date during the year before. It was attended bj' delegates representing the dif-
ferent Anti Nebraska elements in all parts of Ohio. Its place of meeting was the
Town Street Methodist Episcopal Church. Of the inside history of this historic
assemblage the author has been favored by one of its principal participants, Hon.
Oren Follett, with an interesting account which is reproduced in the next chapter.
The convention held its preliminary sitting commencing at ten o'clock a. m.
Benjamin S. Cowen, of Belmont, was named as temporary chairman, and W. B.
Allison, of Ashland, and J. S. Herrick. of Portage, as temjjorary secretaries. In
the permanent organization John Sherman was appointed chairman, and R. W.
lia^jrliffan additional secretary. Earl^- in the proceedings selection was made of
the following Committee on Resolutions: J. M. Mitchel, William Schouler,
D. W. Iddings, Justin Hamilton, W. A. Hunter, David Fagen, A. H. Dunlevy,
Benjamin Stanton, C. K. Watson, E. Nigh, A. Thomson, J. W. Andrew.s, F, D.
Parrish, H. E. Peck, George W. True, C. B. Tompkins, Hugh Forsyth, Thomas
Earl, R. P. Spalding, J. R. Giddings and James Robertson. Pending the morning
business Hon. L. D. Campbell was requested to address the convention and said :'
Political Events; 1854-1860. 421
This day is illustrious in the annals of our history. It is second only to that one when
the Deolaratiiin was proclaimed to the world that all men were born free and equal. He
refi-rred to the early liistory of the slave question under our National Government. The
sentiments of Jefferson and the early statesmen were referred to. But now how changed !
l.ook at the position of Georgia and South Carolina today, taking steps to extend this institu-
tion into territories which by solemn compact were declared to be dedicated to freedom, by
the force of the revolver ami tlie Bowie knife. He felt no desire to disturb slavery where it
existed by state law, but beyond that we could not and ought not to go. The spirit, if not
tlie express terms of ihe Constitution, contemplated the diuiinution and final eradication of
slavery. How has it been in practice? We know it has been increasing and extending.
Disrejjar.ling all agreements and compromises, however solemnly made, the South has broken
over the barriers, and has extended slavery over new and vast tracts of our common country.
Will the North taniely submit to these things? Can it without dishonor? ... He referred
to the actiiin of the slave power which vetoed the bill to improve rivers and harbors, and at
the same time paid len millions of dollars to purchase the Mesilla Valley. We must put an
end to these thing.-i. We must stop these encroachments upon our equal rights. He did not
desire to make war upon theSonlh, but he felt it very important to go into a war of extermin-
ation upon the doughfaces of the North. Here is the field of our labor. Here we can be
felt. . .
The report concludes bj* saj'ing: "Mr. Campbell was repeatedly cheered
during the deliver}' of this speech. It had a happy effect upon the vast assem-
bl.y." The Riinie report states that Hon. John Sherman, the permanent chairman,
on being conducted to the platform, '-proceeded to address the convention in a
short but glowing and patriotic speech." Todaj', he said, " thou.sand8 of eyes
arc anxiously turned to Ohio. Let us unite upon the ticket to be here nominated
and go before the people upon the great issue tendered us, and the people of the
North, by the slaveholders of the South."
The following resolutions were reported from committee by Judge R. P.
Spalding :
Resolved, 1. That the people, who constitute the supreme power in the United States
should guard with jealous care the rights of the several States as independent governments.
No encroachment upon their legislative or judicial prerogatives should be permitted from any
quarter.
L'. That the pe')ple of the State of Ohio, mindful of the blessings conferred upon them
by the Ordinance of Freedom, whose anniversary our convention this day commemorates,
have established for their political guidance the following rules: 1. We will resist the
spread of slavery under whatever shape or color it may be attempted. 2. To this end we
will labor assiduously to render inoperative and void that portion of the Kansas and
Nebraska bill which "abolishes freedom in the territory withdrawn from the influence of
slavery by the .Vlissouri Compromise of 1820; and we will oppose by every lawful and con-
stitutional means the existence of slavery in any national territory, and the further increase
of slave territory or slave States, in this Republican Confederacy.
3. That the recent acts of violence and civil war in Kansas, incited by the late acting
Vice President of the United States, and tacitly encouraged by the Executive, demand the
emphatic condemnation of every citizen.
4. That a proper retrenchment in all public expenditures, a thoroughly economical
administration of our State Government, and just and equal basis of taxation and single
districts for the election of members of the legislature, are reforms called for by a wise state
policv and fully demanded by the people.
5. That a State Central Committee, consisting of five, be appointed by this Conven-
tion, and that said committee, in addition to its usual duties, be authorized to correspond
with oimmiltees of other States for the purpose of agreeing upon a time and place for hold-
ing a National Convention of the Republican Party for the nomination of President and Vice
President.
These resolutions were adopted unanimously. The nominations of the con-
vention were as follows; Governor, Salmon P. Chase, Hamilton County;
Lieutenant-Governor, Thomas H. Ford, Hichland; State Auditor, Francis M.
Wright, Champaign ; Secretary of State, James H. Baker, Eoss ; State Treasurer,
William H. Gibson, Seneca; Supreme Court Judges, Jacob Brinkerhoff, Eichland
422 History of the City of Columbus.
and Chai'les C. Convers, Muskingum ; Attorney-General, F. D. Kimball, Medina ;
Board of Public Works, A. G. Conover, Miami.
From this time forward the new party bore the name of Republican. On
July 18, a meeting so designated ratified the nominations of July 13 at the City
Hall. The principal speakers on that occasion were H. C. Noble, G. M. Parsons
and iS. Galloway. William B. Thrall was chairman, and Milton M. Powers, a
former Democrat, secretary. On July 19 a meeting of unconsenting Whigs was
held at the City Hall; chairman, B. F. Martin; secretary, M. L. Doherty. The
principal speaker was Joseph H. Geiger, who denounced slavery and the Demo-
crats but would not support Chase. He was happy to say that the Town Street
Church, in which the coalition convention was held was unfinished, and not yet
plastered. J. O. Eeamey, J. H. Geiger and Benjamin E. Smith, were appointed
members of a correspondence committee. Resolutions violently denunciatory of
Mr. Chase were reported by Mr. Reamey, and adopted.
A socalled Anti-Chase Mass Convention, composed of Whigs and Know-
Nothings, was held at the City Hall August 5. Irad Kelley, of Cuyahoga, was
its temporary, and John Davenport, of Belmont, its permanent chairman. The
resolutions adopted denounced sectionalism and the repeal of the Missouri Com-
promise ; demanded a radical change in the taxation and currency systems of the
State, and reaflSrmed the principles of the American (Know Nothing) party.
Hon. Allen Trimble was nominated for Governor. The convention was addressed
by W. and James R. Stanbeiy, A. Banning Norton and John Davenport. A
mass meeting at the City Hall, August 27, ratifying the work of this convention,
was addressed by J. H. Geiger and A. Banning Norton.
The term "Black Republican " came into vogue this year as a characteriza-
tion of the new party by its antagonists. The Republican County nominations
were derisively styled the " Rosetta ticket," the meaning of wliich term will be
understood by reference to the Rosetta Armisted fugitive slave case, an account
of which is given in another chapter. Per contra, Messrs. Disney, Olds, Green
and Shannon, the four Ohio Democratic Representatives in Congress who sup-
ported the Kansas-Nebraska bill, were styled DOGS by their political opponents,
the term being an acrostic of the initial letters of the names of these congress-
men. Nevertheless, at the conclusion of the canvass, the Ohio State Journal
remarked: " We are happy to say that the late election campaign in this county
has been conducted with less personal asperity than any other of equal vigor
with which we have been connected."
Being successful in the State election of this year, the Republicans held a
jubilee over their victory November 14. On this occasion a "grand jubilee
supper " was given at the Neil House, and seems to have been of a hilarious
character. One of the songs sung was the following :
While speeches fly around the table,
Bobbing around, around, around,
We'll grind a song out, if we're able,
Bobbing around, around :
And while the jingling glasses ring,
Bobbing around, around, around,
Ii'or Sam, Know Nothing Sam, we'll sing,
Bobbing around, around.
Oh Sam's a funny boy, he goes
Bobbing around, around, around,
Loves his friends and lams his foes,
As he goes bobbing around ;
Feathers upon his legs he bears,
Bobbing around, around, around.
PoLiTiOAi, Events: 1854-1860. 423
And gaifs upon his heels he wears,
When he goes bobbing around.
O Sam's a gooil egg, all Shanghai,
Robbing around, around, around ;
His crow's a crow for liberty,
When he goes bobbing around,
A smart chap, too, he is at figures
Bobbing around, around ;
You don't catch him a catching niggers
When he goes bobbing around.
The rats o'er yonder in Kat Row,
Go bobbing around, around, around.
They've got the trembles ; O my 0 !
How they go bobbing around !
Sam don't like rats, the varmints will
Go bobbing around, around, around ;
Be chased as Chase chased Billy Medill,
When he went bobbing around.
Oh, Sam with fusion, not with gammon.
Bobbing around, around, around.
Went afishing and caught a Salmon,
Bobbing around, around ;
The Salmon ran and won the race,
Bobbing around, around, around,
So, hurrah for Salmon P. Chase,
Bobbing around, around.
A convoiitioi; of the colored men of Franklin County was held at Columbus
December 28, L. D. Taj'lor presiding.
1856.
The Democratic State Convention was held in the Theatre January 8, H. J-
Jewett presiding. Its nominations were: Supreme Court Judges R. P. Eauney
and Carrington ; Board of Public Works, Wayne Griswold ; School Commis-
sioner, H. H, Barney. The Democratic National Convention was held at Cincin-
nati Juno 4 and nominated for President James Buchanan; for Vice President,
John C. Breckenridge. The chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee
was Samuel Medarv ; its secretary, Edward A. King.
The Republican State Convention assembled in the Hall of Representatives
May 29, and nominated: Supreme Court Judges, Ozias Bowen, of Marion, and
Josiali Scott, of Butler; School Commissioner, Anson Smythe, Franklin; Board
of Public Works, John Waddle, of Ross. David Fisher, of Hamilton County, was
chairman of the convention. An evening meeting at the City Hail was addressed
by J. H. Lane, on Kansas outrages; also by Messrs. Chase, Gibson and Spooner.
The National American Council (Convention) met at Philadelphia, February
22, and nominated Millard Fillmore for President and A. J. DonelsoQ for Vice
President.
The Republican National Convention, held at Philadelphia June 17, nomi-
nated John C. Fremont for President and William L. Dayton for Vice Presi-
dent. On the evening of June 19 one hundred guns were iired in Columbus in
honor of these nominations, and a mass meeting to ratify them was held " near
the Johnson Block." A Young Men's Fremont Club was organized July 16;
president, E.N. Barr; secretaries, E. A. Fitch and J. M. Comly. A Wheatland
Club (Democratic) held its meetings at the Ambos Hall ; president, James H.
Smith ; secretary, Joseph P. Santmeyer. The Democrats stigmatized the Republi-
can party as " wooly horse;" the Republicans retorted uj>on the Democrats by
424 History of the City of Columbus.
calling thera " Buchaniers," A colored men's State Convention was held in the
City Hall January 16, J. T. Thomas presiding. A Republican meeting, at the
corner of Town and High streets August 16, was addressed by Senator Harlan,
of Iowa, William Cumback, of Indiana, and Samuel Galloway. The Kansas Aid
Society of Columbus, was addressed at the City Hall June 11, by Doctor Wilcox,
of Kansas. A committee to procure funds to aid the free state cause, viz: D. W.
Deshler, chairman; A. M. Gangewer, secretary; L. Goodale. W. E. Ide, J. J.
Janney, H. B. Carrington, H. C.^Noble, W. H. Gibson and W.' B. Thrall. A Fill-
more meeting held May 27 was addressed hj Hon. James Brooks, of New York.
The most important Democratic mass meeting of the canvass took place
October 2. Numerous decorations were displaj-ed thoughout the city, the princi-
pal work of this kind being a large double arch erected at the intersection of
High and State streets. Surmounting the arches at their junction was a huge
globe, from which waved a flag and streamers. Across High Street were stretched
numerous banners benring mottoes, some of which were the following: The
Union ; Distinct as the Waves but One as the Sea — Our Country, One and Indivisible.
We will Defend the C.:„.<til,itini, — L.t f]„ pmi,], „t m.-h Sf.H, „„d Territory Govern
themselves— We JI,ii„t,,,n tl,r S,.r. rr;,,„f,/ njtln I'.uj,!,, ,r/ntl,n-.n the States or Terri-
tories - Weearryfln Fl.i.j and /{.,,, St, j, tntln Musnnithr r,i,nn— By the Eternal,
the Union must .md sh.d'l I,. /„, x, , ■,-,,/ _A7< Sorth, no .South, no East, no West; one
Country, oiii I'm^h , ,,!,, l'i,'n,ii. In ihe procession, which was extensive, were num-
erous "floats line ot which contained thirtyone German misses, representing the
the States, and bore the motto : (rcrmans by birth, Americans by choice. Democrats by
principle. A " Buck and Breck Battalion " of young men was another conspicuous
feature of the parade. The day was a lovely one and the attendance very large.
The Ohio Statesman exultantly said it was the " most glorious political day ever
seen in Columbus ... So long a procession was never seen at the Capital of Ohio."
The speaking took place at Goodale Park, the principal addresses being delivered
by Judge A. G. Thurman, Jacob Eeinhard, H. J. Jewett, R. B. Warden and
S. S. Cox. In the evening a torchlight procession took place ; also a street meet-
ing in front of the American House. A German Meeting was held at the City
Hall.
Fillmore mass meetings took place in Columbus September 10, day and even-
ing. The leading speakers were Judge Sutton, of Arkansas, J. Scott, Harrison,
Frank Chambers and J.Davenport. The following nominations for State officers
were made: Supreme Court Judges, S. Brush, of Franklin, and Daniel Peck, of
Belmont; School Commissioner, D. W. Stevens, Clermont; Attorney General,
J. M. Bushnell, Guern.sey ; Board of Public Works, William Oldfield, Scioto. The
Republicans held their principal meeting of the canvass September 18. An exten-
sive parade took place, and a banner was presented to Sharon Township for the
largest delegation. The flag was received by Miss Alvira Dixon from the hands
of Doctor Barr. The principal speakers of the day were Caleb B. Smith, Judge
Humphrey, Judge Slallo and S. Galloway. On September 30 a joint political
debate took place between J. O. Reamey and H. C. Noble, in front of the Ameri-
can House. About 500 persons were present. The weather was inclement.
1857.
The usual Democratic festival was held January 8, C. L. Vallandigham presid-
ing. The banquet was spread at the American House. Chief among the speakers
were Charles Sweetser, J. J. McDowell, William Lawrence, S. S. Cox, A. G. Thur-
man, C. Follett and Stanley Matthews.
Political Events ; 1854-1860. 425
The Democratic nominations for State officers this year were : Governor,
Heniy B. Payne; Lieutenant-Governor, William H. Lytle; Supreme Court Judge,
Henry C. Whitman ; Secretary of State, Jacob Reinhard, Board of Public Works,
Abuer L. Backus.
During a debate in the General Assembly on January 14, Representative John
P. Slough, of Hamilton County, struck Darius Ca/dwell, Rejiresentative from
Ashtabula County, with his fist. Slough was expelled for this act January 29,
whereupon an indignation meeting ol' his partisans was held January 30, at the
City Hall. At this meeting Thoinns Sparrciw presided, and resolutions severely
condemning Slough's expulsion were adopted. The expelled member was renom-
inated as his own successor by his party, and in the special election which
followed claimed a majority of three over his Republican competitor, Robert
Hosea, but Hosea was seated.
The Breslin-Gihson Ti-easury defalcation profoundly affected the Stale and
local politics of this year. The events of local interest to which it gave rise have
been narrated in another chapter. The famous Dred Scott slave case was decided
by the National Supreme Court March 7.
The Republican State Convention was held at the Theatre, August 12. Wil-
liam Dennison was its temporary and Caleb B. Smith its permanent chairman. Its
nominations were: For Governor, Salmon P. Chase; Lieutenant-Governor,
Addison P. Russell; Treasurer, Alfred P. Stone; Supreme Court Judge, Milton
Sulliff; Board of Public Works, Jacob Blickensderfer, Junior. The c'onvention
was addressed by S. P. Chase and B. F. Wade.
1858.
The beginning of a schism disastrous to the Democratic part}', and of ]iorlent-
ous consequences in National affairs, was signalized by a large meeting of the
Anti-Lecompton, or Douglas Democracy, held March 10, afternoon and evening.
George W. Manypenny presided; Frederick Fieser. of the Westbote, wasoneofthe
secretaries. Stanley Matthews and Frederick P. Stanton" were the principal
speakers. Letters from Henry A. Wise, of Virginia, Senator David C. Broderick,
of California, and Robert J.Walker, late Governor of Kansas, were read to the
meeting. The attendance was large.
To break the force of this demonstration a meeting of the Buchanan Democ-
racy was held at the Concert Hall March 12. Speeches were made by William A.
Neil, S. Medary and Sterne Chittenden. S. S. Cox, representing the Columbus
district in Congress, wrote at this time that those who undertook to read out of
the party the Western Democrats who were opposed to the Lecompton measure
" mitjht as well try to read the hickories out of the western woods."
The Republican State Convention was held at the Concert Hall July 13, J. M.
Ashley temporarily and Samuel Craighead permanently presiding. Nominations:
Supreme Court Judge, William V. Peck, Scioto ; Comptroller, William B. Thrall,
Franklin; Attorney-General, Christopher P. Woleott, Summit; Board of Public
Works, John L. Martin, Butler.
The Democratic Stale Convention met at the Theatre July 29, T. J. S. Smith,
of Montgomery County, presiding, and nominated: Supreme Court Judge, T. W.
Hartley, Richland; Comptroller, S, W. Gibson, Mahoning; Attorney-General,
Durbin Ward ; Board of Public Works, R. H. Hendrickson, Butler.
1859.
A Democratic festival was held at the American Hou.se January 8. Among
those who responded to toasts were Allen G. Thurmaii, Durbin Ward and Wayne
426 History of the City of Columbus.
Griswold. The Democratic State Convention was held May 27, at Armory Hall ;
teinporai-y chairman, William B. Woods; permanent, Barnabas Burns. Nomina-
tions: Governor, E. P. Banney, Cuyahoga; Lieutenant-Governor, William H.
Safford, Koss ; Supreme Court Judge, Henry C. Whitman, Fairfield; Auditor,
G. Voltiey Dorsey, Miami: Treasurer, William Bushnell, Eichland ; Secretary of
State, Jacob Reinhard, Franklin; Board of Public Works, James Tomlinson,
Washington : School Commissioner, Charles N. Allen, Harrison.
Eejiublican State Convention, Armory Hall, June 2; teniporary chairman,
Benjamin Eggleslon ; permanent, B. F. Wade. Nominations: Governor, William
Dennison, Franklin; Lieutenant Governor, Robert C. Kirk, Knox; Auditor,
Robert W. Taylor, Mahoning; Secretary of State, Addison P. Eussell Clinton;
Treasurer, Alfred P. Stone, Franklin ; Supreme Court Judge, William Y. Gholson,
Hamilton; Board of Public Works, John B. Gregory, Scioto; School Commis-
sioner, Anson Smythe, Franklin. The convention was addressed by Henry S.
Lane, of Indiana, and Benjamin F. Wade.
Hon. Stephen A. Douglas addressed a large Democratic meeting on the East
Terrace of the Capitol September 7. This was the first public meeting held on the
terrace and was spoken of as " the inauguration of that convenient place for pub-
lie assemblies." A platform for the speaking was built on the outer edge of the
terrace, facing toward the building, and was canopied with brown sheeting. This
arrangement proved to be a very bad one, the acoustic effect being such that Mr.
Douglas could be heard only a few feet from the jjlatform.
Abraham Lincoln spoke from the Terrace September 16, but faced from the
building instead of towards it. He was announced as " Hon. Abraham C. Lincoln,
of Illinois," and came to Columbus under the auspices of the Young Men's Eepubli-
can Club. This was his first speech in Ohio. He was introduced to a large audi-
ence by Hon. George M. Parsons. A political discussion between opposing candi-
dates for the office of Governor took place on the East Terrace October 4.
The John Brown raid on Harper's Ferry was announced October 17. On
December 2, the day of Brown's execution, a meeting of the colored people was
held at the Second Baptist Church, James Poindexter presiding. Eesolutions
extolling Brown and justifying his eflForts to liberate the slaves were adopted. A
Stale Christian Anti-Slavery Convention was held at the First Congregational
Church August 10-11, its delegates consisting mostly of clergymen. Eesolutions
were passed denouncing the fugitive slave law, and, in effect, declaring it void of
obligation. The State Journal stigmatized the convention as a "farce of the
preachers." Twentyone liberated slaves, manumitted bj- the will of Peterson Bur-
net, of Mecklenberg County, Virginia, arrived by canal packet in August. They
were forwarded to Hardin County, where lands for their use had been purchased.
A letter written by various interested persons in Columbus to Mr. Lincoln, request-
ing, for ])ublication, copies of his speeches delivered in debate with Senator Doug-
las, elicited the following reply :
Springfield, Illinois, December 19, 1859.
Gentlemen: . . . With greatful acknowledgments ... I transmit 3'ou the
copies. The copies I send you are as reported and printed by the respective friends
of Senator Douglas and myself, at the time — that is, his by his friends, and mine
by mine. It would be an unwarrantable libertj- for us to change a word or a
letter in his, and the changes I have made in mine, you perceive, are verbal only,
and very few in number. I wish the reprint to be precisely as the copies I send,
without any comment whatever.
Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
Political Events ; 1854-1860.
On January 26, of this year, the legislatures of Tennessee and Kentucky
visited the capital of Ohio, on invitation of the General Assembly, as guests of the
State. The invitation was extended at a time of critical relations between the
North and South, and was meant as an expression of good will. The legislative
bodies arrived at Columbus by special train from Cincinnati about four p. m., and
were accompanied bj' the Governor and other State officers of Indiana. Four
military companies — -the Miami Light Guard, the Montgomery Guards and the
German Jiiiiers, from Dayton, and the Light Guards from Springfield — arrived
simultaneously, and were received by the Fencibles, Vedettes, Montgomery
Guards and Artillery, of Columbus. The troops, in column by companies,
marched as an escort to the legislators from the railway station up High Street to
the Capitol, where the guests of the State and city were received by the General
Assembly in the Hall of Rejjresentatives. The visitors were welcomed on behalt
of the State bj- Governor Dennison, who spoke as follows:
Friends of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana: On behalf of tlie peoi)le of Ohio, speak-
ing through their General Assembly, I receive you at this their capital. I greet you as rep-
resentatives of sovereign States; 1 salute you as brethren of the great Valley of the Missis-
sippi, the centre and the citadel of the national confederacy. 1 greet you as fellow citizens
of the Union so dear to us all, the source of whatever makes us most proud of our country,
and the preservation of which for the equal and common benefit of all the States is alike the
highest and most grateful duty of the American citizen. By all these honorable titles you
are heartily welcomed here today.
Response was made by Governor Magoffin, of Kentuckj', and Lieutenant-
Governor Newman of Tennessee. The General Assembly then adjourned and the
speaking continued for some time, informally. In the evening the guests were
banqueted at the hotels. At these banquets table addresses were spoken, in
response to toasts, by Senators J. W. Fisk and L. W. Andrews of Kentucky; by
flonorables John W. Crockett and Curtis F. Burnham of the same Stale ; by Speaker
"Whittliorne and Hon. Jordan Stokes, of Tennessee; and by Judge T. M. Key,
Ex-Governor Chase and Speaker R. C. Parsons, of Ohio. Quitting Columbus at
nine a. m., January- 27, the legislative party returned by rail to Cincinnati where
the party was greeted with artillery salutes and was banqueted at the Burnet
House.
1860.
A liepublican State Convention was held at Columbus March 1, James T.
Worthington presiding. Thomas Spooner, Jacob Miiller, C. Brodbeck and V. B.
Horton were appointed dolegatcs-at-largc to the National Convention. The dele-
gates were instructed, by a vote of 375 to 73, to vote for S. P. Chase for Presi-
dent.
The Democratic National Convention assembled at Charle.ston April 23, and
after adoption of a platform as to slavery which was unsatisfactory to the Southern
delegates, the latter withdrew, and on May 3 the convention adjourned to
reassemble at Baltimore June 18. At the adjourned meeting thus provided for,
Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, was nominated for President, and Benjamin
Fitzpatrick, of Afabama, for Vice President. Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia,
was subsequently substituted, by the National Committee, for Mr. Fitzpatrick,
who declined. Tbe bolting delegates, immediately after their withdrawal at
Charleston, adopted a slavery-extension platform and called a convention to be
428 History op the City of Columbus.
held at Richmond June 11. This convention finally met at Baltimore June 23,
readopted the platform of the Charleston seceders and nominated John C. Brcck-
enridge of Kenlucky, for President, and Joseph Lane, of Oregon, for Vice
President.
The "Constitutional Union " party, consisting for the most part, of a residuum
of Know Nothings, held its National Convention at Baltimore, May 9, and
nominated John Bell of Tennessee, for President, and Edward Everett, of Massa
chusetts, for Vice President.
The Eepublican National Convention, sitting at Chicago May 16, nominated
Abraham Lincoln for President, and Hannibal Hamlin for Vice President. On
receiving the news of these nominations at three P. m., May 18, the Republicans
of Columbus caused 100 guns to be fired on the Capitol Square. In the evening
bonfires were lit in the streets and fireworks were displayed. A Republican mass
meeting to ratify the nominations was held at the West Front during the evening
of May 21. Speeches were made by R. P. L. Baber and Ex-Governor Chase, and
songs were sung by the Lincoln Glee Club. The organization of " Wide Awake"
companies in the interest of Lincoln and Hamlin began soon after this mooting.
The oflScers of the first of these companies, chosen at a meeting held at the City
Hall, May 30, were : Commandant, William L McMillen ; Assistant Commandants,
James N. Noble and Edward Fitch; Secretary, Dwiglit Bannister; Treasurer,
Charles T. Wing. The Central Lincoln Club was organized at a mass meeting
held in front of the Capitol June 1 ; President, R. W. Taylor; Treasurer, Luther
Donaldson ; Secretai-ies, James M. Comly and Hermann Eeuss. The theatre
building, on Slate Street, was leased for the use of Republican clubs and commit-
tees during the campaign.
The Douglas wing of the Democracy held a ratification meeting in the Capitol
Square June 25, J. H. Riley presiding. Speeches were made by R. B. Warden,
Charles Sweetscr. J. H Geiger, Sterne Chittenden and George L. Converse. A
national salute was fired at the corner of State and Third, and the streets were
illuminated with bonfires and enlivened by a parade of marching clubs.
A Breckenridge and Lane ratification meeting, Thomas Sparrow presiding,
was held at the corner of Broad and Third streets June 29. The speakers were
Thomas Sparrow, William A. Neil and S. VV. Andrews. The State Executive
Committeemen of the Breckenridge Democracy were W. A.Neil, Thomas Sparrow,
S. VV. An.lrews, J. A. Miller, L A. Marrow and W. S. V. Prentiss.
The Douglas Democracy held a State Convention July 4 at the Odeon, Samuel
Lahni, of Stark, temporarily and Edward Kinsman, of Cuyahoga, permanently
presiding. Nominations: Supreme Court Judge, Thomas J. Fitch, Montgomery;
Attorney-General, Allen G. Thurman, Franklin; Board of Public Works, Abner
L. Backus, Lucas. The Breckenridge, or socalled •' National " Democracy, held a
State Convention in Columbus August 7. The temporary ciiairman was General
McLaughlin, of Richland ; the permanent one, Reuben Wood of Cuyahoga. Reso-
lutions offered by C. B. Flood to nominate a State ticket wore tabled. William A.
Neil and Charles Reomelin were nominated as Electors-at-large. A Douglas Club
was organized at the Citj' Hall, August 11; President, Peter Ambos ; Secretaries,
John M. Pugh and Joseph Falkenbach ; Treasurer, S. S. Eickly. A Bell and
Everett State Convention, P. Van Trump pre.siding, was held August 16 at Chilli-
cothe. Allen Trimble of Highland, and John Davenport, of Belmont, were named
as Electors-at-large.
On July 27 John Sherman addressed a Republican meeting at the " Wigwam."
A torchlight parade of Wide Awakes took place the same evening. Emancipation
Day— Auirust 1 — was celebrated by the colored people at Goodale Park ; address
by James Puindexter.
PoLiTiCAi, Events; 1854-1800. 429
On Aimust 22 fassMis M. Cliiy addressed a larirc aftoi-nmn Rupiiblioan meet-
ing at the Kasi i'ldiil illlie Cajiitol. An eveiiiiig UKoliny at llio Wigwam was
addressed li\ ivlwaiil Arciibold and S. P. Cliasc. A Re])ublican mass meeting at
the Wigwai'u SejAeml.er 21 was addressed by R. G. SciiencU, Francis P. Blair, S.
P. Chase and Thomas Corvvin. On Soptemijer 25 a large Doughis meeting was
held at Goodale Parli. Stephen A. Douglas and Horscliel V. Johnson were both
present and made speeches. A procession was formed on High Street, and moved
to the Park with music and banners A torchlight parade toolc place in the even-
ing, and Messrs. Schnable, Johnson and Gibson addressed a street meeting in front
of the American House.
A Republican mass meeting, hold ai the Wigwam Octobers, was addressed by
H. C. Noble, S. P. Chase, William Dennison and Samuel Galloway. In the streets
the Wide Awakes held a torchlight parade, accompanied by fireworks, artillery
salutes and bonfires. A Democratic meeting held the same evening was addressed
by S. S. Cox. A Breckenridge meeting held at the Odeon November 1 was
addressed by Thomas W. Bartley and Charles Follett. A meeting of colored
people held at the Second Baptist Church December 19 passed resolutions appeal-
ing to the General Assembly to repeal the "odious and unjust laws " discriminat-
ing against colored citizens. James Evans presided
NOTES
1. Ohio State Journal report.
2. Mr. Stanton had been Secretar
CHAPTER XXVll.
THE COALITION OF 1855.
BY HON. OREN POLLETT.
[Hon. Oren Follelt, of Sandusky, Oliio, was, at the time he wrote the following paper,
in 1889. ninetytwo years of ape, and was probably the oldest journalist then living in Ohio.
He was a responsible editor of the Ohio State Journal during the campaigns of 1840 and 1844,
and was editor of that paper for three years, beginning in 18.54. At the period of which he
writes, he was Chairman of the Republican State Central Committee. He is a brother to
Mrs. William A. Piatt, of Columbus.]
In what I shall here say, I propose simply to review events with which as
editor, and Chairman of the Republican State Central Committee of 1855, I had
connection, mentioning in mj' progress, as few names as possible.
There are doubtless still in active life many persons who can recall the cam-
paign of 1854, in all its essential features. It will be remembered that the State
ticket of that year embraced but two offices. Judge of the Supreme Court and
Member of the Board of Public Works. Judge Swan was elected by 80,000
majority! This was a " glorious victory," but wholly unexpected. It inspired
the outside observer with unbounded confidence in the new party movement
[then in progress]. The inside working of the political machine is not always
understood by the average observer. The Know-Nothing organization was new
and had manifested its power in local elections only; it was on this occasion left
out of account. By means not necessary to detail, I had, early in the spring of
1855, obtained a view behind the scenes. The organization was spreading and
was perfecting its machinery, but it did not think it wise or profitable to try its
working power on the slim State ticket of 1854; it cast its vote, therefore, solid for
Swan, as against its real object of attack. To the uninitiated, it would have been
a matter of wonder and surprise to know that the order at that time had over
1,200 lodges in the State duly officered and organized.
Many of the leading Whigs in the State, strongly anti-alaverj' in their feel-
ings, but unwilling to ally themselves with the so called Liberty party, were
members of the Know-Nolhing organization. It also had recruits from the Demo-
cratic party. There was something sectional in the new Republican party —
they would wait. They did not deem it best to show their organized strength by
a separate ticket in 1854, for the reasons already stated. The course adopted in
1854 was designed more for the depression of the Democratic organization than-
for the elevation of the Republican party, ^s was shown by their vigorous prepa-
ration for the campaign of 18&5, as will appear.
[430]
The Coalition of 1855. 431
I have, in as few words as possiljlo, imiiuatud t'lc posilioii of tlu^ parlies in
1854. I regret that I cannot more fully enter into a history of llio eampaign of
1855, its hidden movements and processes, without mentioning the names of
prominent persons, now passed away, who lent valuable aid to the movement by
which the Know-Nothing and the Eepublican organizations were brought into
harmonious action at a very critical period. 1 do not hesitate in naming Mr.
Spoonei- (I do not remember his Christian name) recently deceased, who, at the
time, was Clerk of the Superior Court of Cincinnati and was chief officer of the
Know-Nothing organization. He wus a total stranger, but by the intei'vention of
friends, we were soon brought into confidential relations. His services were valu-
able ; he betrayed no trust, and I take pleasure in paying this slight tribute to
his memory.
Avoiding detail which would involve the necessity of mentioning the names
of men no longer on eartli lo spcuk for themselves, it will be sufficient to say that,
after negotiation and due r.nisuliatitjn, at which I was the only person privy on
the part of the Eepublican puriy, ii was determined to call a meeting of the secret
organization to be composed ot delegates from each Congressional District of the
State, at which 1 might be present with such friends as I should select and would
vouch for.
Here was a climax. Whom could I safely approach ? I had sounded my com-
mittee. The feeling toward the Know-Nothings was one of mild indignation for
failing to consider the result in 1854 as conclusive. In the course I was pursuing,
secrecy all around was necessary, so far as opponents and the general public were
concerned. As chairman of the State Central Committee and editor of the cen-
tral organ, I was assuming a respoiisibility to bo justified only by success. But
having assured myself that to proceed as we were was certain defeat, I no longer
hesitated. In the course adopted it will be seen that only open facts can be dis-
The Republican State Convention had been called for July 13, the anniver-
sary' of the Ordinance of 1787, and it was whispered that the Know-Nothing
and the Democratic oi-ganizatious would await its action. The most fnat would
be conceded by our committee was to recall the announcement and to bo guided
by events. That, I claimed, would bo a confession of ueakness, a thing to he
avoided when facing the enemy. The proposition was rejected.
There seemed thus to be' no alternative. Defeat was sure with the three
parties in the field, with the probabilities largely in favor of the Democratic p:irty
in its awakened zeal. The Republican party proper had undoubtedly increased
in force, but it was still the weakest of the* three. Its defeat after the splendid
canvass of 1854, would throw a damper over the States and, it not fatal, would
certainly embarrass the movement for a time.
I accepted the proposition of our Know Nothing brethren ; and, after look-
ing over the ground in all its bearings, I selected two, and but two, friends to
accompany me to the secret convention. These were Colonel Schouler, editor at
that time of the Cincinnati Gazette, and George A. Benedict, one of the editors
of the Cleveland Herald. The purpose to be answered by tliis selection will be
apparent on slight examination ; the Gazette on the southern border, the Herald
at the north and the Journal in the center, all speaking in the same voice and
echoing the same sentiments, and all intensely Know-Nothing on certain points
in the then condition of the press of Oiiio, would be potential and irresistible, as
the sequel proved.
The secret convention assembled (the date I do not remember) at Cincinnati,
in a room on Fourth Street, occupied by the engineers and draughtsmen engaged
in the construction of the Ohio & Mississippi railroad. There was a full repre-
sentation from the congressional districts and quite a number of supernumer-
432 History of the City of Columbus.
uries, residents of the city. The Republican representation was as before stated.
On tailing my seat and easting my eyes over the room, I discovered Colonel
Lewis Campbell, of Butler county, with whom on former occasions I had cooper-
ated. I at once took my seat beside him. It was arranged that, after the organiz-
ation, I should address the meeting. I made ray speech in explanation, etc., and
was followed by Campbell. The further prcliminarj' proceedings were mainly
l)y direct question and answer, all in good temper and with kindly intent. After
a fair understanding to divide the ticket equall^^ on the principle that, to the con-
tracting parties, " half a loaf is better than no bread," very unexpectedly to me,
a proposition was made to nominate a ticket forthwith, instead of awaiting the
action of the State Convention. After discussion, the proposition was adopted.
A full Slate ticket from the Governor down, made a fine opening for the ambitious.
Mr. Chase, I knew full well, was a candidate for Governor and one not easily dis-
posed of with the full Liberty party to back him. I had visited Mr. Chase in
Ma}-, trying to persuade him to decline, fearing the effect of his name, on the
members of the defunct Whig party, but without success. At the interview, he
promised to consult his friends and give me an answer in the morning. How
many he consulted besides communion with himself, is of course not known, but
probably the circle was not large.
On the other hand, 1 knew for a certainty that Jacob Brinkerhoff, of Mans-
field, a lawyer of some eminence who had served a term in Congress, was the
intended nominee of our Know-Nothing friends. When, in spite of my objection,
it was voted to nominate, a crisis was presented which it was necessary promptly
to meet. 1 arose in my place at the proper juncture and nominated Brinkerhoff
for Governor. The effect was salutary. There was present in the meeting a
delegate from Cincinnati, who had fixed his eye on the nomination lor Attorney-
General. He was disappointed and the incident came near defeating the -whole
movement, for, before ten o'clock next morning, Mr. Chase was informed in full
of the proceedings the evening before.
Here I must interrupt ray narrative long enough to say that Mr. Chase was
too good a manager, where himself was concerned, to provoke outside opposition
unnecessarily. He wisely and fortunately for the good of the cause, determined
to await developments and see what would come of counteracting movements.
Of all this, in due course, I was advised or guessed, and took measures accord-
ingly. Mr. Chase, on his part, was active and aggressive. His Liberty friends,
as a class, were men of concentrated views and of determined purpose. Mr. Chase
was their man and he should be nominated for Governor, even if compelled to run
on an independent ticket. At the State Convention, to make sure of their object,
there were in outside attendance some tliree or four hundred, whose purpose it
was to give him an independent nomination, in case of failure before the Conven-
tion. 1 had information of this fact, but not of the numbers; the latter came after-
ward by confession. To return to my narrative. The outlook, with the facts
foreshadowed and transpiring, was not encouraging. It was necessary', if we
would succeed, to make myself master of the situation ; and for that purpose, I
paid a personal visit to Mr. Brinkerhoff at Mansfield and to another talked-of can-
didate in Morrow County, whose name I cannot recall, to ask of them a pledge
not to withdraw from the canvass at the instance of Mr. Chase's friends or of any-
body else, without constrlting with me. After due explanation, the pledge was
given and kept in good faith.
In due course, the Convention met at Columbus. The arrangement still stood
that the ticket should be of the approved mixture — " half and half" — in other
words, half Republican and half Kuow-Nothing. It should here be understood
that the Know-Nothing State Convention, which, if my memory serves me, was
to have been held in Cleveland, had been quietly postponed to await events, and
n
^
THE JEFBRE'l M AN Ul AC! I KINU COMl'ANY,
The Coalition op 1S55. 433
delegates to tlie Golumhus Convention elected at the Republican primary meetings
ill which the Know-Nothings were to take part. Of course, I understood that
this arrangement, with their secret organization, would give our friends a
decided advantage in the selection of delegates. That was a minor risk. The
Convention was to be a Republican Convention anil the ticket noininated was to
be a Republican ticket. I do not su|ipos(^ that I was the only one who saw the
ultimate outcome. But the leading men who lent themselves to the movement
were men of enlarged views and patriotic sentiments. They had mostly been
Whigs as long as there was a Whig part}', and such of them as were Know-
Nothings were so to arrest or at least check the movement of the Democratic
party North, in its growing syin|iathy with the arrogant claims of the South.
This explanation is due to the memory of the many prominent men who had allied
themselves with the Know Xoiliinu; part}- and without whose sympathy and
hearty concurrence, I could have done nothing effectively.
I return to the Convention. It met as appointed. The delegations were full
to overflowing. In short, the outside attendance swelled the crowd to incon-
venience. Excitement ran high. Giddings led the Liberty party crowd. I did
not know, nor did I wish to know, hi,s exact position in case of failure to nomin-
ate Chase. I repeat, the excitement ran high. Various expedients were proposed.
Some Columbus friends su^i-csted the nomination of Judge Swan for Governor;
the Judge's splendid canNa-Mif the year before, it was thought, made him invincible.
They did not undersiahd the inside workings of the campaign. I made no
attempt to explain the present condition of things; the advice was to keep cool
and await events. So far as I knew, myself and the two editors named were the
only persons on our side who understood the real slate of things.
When the excitement was at the highest, I sought out my friend Brinkerhoff.
I called his attention to the excitement, which he iully recognized, and of which
he had in part penetrated the cause. In view of the facts and the state of things
portending, I put the question whether he had not better take the nomination of
Judge, as really an office of more honor and power than that of Governor. His
reply was prompt; he thought he would; it was more in the line of his profes-
sion, etc.
The agony was over. A few words in the right place operated like oil on the
troubled waters. Mr. Chase was on hand watching the course of things. I went
to his room and informed him that the course was clear for his nomination.
These were the first words that we had exchanged on the subject since my inter-
view in May. He seemed incredulous*^ but the immediate entrance of Lew Camp-
bell, with the same announcement, removed all doubt.
But the Convention — what of it? It a.'feembled and nominated a full ticket,
every candidate being a Know-Nothing, with the excej^tion of the head, Mr. Chase.
What, then? Where was your "half and halt?" Why. simple reader, we had
got the whole! Were they not nominated at a Republican Convention ? Were
they not all Republicans?" The Know-Nothing party was disbanded, dead. The
Liberty party was absorbed, amalgamated. The coast was clear for the Republi-
can party and it took possession.
This history would not be comjilete without mention of the additional fact
that a portion of the Know-Nothing party in the central and southern counties
were not satisfied with the nomination of Mr. Chase. They therefore brought
out Ex-Governor Trimble as a third candidate and polled some 23,000 votes for
him. But, notwithstanding, by good management Mr. Chase's plurality was
about 15,000 — and the whole ticket was triumphantly elected.
As in 1854-5, the now compact Republican party thought that some recogni-
tion was due the editor of the Journal ; and, by due process, he became at the suc-
2S»
434 HlSTOIiY OP THE (!lTY OF CoLUMBUS.
ceeding Congress of 1855-G, the caucus candidate for Public Printer, with General
Banks, of Massachusetts, as the candidate for Speaker. Historj- tells us that Gen-
eral Banks was elected, but I was not. The story, if told in detail, would be a
long one ; and for many reasons had better not be told. The principal actors
have ail passed away ; not one, so far as I know, is now living^ It was a seltish,
unprincipled job from the beginning, adverse to honest party rule in its inception
and its execution. Omitting details, it should be understood that the plot to
capture the office and elect a Democrat as Printer (Wendell), had its inception in
the ascertained close division of the parties in the House, before the assembling of
Congress. Men of both parties, not members, were concerned in the plot.
Touching the final issue, it is in order to say, as shown by the record, that the
Indiana delegation brought forward a candidate of their own, Mr. Defrees, of
Indianapolis. This looked like independent action — but it was not. In 1855, it
will bcai- s:i\iri<;-, Mr. Harrison, a son of President Harrison of 1840, and the lather
of rrc'siilciii Harrison of 1888, was a member of the Indiana delegation and,
though not a loading member, was one of the most stubborn bolters. Undoubtedl}'
there were individuals who took part in this job who did not understand the work
in all its bearings and did not know how deep they were wallowing. They were
used bj- abler and bigger men than themselves to "pull the chestnuts out of the
fire."
An incident took place the evening before the election of Printer too personal
to be related here. 1 forebear entering upon it at this late day. What I have
set down is a fair history, in outline, of the campaign of 1855 and its attendant
consequences, which I verifj' by my signature and would otherwise attest, if it
were necessary.
O. FOLLETT.
CHAPTER XXV
POLITICAL EVENTS; 1861-1867.
1861.
Jannaiy 4 was set apart by proclamation of the National and State execu-
tives as a day of fasting and jirayer for the Union, then in imminent peril of
disruption. The forces of the Southern Confederacy were at this time already
organizing; State after State was drifting towards the vortex of revolt, and
political events of the highest importance followed one another, thick and fast.
Party lines and factions became insignificant in the presence of the momentous
crisis which involved the national existence. The Republicans, professing to
renoutice all mere partisan considerations for the salvation of the country,
adopted the name of Union, and Democrats, in large numbers, were equally
prompt to subrogate every party obligation to the higher one of maintaining the
integrity and supremacy of the national compact.
On January 23 the Democratic State Convention met at Armory Hall;
Thomas J. S. Smith was chosen as its temporary, and Henrj- J. Jewett as its
permanent chairman. John K. Ridgway and twenty others were appointed vice
chairmen. From the Committee on Resolutions R. P. Ran ney reported a declara-
tion of principles, the fifth clause of which was objected to by Judge Key as
recognizing the right of secession. The resolve objected to read :
That the two hundred thousand Democrats of Ohio send to the people of the United
States, both North and South, greeting; and when the people of the Nortli shall have ful-
filled their duties to the Constitution and the South, then, and not until then, will it be
proper for them to take into consideration the doctrine of tbe right of the coercion of a
State; and then and not until then, should they attempt to put down the alleged right of
secession by the alleged right of coercion.
Substitutes for this were offered by Judges Key, Warden and Thurman ; that
of Judge Thurman was adopted as follows:
That the two hundred thousand Democrats of Ohio send to the people of the United
States, both North and South, greeting ; and when the people of tbe North shall have ful-
filled their duties to the Constitution and the South, then, and not until then, will it be
proper for them to take into consideration the question of the right and propriety of
coercion.
On January 28 a Union meeting, " irrespective of party," held at the City
Hall? A. G. Hibbs presiding, adopted resolutions favoring the measure known as
the Crittenden compromise, and declaring that the Union could not be preserved
by force. This meeting was addressed by Matthias Martin, Robert Hutcheson,
S. Medary and A. G. Thurman. An editorial article in the Cincinnati Commercial
L435]
436 History of the City of Columbus.
of March 31, preferring the dissolution of the Union to coercion, was a subject of
general and deeply interested comment throughout the city. The article was
currently supposed at the time to represent the views of Mr. Chase.
On February 8 the following dispatch was received by Governor Uennison :
Springfield, Illinois, Feb. [s], 18(il.
Gov. William De7inison:—ln replv to your despatch to John Y. Wilcox 1 woulil state
that Mr. Lincoln will leave here on Monday, eleventh instant, arriving at Indianapolis at
5 p. M. same dav ; will arrive in Cincinnati on Tuesday at 3 p. m. ; will arrive at Columbus
on Wednesday "at 2 p. m. ; will Keave Columbus on Thursday, at 8 a. m.
W. S. Wood.
A joint committed of the General Assembly to arrange for the reception of Mr.
Lincoln at the capital of Ohio had already been appointed, its menibois on the part
of the Senate being Messrs. James Monroe, F. P. Cuppy and George W. Holmes,
and on the part of the House, Messrs. Samuel Brown, 8. VV. Andrews, E. Parrott,
J. Scott, William J. Flagg, Isaac Welsh and Jesse Baldwin. Overlures from this
committee to the City Council of Columbus to cooperate in the arrangements for
the reception were cordially responded to, and Messrs. A. B. Buttles, J. A. Riley
and S. E. Ogden were appointed committeemen to represent the Council in that
behalf. Mayor Lorenzo English and Messrs. Donaldson, ComstocU, Butler and
Stauring of the Council wer^. appointed to invite the Presidentelect to accept the
hospi talities of the city. An official programme for the reception was prepared and
announced by State Adjutant-General Carrington. The weather on tlie day of Mr.
Lincoln's arrival (Wednesday, thirteenth) was propitious, and the city was
crowded with visitors. The popular eagerness to see the coming President was
intense, and when the train bearing him rolled into the station, the great crowd
which had gathered there broke into prolonged huzzas, mingling with the deep-
toned echoes of an artillery salute. Amid enthusiastic demonstrations Mr. Lincoln
descended from the train, and was conducted to a carriage drawn by four bay
horses and escorted by a civic and military procession up High Street to the
Capitol, where another great crowd was in waiting. Passing, with some difficulty,
through the dense throng into the Capitol building, Mr. Lincoln was introduced
to the General Assembly, in the Hall of Representatives, by Lieutenant-Governor
Kirk, who in the course of his remarks, said :
Never, in the history of this government, has such fearful responsibility rested upon
the chief executive of the nation as will now devolve upon you. Never, since the memorable
time our patriotic fathers gave existence to the American Republic, have the people looked
with such intensity of feeling to the inauguration and future policy of a President, as they
do to yours.
Accompanied by Governor Dennison, Mr. Lincoln ascended to the Speaker's
desk and spoke as follows :
Mr. President and Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the General Assembly of Ohio ; It is
true, as has been said by the President of the Senate, that very great responsibility rests
upon me in the position to which the votes of the American people have called me. I am
duly sensible of that weighty responsibility. I can but know what you all know, that without
a name — perhaps without a reason why I should have a name — there has fallen upon me a
task such as did not rest upon the Father of his Country, and so feeling I can only turn and
look for those supports without which it will be impossible for me to perform that great
task. I turn, then, and look to the American people, and to that God who has never forsaken
the American people.
Allusion has been made to the interest felt in relation to the policy of the new adminis-
tration. In reference to this I have n ceived from some sources some degree of credit torjiav-
ing kept silence ; from others some degree of depreciation. I slill think I was right. In the
varying and repeatedly shifting scenes that never could enable us to judge by the past, it
has seemed fitting that before speaking upon the difficulties of the country 1 sliould have
seen the whole ground to be sure ; after all being at liberty to modify and change the course
of policy as future events may make a change necessary. I have not maintained silence from
Political Evknts; 18til-lS()7. 437
any real want of anxiety. It is a good thing tliatthereis no more anxiety, for tliere is notliing
going wrong. It is a consoling circumstance that when we look out, there is nothing that
really liurts anybody. We entertain different views upon political questions, but nobody is
suffering anything. This is a most consoling circumstance, and from it we may conclude
that all we want is lime, patience and reliance on that God who has never forsaken this
people.
Fellow citizens, what I have said, I have said altogether extemporaneously and I will
now come to a close.
Commenting upon this address, the Ohio State Journal said of Mr. Lincoln :
Tlie impref-sion which the appearance of the President created was most agreeable..
His great height was conspicuous even in that crowd of goodly men. . . . At first the
kindness and amiability of his face strikes you, but as he speaks, the greatness and determin-
ation of his nature are apparent. Something in his manner, even more than his words, told
liow deeply he was affected by the enthusiasm of the people, and when he appealed to them
for encouragement and support, every heart responded with mute assurance of both. Tliere
was the simplicity of greatness in his unassuming, confiding manner that won its way to
instant admiration.
After the reception by the General Assembly, Mr. Lincoln was conducted to
the West Front of the Capitol, where he addressed the people as follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen : I appear before you only to address you very briefly. I shall
do little else than thank you for this very kind reception ; to greet you and bid you farewell.
I should not find strength, if I were otherwise inclined, to repeat speeches of very great
length upon every occasion similar to this— although few so large— which will occur on my
way to the Federal Capital. The General Assembly has just done me the honor to receive
me. and to hear a few broken remarks from myself. Judging from what I see, I infer that
that reception was one without party distinction, and one of entire kindness ; one that had
nothing in it beyond a feeling of the citizenship of the United States of America.
Knowing, as I do, that any crowd drawn together as this has been is made up of citi-
zens near about, and that in this county of Franklin there is great difference of political sen-
timent, and those agreeing with me having a little the shortest row [laughter]— from this
and the circumstances I have mentioned I infer that you do me honor to meet me here with-
out distinction of party. I think this is as it should be. Many of you who were not favora-
ble to the election of myself to the Presidency were favorable to the election of the distin-
guished Senator from the State in which I reside. If Senator Douglas had been elected to
the Presidency in the late contest, I think my friends would have joined heartily in meet-
ing and greeting him on his passage through your capital, as you have me today. If any of
the other candiilates had been elected, I think it would have been altogether becoming and
proper for all to have joined in showing honor, quite as well to the office and the country as
to the man. The people themselves are honored by such a concentration.
I am doubly thankful that you have appeared here to give me this greeting. It is not
much to me, for I shall very soon pass away from you ; but we have a large country and a
large future before us, and the manifestations of good will towards the government, and
affection for the Union which you may exhibit, are of immense value to you and your pos-
terity forever. [Applause]. In this point of view it is that I thank you most heartily for
the exhibition you have given me, and with this allow me to bid you an affectionate fare-
well.
After this address the Presidentelect took a position in the rotunda, near the
stairway leading to the Library, and received the people, who passed in at the
south door and out at the north one in eager, impatient and apparently endless
mass. For awhile Mr. Lincoln signaled his greetings with his right hand but,
says an account,
As the officers gave way before the irresistible crowd, he shook hands right and left
with astonishing rapidity. The physical exertion must have been tremendous. Peo]ile
plunged at his arms with frantic enthusiasm, and all the infinite variety of shakes, from the
wild and irrepressible pumphandle movement to the dead grip, was executed upon the
devoted sinister and dexter of the President. Some glanced into his face as they graspeci
his hand, otliers invoked the blessing of Heaven upon him ; others gave him their last gasp-
ing assurance of devotion ; others, bewildered and furious, with hats crushed over their eyes,
seized his hand in a convulsive grasp, and passed on. . . . But at last the performance became
488 History of the City of Columbus.
intolerable to the President, who retired to the staircase, in exhaustion and contented him-
self with loiiking at the crowd. as it swept before him.'
Mr. Lincoln remained at the Capitol until 4:30 P. m., when he withdrew to
the residence of Governor Dennison,^ where he was visited by members of the
General Assembly and City Council. In the course of the evening he held
another brief levee at the Capitol ; at eight o'clock on the morning of the four-
teenth he departed, by rail, for Pittsburgh. He was accompanied by members of
his family and otliers.
In January the General Assembly passed a joint resolution authorizing the
Governor to appoint commissioners to represent Ohio at a Peace Conference
invited bv Virginia and to be hehl at Washington. S. P. Chase, Thomas Ewing,
John C. Wright, V. B. Horton, W. S. Groesbeck, Franklin T. Backus and Reuben
Hitchcock were the commissioners named.
Hon. S. P. Chase resigned from the National Senate March 6, to accept apjjoint-
ment as Secretary of the Treasury. John Sherman was chosen to succeed him
March 21. B. F. Wade had been elected for the full term some weeks before. A
very large Union meeting, at which J. R. Swan presided, was held at Armory
Hail April 17. The meeting was addressed by Judges Swan, Warden, and Ran-
kin, S. Galloway, J. A. Garfield and others. Resolutions declaring that the
National Government must be sustained, at whatever sacrifice, were adopted.
Senator Stephen A. Douglas arrived at Columbusjfrom Washington, cii route to
Chicago, at midnight April 22-28. Sometinie after midnight ho was serenaded at
the American House where he was stopping, and a curious scene took place which
was thus described by Hon. J. D. Cox :
A dark mass of men tilled the dimly lit street and called for Douglas with an earnestness
of tone wholly different from the enthusiasm of common political gatherinKS. He came
halfdressed to his window and, without any light near him, spoke solemnly to the people
upon the terrible crisis which had come upon the nation. ... I remember well the solici-
tude with which I listened to his opening sentences as I leaned against the railing of the
Statehouse Park trying in vain to see more than the dim outline of a man as he stood at the
unlighted window, His deep sonorous tones rolled down through tlie darkness from above
in an earnest, measured voice, the more solemn, the more impressive because we couM not
see the speaker, and it came to us literally as "a voice in tiie night"— the night of our
country's unspeakable trial. There was no uncertainty in his tone ; the Union must be pre-
served and the insurrection crushed ; he pledged his earnest support to Mr. Lincoln in doing
this. Other questions must stand aside until the National authority should be everywhere
recognized. I do not think we greatly cheered him. It was rather a deep amen that went
up from the crowd.
One the following day — tvventythird — Mr. Douglas, by invitation of the
General Assembly, addressed an immense audience at the North Front of the
Capitol. A newspaper report thus summarized his remarks, which, we are told,
were " received with universal approbation."
He said he would never advise, but would resist at all times, a war against the institu-
tions, the property and the constitutional rights of the people of the South ; on the other
hand, he would resist secession, uphold the flag, and maintain the autliority of the Federal
Government. He would not fight the South in violation of her rights, but he would uphold
the constitution of his country and not lay down our arms until the national authority was vin-
dicated . . . The great Northwest wouUl never consent that the Gulf States should con-
trol the mouth of the Mississippi, or interrupt the the free navigation thereof. . . . The
seceded states have already adopted many of the most odious features of the tyrannical gov-
ernments of Europe. Passports of the most oppressive and exacting kind are now in exist-
ence there. The questions involved are such as should arouse the patriotic people of the
whole Union, and the war should be one of self-defense, and for the preservation of the Gov-
ernment He called upon all men, without respect to party, to rally to the defense of the
Government and its constitutional head, and for the maintenance of tlie National Constitu-
tion, and said it was no time now to inquire what produced this state of things; no time to
discuss this platform or that platform. ... He paid a high compliment to the patriotic citi-
PoLlTUAL KVENTS ; lS()l-lS(i7. 439
zens of Ohio for their loyalty to the Union, and the alacrity with which they are responding
to the call ot the country.
At eleven A. m. Senator and Mrs. Douglas quitted the cit.y for Chicago. Ho
died tliere on the third of the ensuing June.
The Democratic State Convention was held at Columbus August 7; Samuel
G. Wilson, of Mahoning, was temporary, and D. A. Starkweather, of Summit, per-
manent chairman. Nominations: Governor, H. J. Jewett, Muskingum ; Lieutcn-
ant-(i(ivernor, J. Scott Harrison; Supreme Court Judge, Thomas J. S. Smith;
Sccrctai'3' of State, W. W. Armstrong ; State Treasurer, George W. Holmes ; Comp
trollcr, Wayne Griswold ; Board of Public Works, J. W. Fitch. The resolutions
adopted declaimed that the Civil War was the result of "misguided sectionalism
engendered by fanatical agitators, north as well as south ;" that it " should not be
waged for an}- purpose of conquest or subjection, nor for the purpose of over-
throwing or interfering with the rights of established institutions of the States,"
but to " defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and to preserve
the Union, with all the dignity, equality and rights of the States unimjjaired ; "
and that " the legislatures of the several States " should take measures for calling
a national convention to settle the existing difficulties.
On July 25 the Eepublican State Central Committee assembled af Columbus
and adopted resolutions declaring it the duty of all citizens "to put aside all
]3olitical opinions and unite in defense of their government;" that it was there-
fore not expedient to call a convention to nominate state officers; that the
Democratic State Central Committee be requested to unite with the Eepublican
Committee in a call for a joint delegate convention representing all who were in
fitvor of the maintenance of the National Government and of the vigorous and
continued prosecution of the war for that purpose; and that in the event of
refusal by the Democratic Committee to accept this proposition before August 9,
the Republican Executive Committee be directed to call a delegate nominating
convention " to be chosen without reference to party upon the simple basis of the
maintenance of the Government and the suppression of the i-ebellion against it."
No response being received to the invitation extended to the Democratic
Committee in pursuance of these resolutions within the prescribed time, and the
Democrats having meanwhile nominated their own ticket, a call was issued for a
" Union Convention " to be representatives of " all loyal citizens" who were in favor
of maintaining the National Government and suppressing the rebellion against
it. This call was signed by George M. Parsons, Samuel Galloway, John Brough,
G. Volney Dorsej', David Tod, R. P. Spalding, R. B. Warden, and many others,
both Democrats and Republicans. The convention thus summoned was held at
Columbus September 5, Thomas Swing presiding. Its nominations were:
Governor, David Tod ; Lieutenant-Governor, Benjamin Stanton ; Supreme Court
Judge, Josiah Scott ; Comptroller, J. H. Riley ; State Treasurer, G. Volnoy Dorsey ;
Socretarj' of State, B. R. Cowen ; Board of Public Works, John Torrence. The
resolutions adopted declared that the war had been "forced upon the country by
the disunionists of the Southern States;" that it was being waged on the loyal
side in no spirit of resentment and for no purpo.se of conquest ; and that —
quoting the language of Hon. Joseph Holt — "we [the Unionists] are for the
Union without conditions, one and indivisible now and forever; for its preserva-
tion at any and every cost of blood and treasure against all its assailants; and
against any and every compromise that may be proposed to be made under the
guns of the rebels." Union State Executive Committee: Isaac J. Allen, James
H. Smith, George M. Parsons, Thomas Sparrow, C. N. Olds, John Geary, B. F.
Martin. Democratic State Executive Committee : Wayne Griswold, William A.
Johnson, Samuel Medary, G. W. Manypenny, Jacob Reinhard, S. R. Hosmer,
J. F. Bollmeyer.
440 History of the Citv of Columbus,
J. Scott Harrison having declined the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant-
Governor, John G. Marshall, of Brown County, was nominated in his stead b_y
the State Executive Committee of the party, which at the same lime appointed
S. Medary as its chairman, and Amos Layman as its secretary. Hon. J. J.
Crittenden, of Kentucky, addressed a large impromptu Democratic meeting at
the West Front of the Capitol August 6. Hon. Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee,
addressed a large audience in behalf of the Union at the Hall of Representatives
October 5. The meeting began at the East Terrace, but rain compelled the
people to go inside.
Governor Tod u as inaugurated January 13, the ceremonies being held in the
rotunda of the Capitol. The Fortysixth Ohio Infantry, from Camp Lyon, the
Twentyniiith, Pillheighth and Sixtyninth from Camp Chase, and two comjianiis
of United States Inlantry under Cohjnel Carrington,_took part in the ceremonies.
The troops assembled on Slate Street, whence tliey marched to a large field south-
east of the Asylum for the Insane, where thej- were reviewed by Governor Den-
nison and staff and the Governorelect.
William G. ("Parson ") Brownlow, of Tennessee, visited Columbus, April 13,
and was reeeivetl with special honors by the General Assemblj'. In the evening
a soiree at which he was the principal guest, was given at the residence of Luther
Donaldson, President of the City Council.
The Democratic State Convention met at the Naughlen Hall, where Doctor
Wayne Griswold called it to order " by waving a green hickory bough " under-
stood to symbolize an "olive branch of peace." John O'Neill, of Muskingum,
was the temporary, and S. Medary, of Franklin, the permanent chairman.. Among
the speakers who delivered addresses during the day and evening were Messrs.
Medary, Vallandigham, Thurman, Jackson, Trainer and Finck. The resolutions
denounced the emancipation measures of President Lincoln. Nominations:
Supreme Court Judge, R. P. Eanney; Secretary of State, W. W. Armstrong;
Attorney-General, Lyman R. Critchfield ; School Commissioner, C. W. H. Cath-
eart; Board of Public Works, James Gamble.
The Union State Convention assembled in Naughten Hall, August 21, Benja-
min Stanton chairman, both temporary and permanent. The resolutions adopted
opposed all compromises with the Rebellion, and endorsed the administi-alion of
Governor Tod. Nominations: Supreme Court Judge, Franklin T. Backus; Sec-
relarj- of State, "W. S. Kennon ; Attorney-General, Chauncey N. Olds; School
Commissioner, William D. Henkle; Board of Public Works, John B. Gregory.
On October 6, a mass meeting " without reference to party " was held in the
Cajjitol Square to "give expression of public sentiment in endorsement of the
President's [emancipation] ^proclamation." This meeting was referred to as " one
of the grandest assemblages ever witnessed in Ohio " It was addressed by Gover-
nor Tod, G. V. Dorsey, General Wallace and Samuel Gallowaj'. T. Buchanan
Read recited his poem— The Defenders. Professor Lewis Heyl presided. A meet-
ing of coloi'cd citizens to express their joy over the Emancipation Proclamation
was held October 8, at the First Baptist Church. H. B. Ferguson was chairman,
J. E. Roney secretary.
1863.
On Januarj' 5, Edson B. Olds, discharged from political imprisonment, was
escorted from liancasler to Columbus by his jiartisans. A g'rcat procession, formed
Political Events; 1801-1807. 441
six miles out, conducted him into tlie city. An address of welcome was delivered
by George L. Converse and responded to by Mr. Olds. The marshals of the daj'
were B.W. Carlisle and sheriff Miller, of Fairfield, and J. O. Reamey of Frank-
lin. On March 5, the office of Medary's C)'/.s*.s was mobbed, as described in another
chapter. The Eighth of Januarj' was celebrated by the Democracy at the Ameri-
can House, Judge R. P. Ranney presiding. Addresses were made by H. J. Jewett,
Milton Saylor,"E. B. Olds, Colonel Manypenny, L. R. Critchfield, William J.
Flagg and A. M. Jackson.
A great Uni<in mass meeting held in Columbus. March 3, was addressed by
Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee ; Governor Wright, of Indiana; Benjamin Stanton
and S. F. Gary. Mr. Johnson arrived March 2, and was entertained at the resi-
dence of Governor Tod whence he was escorted to the Capitol by a detachment of
the Eighteenth Regulars, Captain Eyster; the Governor's Guard, and the Second
Ohio Cavalry, Colnnul Kountz. Di'spiti' a snciw stm-ni ]ircvailing at the time, the
streets through which the |ii-iMi'ssioii |)ass(Ml wvw cniwdcil with jjoople. On the
Capitol grounds the jiarly was wchiiineii l>^■ an aitilK'i-\' salute of 144 guns, fired
by Captain KonUle's BaltcTV. The meeting was held i'n the Hall of Representa-
tives, which was densel}' crowded. Mr. Johnson began liis address at two o'clock
p. M., and spoke three hours. An "overflow" meeting in the Senate Cliamber
was addressed b}' Colonel L. D. Campbell. A Union League was organized in
the course of the s|)ring : its hall was in the Carpenter Block. C. L. Vallandig-
ham addressed meetings of his partisans at Columbus on April 28 and 3U. On
May 1, he delivered an address al Mount Vernon, for the treasonable sentiments
of which he was arrested at Dayton, May 5, condemned, and sent south.
A socalled Ohio Peace Convention was held on the Bast Terrace of the
Capitol June 11. Its temporary chairman was John S. Trimble, of Jefterson
County; its permanent chairman. William Medill, of Fairfield. Judge James of
Muskingum proposed C. L. Vallandigham for the nomination for Governor;
Henry B. Payne, of Cuyahoga, ])roposed II. J. Jewett. All of the votes but eleven
were cast for Vallandigham on tlie first ballot. The other nominations made
were: Lieutenant-Governor, George E. Pugh ; Auditor, William Hubbard ; Treas-
urer, Henry S Knapp ; Supreme C(mrt Judge, P. Van Trump; Board of Public
Works, John H. Heaton. Resolutions i-eported by Allen G. Thurman were
adopted, denouncing Vallandigham's arrest and banishment, and demanding his
recall. A committee to present this demand to President Lincoln was appointed
as follows: G. II. Pendleton, Alexander Lonir, D. A. Houk, J. F. McKinney, F C.
LeBlond, Chilton A. White, S. S. Cox, T. W. Bartley, Louis Schaeffer, W. P.
Noble, A. L. Backus, W. A. Hutchins, William E. Fink, John O'Neill, George
Bliss, James R. Mori'is, J. W. White, W. J. Gordon and M. Birchard. This com-
mittee held a consultation at Columbus prior to its departure for Washington.
The Union State Convention was held at the Atheneum June 17, L. D. Camp-
bell presiding. Nominations: Governor, John Brough ; Lieutenant-Governor,
Charles Anderson; Supreme Court Judge, Hocking Hunter: Auditor, James H.
Godman; Treasurer, G. V. Dorsey ; Board of Public Works, John M. Barrcre.
The convention was addressed by L. D. Campbell and Benjamin F. Wade. A
large street parade took place, incidental to the convention. Union mass meetings
held July 8 were addressed by J. M. Ashley, John Brough and Charles
Anderson. The evening meeting in the Capitol Scjuare was described as
"immense." Another union meeting held in the S(|uaii' September 7 was
addressed by John Brough, David Tod, Samuel Gallowa\ and Wager Swayne. A
closing Union rally at Columbus October 8, at which William Dennison presided,
was addressed by B. F. Wade, Z. Chandler and John A. Bingham. A very large
street parade took place in the afternoon. A meeting of War Democrats suppoil-
442 Hl8T(ll!Y OF THE CiTY (IF COLUJIBUS.
iiig Eroiiicli was lield at Columbus September 22, Barnabas Burns chairman. It
waf3 addressed by Colonel McGroarty and Messrs. Fitzgerald and Burke.
A large Democratic meeting, one of the incidentals of which was a long pro-
cession, Look place September 21. It was addressed by D. W. Voorhes, Allen G.
Thurmaii and William Allen. The speeches were delivered from the Bast Terrace
of the Capitol.
A Union 'jollification" over the defeat of Vallandigham took place October
14. Granville Moody, Ex-Governor Tod, N. A. Gray and Secretary S. P. Chase
were the ])riiicipal speakers of the occasion.
On November 1 C. W. H. Cathcart, School Commissioner of Ohio ; J. D.
Cresup, of Columbus ; Thomas Watson, a Confederate captain ; and Doctor Lazelle,
a Confederate Surgeon, were arrested by United States Marshal Sands on charges
of aiiling antl abetting the rebellion by furnishing information to the enemy.
The aceuseil persons were taken to Cincinnati for trial.
1864.
On January 8 the two Houses of the General Assembly met jointly in the Ilall
of Representatives and listened to an addreiss on the life and character of Andrew
Jackson by G. V. Dorsey.
The Democratic State Convention met at Naughten Hall March 23, George
Rex presiding, and appointed delegates to the National Convention to be held at
Chicago. An effort was made to have Vallandigham appointed as one of the dele-
gates but failed ; R. P. Ranney was named in his stead. George E. Pugb and
T. W. Bartley were nominated for Senatorial Electors. Other nominations were:
Secretary of State, W. W. Armstrong ; Supi-eme Court Judges, P. Van Trump,
M. C. Whitely and A. S. Boys ; Attorney-Gener.il, Lyman R. Critchfield ; Comp-
troller, W. S. V. Proitice ; School Commissioner, A. S. Ramsey; Board of Public
Works, William Larwill. Executive Committee: John G. Thompson, S. W.
Andrews, F. Jaeger, George L. Converse and A. G. Thurman.
The State Union Convention met May 25, Colonel T. R, Stanlev, of the
Eighteenth Ohio Infantay, presiding, and nominated : For Supreme Court Judges,
Luther Day, William White and Horace Wilder; Secretary of State, William H.
Smith ; Attornej'-General, W. P. Richardson ; Comptroller, Moses R. Brailey ;
Board of Public Works, Philip Herzijfig full term and James Moore for the
vacancy. Slate Executive Committee : p. V. Doi-sey, James Williams, A. B.
Buttles, Theodore Comstock, H. Miller, B. Gillmore and William Dennison. The
convention was addressed by Messrs. Brough, Stanton, Bingham, Gaddis, Loudon
and Brehm.
The National Republican Convention assembled in Baltimore June 7. Doc-
tor Breckenridge was its temporary and William Dennison its permanent chair-
man. Its nominees were Abraham Lincoln for President and Andrew Johnson
for Vice President.
The National Democratic Convention was held at Chicago, beginning August
29. Ex-Governor Bigler was its temporary and Horatio Seymour its jiermanent
chairman. George B. McClellan was nominated for President and George H.
Pendleton for Vice President. John C. Fremont was nominated for the Presi-
dency by a Republican faction, and accepted the nomination, but afterwards
withdrew from the field.
On June 21 the Baltimore nominations were ratified by a large mass meeting
held in the Cajtitol Square. This meeting was addressed by Messrs. Dennison,
Delano, Tod and Dorsey. The Chicago nominations were ratified with bonfires,
Political Events; 1861-1867. 443
speeches and fireworks September 7. The i)rincipal speakers were Judge J. L.
Green — who presided — A. G. Thiirnian and S. S. Cox.
A large Union meeting was held in the Capitol Square September 14 ; speak-
ers, S. Giilioway and William Dennison. Sheridan's victory in the Valley was
announced just as the meeting was closing. A Democratic meeting held in the
Courthouse yard Julv 24 was addressed bj' S. S. Cox Another Democr.itic meet-
ing held at the Courthouse August 23 was addressed by Matthias Martin, George
L. Converse, John G. Edwards and others. A grand Union rally was held in the
Capitol Square October 8. A large street parade was one of the con8j)icuous
features of the occasion. The principal speaker was Horace Maynard, of Tennes-
see.
Otto Dresel having resigned his seat in the General Assembl^y, the Democrats
nominated A G. Hibbs and the Union party Henry Emrich, to succeed him. The
special election took ])lace December 28, and resulted in the election of Ilibbs.
1865.
On February 7 Governor Brough received a dispatch from the President
announcing that twothirds of all the States ha<i adopted the thirteenth amendment
to the National Constitution, abolishing slavery. At noon the two Houses of the
General Assembly met jointlj' in the Representaiives' Chamber and exchanged
congratulations upon this event. Speeches were made by Governor Brough and
Speaker Johnson. At five P. m. a salute of 100 guns was fired on the Capitol
Square. A State Convention of County Clerks was held in Columbus Januarj' 7,
and one of County Sheriffs, January 19. February 22 was celebrated by a ban-
quet given at the Neil House by tlie Hamilton County members of the General
Assembly to the officers and legislators of the Stnte in honor of the anniversar}''
and also in commemoi-ation of the fall of Charleston. The oratorical eft'orts of the
occasion were numerous.
The Union State Convention was held June 17, General William B. Woods
presiding, both temporarily and permanentlv. Nominations: Governor, General
Jacob Dolson Cox; Lieutenant-Governor, Andrew G. McBurney ; Trcasui-er,
Sidney S.Warner; Supreme Court Judges, Jacob Brinkerhoft' and John Welsh;
Attorney-General, William H. West; School Commissioner, John A. Norris ;
Board of Public Works, James Moore; Supreme Court Clerk, Eodney Foos.
State Executive Committee, George B. Wright, James Williams, A. B. Buttles,
J. J. Janney, B. E. Cowen, Merrill Barlow, J. W. Dwyer. The convention was
addressed by AVilliam B. Woods and R. C. Schenck ; its music was furnished by a
colored band from Chattanooga.
The Democratic State Convention was held at the Atheneum August 24;
C. L. Vallandigham was its temporary, and R. P. Rannoy, its permanent chair-
man. Speeches were made by Messrs. Vallandigham, Ranney. Thurman, Morgan,
Pendleton and Sawyer. Nominations : Governor, George W. Morgan ; Lieutenant-
Governor, William Lang ; Supreme Court Judges, P. Van Trump and Thomas M.
Key; State Treasurer, George Speuce; Attorney-General, David W. Wilson;
School Commissioner, H. H. Barney; Board of Public Works, Charles Boesel ;
Supreme Court Clerk, S. Daner. State Executive Committee : John G. Thomp-
son, Amos Layman, E. F. Bingham, A. G. Thurman and W. W. Webb. The
Franklin Democratic A.ssociation was organized October 28; President, A. G.
Thurman; Vice President, E. F. Bingham; Secretaries, John G. Thompson and
Jacob Lobrer; Treasurer, Newton Gibbons.
Governor John Brougb died at Cleveland August 29; Lieutenant-Governor
Charles Anderson was inaugurated as Governor August 30.
History of the City of Coll'muus.
General J. D. Cox was inaugurated as Governor January 9. The ceremonies
took place in the rotunda of the Capitol whither General Cox was escorted by the
Fourth Kegiment of Veteran Eeserves. The oath of oflSee was administered by
Chief Justice Brinkerhoff. John Sherman was nominated for National Senator
by the Re]>ublican caucus January 17. The rival candidates for the nomination
were E. C. Schenck and John A. Bingham. A lecture on the National Debt was
delivered before the Franklin Democratic Association January 6 by George W.
Morgan. January Eighth was celebrated by the Democracy at Naughton Hall,
Hon. William Allen presiding. The principal speakers were A. G. Thurraan,
G. W. Morgan, G. H. Pendleton, L. R. Critchfield, F. H. Hurd, C. H. Vallandig-
ham, Charle.s FoUett and Barnabas Burns.
During the latter part of 1864 Lambdin P. Milligan, William A. Bowles and
Stephen Horsey, citizens of Indiana, were arrested, tried by a military commis-
sion, condemned and sentenced to be hung for alleged conspiracy against the
National Government. On June 1, 1865, the day before that appointed for
their execution, Picsident Johnson commuted their sentence to life imprisonment
in the Oliiu I'mitciitiary. On April 10, 1866, L. P. Milligan was discharged on
writ of /iiiJii.i.^ rui-jiiis issued by the Probate Judge of Franklin County, Hon. John
M. Pugb. The attorney who procured the writ was Milligans fellowtownsman,
J. T. Coft'roLh. Pending additional proceedings to obtain the release of Bowles
and Horse}', their discharge from further custody was telegraphically ordered by
the War Department.
The Democratic State Convention was held at Naughten Hall May 24;
tem|)orary chairman, H.J. Jewett; permanent, A. G. Tliurman. Nominations:
Secretary of State, Benjamin Le Favor ; Supreme Court Judge, Thomas M. Key ;
Board of Public Works, William Larwill. Speeches were made by Messrs.
Jewett, Thurman and Vallandigham.
The Union State Convention was held at the Atheneum June 20 ; temporary
chairman, Georire Hoadly ; permanent, Peter Odiin. Nominations: Secretary of
State, William H. Smith; Supreme Court Judge, Josiah Scott ; Board of Public
Works, John M. Barrere. State Executive Committee: B. R. Cowen, James
Williams, George B. Wright, Henry Miller, Rodney Foos, L. J. Critchfield and
Isaac Aston. A Soldiers' and Sailors' State Union League was organized at
Naughton Hall June 21. Resolutions were passed favoring the equalization of
bounties. Hon. William Dennison, who had resigned from the Jolmson cabinet,
arrived from Washington August 10, and was formally welcomed by a deputation
of citizens to the residence of R. E. Neil where, on introduction by L. J. Critchfield,
he delivered an extended Anti-Johnson speech.
Asocalled Jolmson State Convention, to choose delegates to a National Conven-
tion of -the same political complexion, to be held at Philadelphia, assembled at
Naughton Hall August 7. B. Bassett Langdon presided temporarily, S. A. Strick-
land permanently. The delegates-at-large appointed were L. D. Campbell, J. B.
Stcudman and William S. Groesbeck. Among the speakers were J. H. Geiger
and John M. Connell. Asocalled National Union (Johnson) Club was organized
in Columbus Auij;ust 14; President, John Geary; Executive Committee, S. Henkle,
G. S. Inni^, A."W, Dolson, C. W. Carter, John Geary, J. H. Studer and John
Van Yorx. A Central Union Club was organized August 24; President, Starling
Loving. A National Union (Johnson) Convention was held at Philadelphia
August 14; tcm])i)rar3' chairman John A. Dix ; permanent. Senator Doolittle.
The (i]K'ning Union meeting of the campaign took place at the Atheneum
August 11: speakers, .Jacob D. Cox and Samuel Shellabarger. A delegation of
Political Events ;
1861-1S(;^
southern loyal
lists, wlio
lia<l i>cen in attemlan
ee npon ai
at Philadelphi
a, was re
eeive.l hy ihe Uni..n (
Jliili Septe
tlie same even
ini;-, in a
political nieeliiii; at
the West
introdiietoiy
adtlress
was delivered on t
his oeeas
445
Anti-.Iolinson e.nivention
iher 21, and pnri i, i |,aled,
-'rcnit i>r the ('apiLil. An
)n by L. J. Critchlield.
Governor Cox prcsitlcd. A county convention of late Union soldiers was liold at
the City Hall September 22 for the |3ur])ose of cdioosing delegates to a National
Convention of Anti-Johnson soldiers to be held at Pittsburgh, September 25.
Frederick Douglas was formally received by the eoldred pcojde ot Columbus
September 22. In the evening he addressed a large amlieiice, white and black, at
Naughton Hall. His remarks mostly related td the subject of " negro suffrage,"
which he declared to be "the question of the hour."
A political reception and welcome were given to General B. F. Butler October
4; reception committee, R. Burr, W. T. Reese, VV. G. Deshler, C. N. Olds, Peter
Ambos, James Patterson, George B. Wright, Eoyal Taj'lor, Tlicodore Comstoek,
W. H. Day, W. J. Fell, Starling Loving. George T. Metcalfe and T. Lough. The
city was liberally decorated and a large parade took place, John G. Mitchell chief
marshal. A salvo of artillery was fired upon Butler's arrival. From a platform
erected on the East Terrace he was introduced by L. J. Critchfield, and addressed
a large audience. He was foFlowed by S. Shellahargcr and S. Gallowa}'. An
additional meeting, accompanied by a torchlight parade, took place in the evening.
A Democratic meeting ratifying the action of the Johnson Convention at
Philadelphia was held September 10; chairman, John Gearj- ; speakers, A. G.
Thurman, E. P. L. Baber, J. H. Geiger. Judge Rankin and others.
President Andrew Johnson, accompanied by Secretaries Welles and Seward,
Generals Grant, Steedman, Rousseau, McCallura and Custer and Admiral Farragut
visited Columbus September 12. The movements ol this distinguished party
awakened much popular curiosity, and drew an immense crowd which exhibited
a gi-eat deal of noisy enthusiasm. The escort, including the Columbus Zouaves,
the City Council, the Fire Department and the Fenian Societ}-, was led by Gen-
eral C. C. Walcult, chief marshal. On the East Terrace, where a platform was
erected, the President was welcomed by Mayor Bull. After the welcome Mr.
Johnson delivered an extended argument in support of his political policy. After
the meeting the party was banqueted at the Noil Plouse ; no speeches. The ladies
of the President's party were Mesdames Farragut, Welles, Custer, Patterson,
Greer, Gooding and iVIcGuinness. The party loft for Cincinnati on the morning of
the thirteenth, escorted to the i-ailway station by the Citj' Council and Hemmers-
bach's band.
1867.
The Democratic State Convention was held in Columbus, January 8; tem-,
porary chairman, J. N. Christian; permanent, G. H. Pendleton. Nominations:
Governor, A. G. Thurman; Lieutenant-Governor, Daniel S. Uhl; Treasurer, C.
Fulton; Auditor, John McElwee; Attorney-General, Frank H. Hurd; Supreme
Court Judge, Thomas M. Key; Comptroller, William Sheridan ; Board of Public
Works, Arthur Hughes. Among the speakers were W. M. Corry and C L. Val-
landigham. Apolitical "jubilee" was held at the Neil House in the evening,
George W. McCook presiding.
The Union State Convention" assembled in the Atheneum June 19; a prelim-
inary meeting, S. Loving presiding, was held at the West Front June 18. Thechair-
man of theconventioii was R. C, Schenck. Nominations: Governor, E. B.Hayes;
Lieutenant-Governor, Samuel Galloway; Supreme Court Judge, John "Welsh;
Auditor, James H, Godman ; Treasurer, S, S. Warner; Attorney-General, W. H.
446 History of the City of Columbus.
West; Comptroller, M. R. Brailoy; Board of Public Works, Philip Herzing. State
Executive Committee: B. R. Cowen, James Williams, Henrj' Miller, C. C. Walcutt,
J. W. Dvvyer, Eodney Foos, James Taylor. Samuel Galloway declining the nomi-
nation for Lieutenant Governor, the State Central Committee met at Columbus
July 10 to nominate another candidate. The committee organized by electing
Thomas L. Young chairman and Alfred E. Lee secretary. General J. D. Cox,
Attornej'- General West and other prominent Eepublicans addressed tbe meeting.
General John C. Lee of Tiffin was nominated.
The Lfnion Club was reorganized June 14 and held frequent meetings during
the canvass; President, Starling Loving. A Central Democratic Club was also
organized and was publicly addressed on various occasions. A proposed amend-
ment striking the word "white ' from the suffrage clause of the State Constitution,
and disfranchising deserters and " bountyjumpers " was the principal issue of the
year in Ohio. A State convention of cofored citizens to endorse and support this
amendment was held at Naughten Hall July 3, Moses W. Walker temporarily,
and John Watson permanently presiding. Various meetings of the local colored
element to further the interests of the amendment were also held. A LTnion mass
meeting at the West Front August 27 was addressed by Hon. O. P. Morton.
General P. H. Sheridan transiently visited the city September 19. having just
come from his command at New Orleans. Many buildings were decorated in his
honor. Schuyler Colfax addressed a large audience at the West Front September
23. A very large Democratic mass meeting was held September 30. It was
addressed by S. S. Cox, C. L. Vallandigham, D. W. Voorhes and F. H. Hurd.
The chief marshal of the street procession was Frederick Beck. One of the
organizations taking part in the parade was that of the White Boys in Blue, organ-
ized September 26 ; "Commander, I. H. Marrow. A Grand Guard of White Boys
in Blue, with 500 members enrolled, was organized September 27. A Democratic
"jollification " over the results of the election took place November 9, accompanied
by a parade of the White Boys in Blue. E. F. Bingham presided; principal
speakers, A. G. Thurman and K. P. L. Baber.
NOTES.
1. Ohio State Journal report.
2. Then on North High Street, about where the Chittenden Hotel now stands. ^
3. The name Republican, dropped during tlie war, had not yet been resumed by tbe
party which had borne it at the outbreak of the Rebellion. /^ / j
CHAPTER XXIX
POLITICAL EVENTS; 1868 = 188y.
1868.
Governor R. B. Hayes was inaugurated January 13. The weather being verj-
cold, although the skies were clear, the ceremonies took ])lace in the rotunda. The
Governorelect was escorted from his residence on State Street to tlie Cajjitol by
the Sherman Guards, holding the right of the column, and the Emmitt Guards
holding the left. At the rotunda the proceedings were opened with prayer l>y Rev-
erend Doctor Trimble, after which the new Governor delivered his inaiiguaral
address and the oath of otfice was administered to him by Chief Justice Day. The
ceremonies being concluded, Governoi- Hayes received the congratulations of his
friends at the Executive Chamber.
The election of Allen G. Thurman to the National Senate was finally
announced in the General Assembly January 15. W. H. Smith resigned the office
of Secretary of State January 14; his successor, by appointment, was John Rus-
sell, of Champaign County. ' On January 20 a Pendleton Club, with Allen G.
Thurman as president, was organized. Its purpose was to advance the interests
of George H. Pendleton as a candidate for the National Presidency. The election
of John Beatty to Congress at a special election in the Eighth District was the
occasion for a Republican "jollification" meeting, at which speeches were made bj-
J. W. Keifer, B. P. Potts, S. Galloway and others. A Grant Club —the first in
the city — was organized March 7.
The Republican State Convention assembled at the Atheneum March 4; tem-
porary chairman, A. G. McBurney; permanent, John C. Leo. The resolutions
adopted proposed General U. S. Grant for the Presidency and B. P. Wade for the
Vice Presidency, and commended the attempted impeachment of President Andrew
Johnson. Nominations; Secretary of State, Isaac R. Sherwood ; Supreme Court
Judge, William White ; Board of Public Works, James Moore; School Commis-
sioner, John A. Norris; Supreme Court Clerk, Rodney Foos ; Electors-at-large,
David Tod and Samuel Galloway. The Democratic State Convention, H. J. Jewett
presiding, hiade the following nominations: Secretary of State, Thomas Hub-
bard; Supreme Court Judge, William E. Finch; Board of Public Works, Arthur
Hughes; School Commissioner, J. F. Kirkwood ; Supreme Court Clerk, John M.
Webb. State Executive Committee: E. F. Bingham, T. S. Shepherd, W. P.
Brown, W. W. Webb, F. Jaeger.
The Republican National Convention assembled at Chicago May 21 — Carl
Schurz temporarily and Josepli K. Hawley permanently presiding — and nomin-
ated U. S. Grant for President and Schuyler Colfax for Vice President. The
Democratic National Convention —John A. McClernand temporarily and Wil-
[477]
448 HlSTORV OF THE CiTY OF CoLUMBUS.
liam B. Franklin permanently presiding — assembled at New York July 4 and
nominated Horatio Seymour for President and Francis P. Blair for Vice Presi-
dent. On July 13 a Democratic ratification meeting was held at which speeches
were made by A. G. Thurraan, E. B. Eshelman and E. P. L. Baber. The White
Boys in Blue were reorganized August 15, with Isaac H. Marrow as commander.
Many of the Eepuhlican campaign clubs took the name of Grant Tanners. At a
Republican meeting on the evening of August 9, the Tanners ])araded in uniform,
carrying torches; speakers, R. W.Thompson, of Indiana, and Samuel Galloway.
Additional Republican meetings, accompanied by torchlight parades, were held
August 21 iind October 9. A Democratic mass meeting, at which the White Boys
in Blue paraded, was held at the West Front September 10; speakers, John H.
Thomas, G. W. McCook and G. L. Converse. General Thomas Ewing addressed
a Democratic meeting at the West Front September 2, General F. P. Blair
addressed a large Democratic meeting on tiie Capitol Square October 4. He was
followed by Joseph H. Geiger. A Democratic meeting, accompanied by torch-
light parade, was held at the West Front October 10; speakers, P. VanTrump,
E. B. Eshelman, G. W. Manypenny and J. H. Geiger. Horatio Seymour, the
Democratic candidate for the Presidency, arrived October 27, and was met and
escorted by the White Boys in Blue, the Hickory Sprouts and a reception com-
mittee. Mr. Seymour delivered a political address at the West Front, where he
was introduced by Judge Thurman. He was accompanied by Governor S. E.
Church, Augustus Schell and Fi'ancis Kernan. The Jeffersonian Guard, a Demo-
cratic club, held its first meeting at Duffy's Hall October 6.
1869.
Republican State Convention, Opera House, June 23; temporary chairman,
Benjamin Eggleston ; permanent, John Sherman. Nominations: Governor, R. B.
Hayes; Lieutenant-Governor, John C.Lee; Supreme Court Judge, Luther Day;
State Treasurer, S. S. Warner; Attorney-General, Frank B. Poud ; Board of Pub-
lic Works, Richard A. Porter. State Executive Committee, R. D. Harrison, Rod-
ney Foos, S. S. Warner, W. R. Thrall, E. T. Hall, William Dennison, J. Q. How-
ard. Democratic State Convention, Opera House, July 7 ; teraporarj' chairman,
J. F. Follett; permanent, P. Van Trump. Nominations: Governor, W. S. Rose-
crans; Lieutenant-Governor, T. J. Godfrey; Supreme Court Judge, William
J. Gilmore; Treasurer, Stephen H. Buhrer; Attorney-General, John M. Con-
nell; Board of Public Works, Benjamin F. Churchill. General Rosecrans
declined the nomination for Governor; the Democratic State Central Com-
mittee therefore met at Columbus August 11 and nominated George H. Pen-
dleton. Aratification meeting held the evening following thisaction was addressed
by Messrs. Thurman, McKinney, Connell and Callen. A Democratic meeting
held at the West Front September 24 was addressed by Thomas A. Hendricks,
George L. Converse and W. R. Golden. A Republican "jollification " over the
results of the election took place October 13. A free trade meeting at the City Qj^
Hall November 16 was addressed by Professor A. f. Perry, and was approvingly ^
reported and commented upon by the local Republican press. A State Municipal
Code Cenvention met at the Senate Chamber December 8; numerous cities repre-
sented— Columbus by Luther Donaldson, Jacob Reinhard and J. G. Thompson.
The Ohio Auditors' Association met at the Senate Chamber December 14.
Governor R. B. Hayes was inaugurated for a second term Januarj' ID ; cere-
monies in the rotunda ; escort, Sherman (iuards ; oath of office administered by Chief
<^O^^^t^-7^zc6(my'.
Political Events; 18GS-18S9. 449
Justice Luther Daj-. TheXVth amendment to the National Constitution was rati-
tied by the General Assembly January 20 ; its ratification as part of the Constitu-
tion was announced by Governor Haj-es March 31 and on April 13 this event was
celebrated by the colored people of Columbus, who signified their jo^- by holding,
on that occasion, a public meeting and parade. The meeting took place at the
Opera House, J. P. Underwood presiding. Addresses were delivered by J. Poin-
dexter, S. Galloway, J. P. Underwood, Grafton H. Graham, E. B. White and R. B.
Hayes. A State Woman Suffrage Convention was held at the Opera House
February 10, Mrs. Tracy Cutler presiding. An evening meeting took place at the
Senate Chamber. One of the principaf speakers was Mrs. Lucj- Stone. A free
trade meetini; at the West Front July 26 was addressed by Professor A. L. Perry,
of Williams College. William B. Thrall presided.
A State Temperance Convention was held at Temperance Hall June 1;
chairman, G. T. Stewart. Nominations: Secretary of State, Jay Odell ; Comp-
troller, Thomas Bdmundsou ; Board of Public Works, Enoch P. Collins; Supremo
Court Judge, G. T. Stewart. The convention was small. Democratic State Con-
vention, Opera House, June 1; temporary chairman, D. J. Callen ; permanent,
L. D. Campbell. Nominations: Secretary of State, William Heisley ; Supreme
Court Judge, R. A. Harrison ; Comptroller, J(]hn H. Heaton ; Board of Public
Works, William Spencer. State Executive Committee: John G. Thompson, Jacob
Reinhard, J. G. McGutfey, H. C. Helmick and Levi Wilson. Republican State Con-
vention, Opera House, August 10; temporary chairman, B. F. Potts; permanent,
S.Galloway. Nominations: Secretary of State, I. R. Sherwood; Supreme Court
Judge, George W. McBlvaine; Comptroller, William T. Wilson; Board of Public
Works, Philip Herzing. State Executive Committee : R. D. Harrison, Rodnej- Foos,
George K. Nash, C. C. Walcutt, James Williams, W. B. Thrall. The emaTieipation of
the slaves in the Southern States was celebrated by the colored people at Goodale
Park September 22. In the evening a festival took place at the Rink. A Repub-
lican meeting at the Opera House October 10 was addressed by J. A. Garfield and
S. Shellabarger. A Democratic meeting at the West Front October 8 was addressed
by S. F. Hunt and H. J. Jewett. A Republican "jollification" meeting at the
West Front October 13 was addressed by S. Shellabarger, A. F. Perry, S. Galloway
and L R. Sherwood. The State Board of Equalization, W. S. Groesbeck president,
met in Columbus November 7. An Ohio Woman Suffrage Convention was held
at the Opera House November 16 ; addressed by Lucy Stone, Mrs. W. V. Longley,
Mrs. Mary Graham and others.
A State convention of colored men, held at the City Hall, January 18, John
Booker presiding, passed resolutions demanding the repeal of all laws making
distinctions on account of color. The County Auditors' Association held its
annual sitting in Columbus, January 25. A peace jubilee of German citizens.
May 1, in honor of the peace concluded between Germany and France, was signal
ized by the largest procession seen in the city since the Civil War. Public exer-
cises took place at the City Park. Addresses by Henry Olnhausen, Rev. C. Hed-
diius, R. Wirth, J. H. Heitman, and the Prince de Lynar, of the Emperor Wil-
liam's staff.
Republican State Convention, Opera House, June 21 ; temporary chairman,
C. H. Grosvenor ; permanent, William Dennison. Nominations: Governor, B. F.
Noyes ; Lieutenant-Governor, Jacob Miiller; Supreme Court Judge, W. H. West;
29*
450 History of the City of Colujibhs.
Treasurer, Isaac Welsh; Auditor, James Williams; Attorney-General, Francis B.
Pond ; Board of Public Works, Stephen R. Hosmer ; Supreme Court Clerk, Rod-
ney Foos. State Executive Committee: James Williams, F. B. Pond, C. C. Wal-
cutt, G. K. Nash, Rodney Foos, R. D. Harrison An cvcninii; ratification meeting
was' addressed by John Sherman, J. A. Garfield, S. Galloway and Jacob Mlillcr.
A Young Men's Republican Club was organized at the Secretary of Stale's office
July 20. A Young Men's Democratic Association was organized at Thurman
Hall, July 10. The first County Convention of Prohibitionists met in Sessions's
Hall, July 22, and nominated candidates for county officers. The Ohio Labor
party held its State Convention at the City Hall, July 26, H. C. Sheldon presid-
ing. It nominated no ticket, but issued an address to the people. Democratic
State Convention, Opera House, June 1; temporary chairman, J. F. McKinney;
permanent, George H. Pendleton. Nominations: Governor, George W. McCook ;
Lieutenant Governor, S. F. Hunt; Supreme Court Judge, George W. Geddes ;
Attorney-General, E. S. Wallace; Auditor, J. R. Cockerill ; Treasurer, Gustav
Bruhl; Board of Public Works, Arthur Hughes; School Commissioner, W. W.
Ross ; Supreme Court Clerk, Charles Patterson. An evening ratification meeting
was addressed by Messrs. Vallandigham, Pendleton and Milton Saylor. The reso-
lutions adopted recognized as " accomplished facts " the three later amendments
to the National Constitution. Emancipation Day was celehated with much cir-
cumstance by the colored people September 22.
1872.
John Sherman was nominated for National Senator January 4; elected Jan-
uary 10. General E. F. Noyes was inaugurated as Governor, January 8. The
ceremonies took place in the rotunda ; oath administered by Chief Justice Josiah
Scott. The County Auditors held a State convention January 24, at Ambos Hall.
A State Woman Suffrage Convention met at the Opera House, February 15 ;
addressed by Mrs. J. G. Swisshelm, Mrs. E. L. Rexford, Mrs. J. H. Coulter and
others. The Republican State Central Committee met at the Hall of Representa-
tives, February 14, J. S. Robinson presiding, and adopted resolutions recommend-
ing the nomination of William Dennison for Vice President. A Labor Reform
National Convention held its sittings at Wagner's Hall, February 20, 21 and 22,
Edwin M. Chamberlain, of Massachusetts, presiding. This convention nominated
David Davis, of Illinois, for President, and Joel Parker, of New Jersey, for Vice
President. Both nominees declined ; the convention therefore reassembled at
the City Hall, August 21, and decided not to make new nominations. The atten-
dance at this second meeting was very small. The National Convention of the
Prohibition party was held at the Opera House, February 22 and 23; temporary
chairman, Henry Fish, of Michigan; permanent, S. B. Chase, of Pennsylvania.
James Black, of Pennsylania, was nominated for President, and John Russell, of
Michigan, for Vice President. A State Prohibition Convention assembled at the
Opera House, February 23, and nominated candidates for State officers,
Republican State Convention, Opera House, March 27 ; temporary chairman,
Alphonso Hart; permanent, John C. Lee. Nominations: Secretary of State,
A. T. Wikoflf ; Supreme Court Judge, John Welsh ; Board of Public Works, R. R.
Porter ; Senatorial Electors, J. C. Lee and Alphonso Hart. State Executive Com-
mittee, R. D. Harrison, Rodney Foos, J. B. Neil, W. T. Wilson, A. T. Wikoif,
C. C. Walcutt, James Williams, H. G. Otis, W. A. Hunt. The resolutions recom-
mended the nomination of William Dennison for Vice President.
A Liberal Republican meeting to choose delegates to the National Liberal
Republican Convention at Cincinnati, May 1, was held at Strader's Hall, April 16 ;
Political Events; 1868-1889. 451
chairman, H. Mithoff; addresses by ('. P. L. Butler, W. E. Ide, N. Merion, W. T.
Wallace and others. The Democratic State Convention was held at Cleveland,
June 27; its nominations were: Secretary of State, Aquila Wiley; Supreme
Court Judge, John L. Green; Board of Public Works, J. B. Eilcy. A National
Convention of Liberal Republicans, held at Cincinnati, May 1, nominated Horace
Greeley for Pi'esidcnt and Benjamin Gi-atz Brown for Vice President. The
National Democratic Convention assembled at Baltimore, July 9, and nominated
the same candidates. On September 3, a National Convention of Straighlout
Democrats met at Louisville and nominated Charles OConor for President and
John (^uincy Adams for Vice President. The Eepublican National Convention
mot at Philadelphia, July 5, and nominated U. S. Grant for President and Henry
Wilson for Vice President.
A ratification of the nominations of Greeley and Brown took place at the East
Front July 14 G. W. Manypenny presided and speeches were made by George
L. Converse, C. P. T;. Butler, H. J. Jewett and B. F. Bingham. A meeting of
Straightout Democrats, to form an O'Conor and Adams electoral ticket, met
October 22, J. H. Geiger presiding. A circular was issued by this meeting to the
"sold but undelivered Democrats of Ohio." A short speech was made by Mr.
Greeley while passing through the city, from Pittsburgh west, September 20.
James G. Blaine addressed a Republican meeting at the Opera House, October 7.
A Greeley and Brown mass meeting held at the East Front September 2, was
addressed by Senators A. G. Tlmrman and Lyman Trumbull. A Republican
meeting at the City Hall, September 20, was addressed by General B. F. Butler.
General W. S. Hillyer addressed the Republican Club September 26. A joint con-
ference of Liberal Republican and Democratic State Central Committees was held
at Thurman Hall, November 15. An address to Liberals and Democrats, pre-
pared by a committee appointed for the purpose, was read by Senator Thurman,
who ojiposed relinquishment of the Democratic name and organization.
The State Association of County Auditors met at the Capitol January 29.
The delegate convention chosen to revise the Constitution of the State assembled
in the Hall of Representatives, May 13. M. R. Waite, was chosen to preside.
The Republican State Convention was held at the City Hall, May 21 ; temporary
chairman, J. T. UpdegrafT; permanent, James Monroe. Nominations: Governor,
E. F. Noyes; Supreme Court Judges, William White and Walter F. Stone; Treas-
urer, Isaac Welsh; Attorney General, John Little; Comptroller, W. T. Wilson;
Board of Public Works, P. V. Herzing. State Executive Committee: C. C. Wal-
cutt, Rodney Foos, James Williams, F. B. Pond, J. C. Donaldson and Isaac Welsh.
A State convention of Libei-al Republicans and socalled "Allen County"
Democrats assembled July 30, at Ambos Hall; temporary chairman, T. E. Cun-
ningham, of Allen County ; permanent, Norton S. Townshend. The convention
was addressed by George E. Pugh, Thomas Ewing, Frederick Hassaurek and
William D. Caldwell. Resolutions reported by E. A. Parrott declared that the
Democratic and Republican parties had both outlived their usefulness ; opposed
subsidies ; and favored a tariff for revenue only. Nominations : Governor, Isaac
C. Collins; Lieutenant-Governor, A.S.Piatt; Attorney-General, Seraphim Myers;
Supreme Court Judges, P. B. Ewing and D. W. C. Louden ; Treasurer, Jonathan
Harshman ; Comptroller, C. P. L. Butler; Board of Public Works, James McBeth.
The Democratic State Convention assembled at the Oj^era House August 6 ;
temporary chairman, S. F. Hunt; permanent, W. H. Ball. Nominations;
452 History of the Citt of Columbus.
Governor, William Allen: Lieutenant-Governor, Barnabas Burns; Supreme
Court Judges, H. C. Whitman, C. H. Scribner; Attornej^-Generiil, M. A.
Daugherty; Treasurer, George Weinier; Comptroller, J. K. Newcomer; Board of
Public Works, C. Sehiinck. The convention was addressed by Mossrs. S. F.
Hunt and A. G. Thurman. A Democratic " jollificatioii " over Ihe results of
the election took place October 24 ; speeches by Allen G. Tlmrmaii, S. F. Hunt,
A. E. Jenner, S. F. Gary and George L. Converse. The State Association of
Conuty Auditors convened at the Capitol December 10-11.
Governor William Alien was inaugurated Januarj- 12. Tlie ceremonies were
attended by large numbers of people from different parts of the State, and were
accompanied by an extensive military parade in which the following organiza-
tions took part : Cleveland Graj^s, Herman Guards of Steubenville, Sill Guards
of Chillicothe, Light Guards and Lytle Grays of Cincinnati, Dayton Zouaves and
Toledo Cadets. G. S. Innis was chief marshal. The ceremonies were held on the
East Terrace ; in the evening an inauguration ball, notable for its elaborate
arrangements and large attendance, took place at the City Hall. A serenade to
Governor Allen at the Neil House was accompanied by speeches from Messrs.
Thurman, Hunt, Pendleton and Ewing. A mass meeting in behalf of the new
constitution pending before the jjeople was held in the Capitol Square August
15 ; speeches bj' Thomas Ewing and E. P. L. Baber. Democratic State Conven-
tion, Opera House, August 26 ; temporary chairman, J. C. McKemy ; permanent,
Thomas Ewing. Nominations; Secretary of State, William Bell; School Com-
missioner, C. S. Smart ; Supreme Court Judge, W. J. Gilmore ; Supreme Court
Clerk, Arnold Green; Board of Public Works, Martin Schilder. Republican
State Convention, September 2; temporary chairman, Charles Foster; permanent,
John Sherman. Nominations: Secretary of State, A. T. Wikoflf; Supreme Court
Judge, Luther Day; School Commissioner, T. W. Harvey; Board of Public
Works, S. R. Hosnier ; Supreme Court Clerk, Rodnej' Foes. The convention was
addressed by Messrs. Garfield, Foster, Sherman and Noyes. On September 11 the
Democratic State Central Committee nominated George Rex for Supreme Court
Judge vice Walter F. Stone, who had resigned. A Democratic "jollification " over
the results of recent elections took place on the Capitol Square, November 4; can-
nonading, speeches and fireworks. The State Association of County Auditors
met at the State Auditors office November 11.
1875.
A State Convention of the Prohibition party assembled at the City Hall
February 24, and nominated a State ticket. A convention of persons favoring an
express recognition of Deity in the National Constitution was held at the Opera
House March 10, Hon. Felix R. Brunot, of Pittsburgh, presiding. Resolutions
were passed and a State Association was organized. The Republican State Con-
vention met at the Opera House June 2 ; temporary chairman, Lorenzo Danford ;
permanent, E. F. Noyes. Nominations: Governor, R. B. Hayes; Lieutenant-
Governor, Thomas L. Young; Treasurer, John M. Millikin ; Auditor, James
Williams; Supreme Court Judge, George W. Mellvaine ; Board of Public Works,
Peter Thatcher ; Attorney-General, John Little. An evening ratification meeting
was addressed by Hon. Alphonso Taft. The Democratic State Convention was
roLiTicAL Events; 1SUS-18S'J. 453
bold at tho Opera Uouso June 17; temporary cliairman, John L. Vance; perma-
nent, llufus P. Ivannc3-. Nominations; Governor, William Allen; Lieutenant-
Governor, S. F. Car\-;' Supreme Court Judii;e, Thomas Q. Ashburn ; Auditor, B.
M. Green : TreasuriM-, .lolui Sehroiner; Board of Public Works, H. B O'Hagan;
Att(irncy-(;eiKM-al. Tliiiiiias K^ Powell. An evening ratitication-mceting was
aililres-e.l l.y Messrs. Allen. Priiilieton, Gary, Southard and Ewing. Hon. Isaac
Welsh, Treasurer (if State, died at his home iu Belmont County November 29.
The State Association of County Auditors met at the office of the Auditor of
State December 1.
A State Coiiventi<.n of Prohibitionists was held at the Board of Trade room
Februarv 2:-!. A Stale ticket was n(uuinated. Tlie l\e]uililieaii State Convention
metal the Opera House March l'!t ; teiii]iorary eliairman, .!ohn ('. Lee; permanent,
Alphonso Hart. Xomiiialions : Sccrelarv nf Stale, Millon Barnes; Supreme
Court Judge, W. W. Boynton ; Board of Public Works, J. C. Evans. The resolu-
tions ailopted recommended the nomination of Governor R B. Hayes for the
Presidency. The Democratic State Convention met at Cincinnati May 17.
Nomination.s : Secretary of Stale, William Bell ; Supreme Court Judge, William
E. Finch ; Boai-d of Public Wurks, H. P. Clough. The Republican National Con-
vention was held at Cincinnati .Line 14, 15 and 16, and nominated E. B. Hayes for
President and William A. Wheeler for Vice President. The nomination of
Governor Hayes aroused a great deal of enthusiasm in the city, and he was over-
whelmed with congratulatio'ns. On June 17 the committee appointed to convey
to him a formal notice of his nomination performed that service. It was led by
Edward McPherson, chairman of the Republican National Convention. The
ceremonies of notification took place at the Executive office, and were brief The
Democratic National Convention at St. Louis June 17 and 18, nominated Samuel
J. Tilden for President, and Thomas A. Hendricks for Vice President. An
excursion party of Indiaidans, filling a train of eight cars, arrived August 2 on a
visit to General Hayes. The presence of these visitors in the city was celebrated
by a torchlight parade in the, evening. A campaign organization known as the
Hayes and Wheeler Regiment was formed in August. A company of Hayes and
Wheeler Guards, C. S. Ammel Captain, was organized September 14. A conven-
tion of socalled independent citizens of Ohio, favorable to the use of legal tender
paper currencv in lieu -of National Banknotes, assembled at Columbus Sc|itembcr
12, and passed resolutions fiivoring the candidacy of Peter Cooper for President
and Samuel F Carv for A'ice President. A Republican meeting of September 14
at the West Front. 'was addressed by Lynde Harrison, of Connecticut. A party
of Penn.sylvaiiia soldiers, i-eturning from a reunion at Indianapolis, visited
Governor Hayes Septeinl'.er 22. The Governor was visited by Hon. James G.
Blaine October 4. A liepuliliean meeting of October 3 was addressed by Milo S.
Hascall; another of Oetoher 10 was addressed by Stewart L. Woodford. A
Democratic meeting of September 22 was addressed by General F. Sigcl and
S. S. Cox; another of November 22 was addressed by Messrs. Pendleton, Ewmg,
Morgan, Warner and Wiley. A meeting of Republicans rejoicing over tho results
of the October elections was accompanied by a street parade.
A Democratic State Convention to protest against such a count of the elec-
toral votes as would exclude Samuel J. Tilden from the Presidency was held m the
454 History of the City of Columbus.
City Hall Januaiy 8, temporary chairman, General Warner ; permanent, General
Durbin Ward. Ainon£f the speakers were Messrs. Warner, Ward, Pendleton,
Morgan and Ewing. A Prohibition State Convention met and nominated a State
ticket February 22. On March 17 Stanley Matthews was nominated by the
Republican eauctis fin- National .Senator, I'iee Sherman, resigned.
The formaliiics iin'l social attentions inciiient to the departure of President-
elect and Mrs. Hayes t'oi' \Vashiu;;ton took place February 28. During the after-
noon of that date the ])upils of the institutions for the Blind and the Deaf and
Dumb were received in the rotunda. In the evening a farewell reception took place
in the Senate Chamber. After the reception, which was largely attended. Governor
and Mrs. Hayes were escorted to the Hall of Re])resentative8, where an informal
meeting of the General Assembly was held, Hon. H. W. Curtis presiding. At the
Hall introductory speeches were made by Hon. W. R. Warncjck and Hon. C. H.
Grosvenor. In response Governor Hayes said :
Mr. President, Ladies ami GentleniHn : I shall make no attempt to describe what I
have felt during the progress of this reception nor what I feel now that it is drawing to a close.
I wish in the simplest way iind with tlie iVwest words to thank the citizens of Columbus, and
the members of the General Assemlily, the State Ollicrrs, nnil the people of Ohio wlio have
taken part in it, for their very great kindness to mcaml to my family on this and many other
occasions. Tiie city of Colunibu.s ami its people liave vimv many and great claims to our
aflfection and gratitude. It is more tlian forty years since 1 became acquainted, in boyhood,
with ("olunil)US, and from that day to this many of my most intimate friends have been
among its citizens. Many are gone ; I look in vain among thn.se we have met this evening
for some who were once numbered with my most familiar acquaintances. ... As for myself
and my family, we go, perhaps to return in a few days to occupy our accustomed place in this
community. Possibly we go to other scenes and duties, not to meet you again as fellow citi-
zens of Columbus. In that event I wish to say, as i\Ir. Lincoln said on parting with his
friends at Springfield sixteen years ago, that I trust you will pray that I may have the Divine
assistance and guidance without which I cannot succeed, and with which I cannot fail.
After these reinarks and some minor formalities the assembly was dissolved.
On the following day, March 1, Presidentelect Hayes and party quitted Columbus
for Washington. General Hayes and those accompanying him were escorted from
his residence on Broad Street to the railway station by "the Columbus Cadets and
the Agricultural College CJadets, preceded by the Barracks Band. The streets
along the route were thronged with people. After he had taken his seat in the
private car of Colonel Thomas A. Scott, tendered for the occasion. General Hayes
appeared, in response to repeated calls, at the rear of the car and addressed the
multitude as follows :
My Fellow Citizens : I understand very well the uncertainty of public aflfairs at Wash-
ington. I understand very well that possibly next week I may be with you again to resume
my place in the Governor's otBce and as your fellow citizen. But I also understand it is my
duty to be at Washington prepared to assume another position, higher and more responsible,
and with more difficult duties. I have thought, as T have looked upon this great audience,
and as today I gazed upon the people who thronged our route to the depot, of a similar
occurrence sixteen years ago. A little less than sixteen years ago, with a thousand men, I
marched down High Street to pass to the East and to the South, to do what we could to
restore the L^nion of the States, and to reestablish the authority of the constitution. In that
work we were eminently successful, so far as it was possible to be successful by force of arms.
I am not here to say a word in disparagement of what was accomplished by the brave men
who went out with me from diflerent parts of the country. Of my comrades onethird and
over never returned to their liomes. They perished in the discharge of their duty that the
Republic might live. But there was something force could not do. We would have our
union to be a union of hearts, and we would have our constitution obeyed ; not only because
of force, which compels obedience but obeyed because the people love the principles of the
constitution. [Long continued applause.] And today, if I am called to the work to which
Abraham Lincoln was called sixteen years ago, it is under brighter skies and more favorable
auspices. I do hope, I do fervently believe that by the aid of Divine Providence, we may do
something in this day of peace, by works of peace, toward reestablishing in the hearts of our
countrymen a real, a hearty attachment to the constitution as it is and the Union as it is,
[Long continued applause.]
Political Events; 1868-1889. 455
Furtlior renmik.s were here prevented by a passing locomotive and prcwcntly
by tlic departure of the presidential train amid loud and prolonged iihiudits.
Governor and Mrs. Hayes were accompanied by their children and the following
friends: (ienei'al and Mrs E. P. Buekland, General and Mrs. John G. MitcheU,
LieiUenant-tiuvernor and Mrs. Thomas L. Young, General and Mrs. C. II. Grosve-
uor, John W. and Mrs. Herron, George W. and Mrs. Jones, Doctor John and
Mrs. Davis, Colonel L. C. and Mrs. Weir, O.J. and Mrs. Hodge, R. H. and Miss
Piatt, Fr'ank Hiekock, R. P. Kennedy, W. H. Smith and several representatives
of the jiiess. The Columbus Cadets followed the party on a later train. On
March 2 the resignation of the office of Governor by General Hayes was placed
on file b\ his Private Secretary, Alfred E. Lee, under telegraph instructions from
Washington, and Lieutenant-Governor T. L. Young was sworn into oflSce as Gov-
ernor. The resignation was dated February 28. The oath of oifice was admin-
istered to Governor Yonng liy Chief .lustice Welsh.
A Stale convention of advocates of the soealled " greenback " currency was
held at Room 91, in the Capitol June 6. A State ticket was nominated. The
Republican State Convention assembled on August 1, at Cleveland; temporarj'
chairman, C. H. G}-osveuoi' ; permanent, James A. Garfield. Nominations: Gov-
ernor, William H. 'West; Lieutenant-Governor, Ferdinand Vogeler; Supreme
Court Judge, William W. Johnson ; Trerisurer, John M. Milliken ; Attorney-
General, GeoriTc K Nash; School Commissioner, J. T. Lukens ; Supreme Court
Clerk, Dwight S. Crowell ; Board of Public Works, C. W. Lucky. The Demo-
ci'atic State Convention assembled at Columbus July 25; temporary chairman,
W. P. Noble; permanent, J. F. McKinney. Nominations: Governor, R. M.
Bishop; Lieutenant-Governor, Jabez W. Fitch; Supreme Court Judge, J. W.
Okey ; Sajn-eme Court Clerk, R. J. Fanning; Attorney-General Isaiah Pillars;
Treasurer, Anthony Howells ; School Commissioner, J. J. Burns; Board of Public
Works, Martin Sehilder. The resolutions adopted demanded the repeal of the
Resumption Act and the " remonetization " of silver. A " Workingmen's and
Greenbackers " State Convention was held in Columbus September 13. At this
convention the "greenback" state ticket was withdrawn, and another nominated.
The resolutions adopted demanded repeal of the Resumption Act and " remon-
etization " of silver. Formidable opposition to the Republican State ticket, within
the party, was made this year, led by General John Beatty, of Columbus. The
opposition was grounded upon disagreement with the policy of the national
administration with respect to the Southern States. The ticket was defeated.
1878.
Governor Bishop was inaugurated January 14. Tlie military organizations tak-
ing ]iart in the inaugural pai-adc were the Agricultural College Cadets; portions of
the Fourth, Sixth ;iiid Seventh Ohio National Guard ; the Duquesne Blues (colored),
of Sjiringfield ; tlieSlielbv I.igli t G iiard ; Third Troop of Cavalry ; six companies
of the Fiiurleinth Ohio National G uard , Cleveland Grays and Governor's Guard.
The eerenioiiies took place in the rotunda. A reception in the Senate Chamber
was arranged li\- the Young Men's Democratic Club. In the eveuing a rece])lion
and hull wei-e given at the City Hall. Hon. George H. Pendleton was nominated
for National Senator by the Democratic caucus January 10. A Prohibition State
Convention was held at: the Board of Trade Room February 21, and nominated a
State ticket. The Rejiublican State Convention was held at Cincinnati June 12;
temporary chairman, Judge John Welsh, permanent, William Lawrence. Nomi-
nations: Supreme Court Judge, William White; Secretary of State, Milton
Barnes; Board of Public Works, George Paul.
456 History of the City uf Columbus.
The Democratic Slate Conveotion was held at the Opera House June 2tj ;
temporary chairman, A. T Walling; ]iermanent, Durbin Ward. Nominations:
Secretary of State, David R. Paige; Supreme Coui-t Judge, Alexander F. Hume;
B<iard or Public Works, Rush Field. President Hayes revisited ihc city July 21.
The National Greenback part}' held a State convention at the City Hall July 23,
and nominated a State ticket. Dennis Kearney, the "sandlot" orator of San
Francisco, addressed a meeting ;it the West Front August 26. A meeting of
Greenbackers at the Capitol September 23 was addressed bj- Me.ssrs. Keating, of
Columbus, and llalpin, of Cincinnati. A Democratic'meeting at the West Front
October 4 was addressed by J. C. S. Blackburn. The State Association of County
Auditors met at the Capitol November 26.
January Eighth was celebrated by the I>c cracy, at the Neil Hciu.-e, under
the aus]>iccs of the Young Men's Democratic ('lul>. The more |iri)rninent speakers
were Messrs. Pendleton, Bishop, Morgan, Ward. Convei-so ami L. T. Neal. A
Prohibition State Convention at Naug'hton Hall Pehruary 20 nominated a State
ticket. The Republican State Convention was held at Cincinnati May 28; tem-
porary chairman, A. T. Brinsmade; permanent, William Denni.son. Nominations:
Governor, Charles Foster; Lieutenant-Governor. Andrew Hickenlooper ; Supreme
Court Jndiie, William W. Johnson; Attorney-General, George K. Nash; Auditor,
Jolin F. Oglevee; T'rcasurer, Josejjh Turney; Board of Public Works, James
FuUinglon. The Democratic State Convention was held at the Opera House,
Columbus, June 2: temporary chairman, James B. Steedman; permanent, Samuel
F.Hunt. Nominations: Governor, Thom:i8 Ewing; Lieutenant Governor, A. V.
Rice; Treasurer, Anthony Howells; Auditor, Charles Reemelin ; Supreme Court
Judge, William J. Gilmore; Attorney-General, Isaiah Pillars; Board of Public
Works, Patrick O'Marah. Hon. John Sherman, Secretary of the Treasury, visited
the city Maj- 7, and was honored with a soiree and reception at the residence of
Hon. William Dennison. Thomas M. Nichol addressed a meeting at the West
Front June 9, on "Honest Money. ' At the same place, July 1, Joseph H. Geiger
made a speech in support of Charles Foster for Governor. A '• Greenback-Labor"
mass meeting at the West Front August 14 was addressed by Doctor and Mrs.
Lawrence, of Boston. A Republican meeting at the City Hall in August was
addressed by Hon. Carl Schurz. A Democratic meeting at the West Front Se])-
tember 28 was addressed by Hon. Daniel W. Yoorhes. James G. Blaine and
others addressed a Republican crowd from the Neil House Balcony October 2.
President and Mrs. Hayes arrived October 17 and were met at the railwaj' station
by a large concourse of people. A procession comprising military organizations
and the Knights of Pythias in uniform conducted the party to the Capitol, where
the President was welcomed hj Governor Bishop, and made some remarks in
response. A Republican "jollification " was held October 20. On December 2 a
complimentary banquet was given by colored citizens, at the Second Baptist
Church, to Hon. George W. Williams, the first colored man elected to the General
Assembly.
Governor Charles Foster was inaugurated January 12. The inaugural ]iarade,
conducted by Adjutant-General L.M. Meil}-, comprised the following organizations:
Political Events; 1868-1889, 457
First Cleveland Troop, Second Troop, Fourth Regiment, O. N. G., four companies;
Fifteenth Kegiment, O. N. G.; Duquesne Blues, colored; Palmer Guards ; Sixtli
Regiment, O. N. G., four companies ; Columbus Cadets ; Shelby Liglit Infantry;
First Regiment. O. N. G., five companies; Cleveland Grays; Seventh Hcgiment,
O. N. G., eiglit companies; Thirteenth Regiment, O. N. G., two companies ; Third
and Sixleenth liegimenls, O. N. G., each one company' ; Fourteenth Rei^iment, O.
N. G., and (idveriHirs Guard. National Senatorelect James A. Garfield was given
a complimentary reception in the Senate Chamber January li. Speeches were
made on this occasion by Messrs. Foster, Garfielil and E.x-Governor Bishoj). A
Blaine Club was organized January 22, and a meeting in the interest of James G.
Blaine as a candidate for the Presidency was held February 20. at the City Hall.
This meeting was addressed by John Beatty, R. C. Hoffman, J. C. Covert, I. F.
Mack, F. B. Rone)- and others. A Sherman Club was organized about the same
time, with F. C. Sessions as President. A State Convention of Prohibitionists
assembleiJ at Naughton Hall March Sand nominated a State ticket. The Repub-
lican State Convention met at Comstock's Opera House April 28; temporary
chairman, William McKinlc}'; permanent, Benjamin Buttorw orth. Delegates to
the National Convention were appointed and resolutions were adojiicd favoring
John Sherman for the Presidency. Nominations: Secretary nf Slale. Chai'lcs
Townshend ; Supreme Court Judge, George VV. Mellvaine; Supi'enie Court Clerk,
Dwight Crowell ; Board of Public Works, S. R. Hosmer; School Commissioner, D.
F. DeWolf. The Democratic State Convention assembled at Comstock's Opera
House May 6; tempoi'ar)- chairman, Fi'ank II. Hurd ; permanent, George L. Con-
verse. Delegates to the National Convention were chosen, and instructed to favor
the nomination of Allen G. Thurman for the Presidency. Another Democratic
State Convention was held at Cleveland July 22 and nominated: For Secretarj-
of State, William Lang; Supreme Court Judge, M. D. Follett; Supreme Court
Clerk, R. J. Fanning ;"Board of Public Works, W. J. Jackson; School Commis-
sioner, J. J. Burns; Electors-at-large, R. P. Ranney and J. F. Follett. Secretary
Sherman visited Columbus April 2, and was the guest of Governor Foster, at whose
residence he was honored with a soiree and reception. Hon. Allen G. Thurman
returned from Washington, at the close of his services in the National Senate,
April 2.T, and was serenaded at the Neil House. The Republican National Con-
vention was held at Chicago from the second to the eighth of June, inclusive, and
nominated James A. Garfield for President and Chester A. Arthur for Vice Pres-
ident. The Democratic National Convention assembled at Cincinnati June 22, and
nominated W. S. Hancock for President and W. H. English for Vice President.
A Slate Convention of the Greenback Labor party was held at the Citj' Hall July
28, and nominated a State ticket. Its resolutions favored paj-raent of the war
debt with legal tender paper currency and declared for woman suffrage. A Repub-
lican meeting of August 31 was addressed bj- John Sherman; another of Septem-
ber 13 was addressed by John Beatty ; another of September 30, accoini)anied by
a large parade, was addressed by James A. Beaver, James G. Blaine, and others.
A Democratic meeting of August 28 was addressed by T. W. Bartley ; another of
Septeml)er 3, by A. G. Thurman and Charles E. Hooker; another of September
21, with large parade, was addressed by George Hoadly, Franz Sigel and J. C. S.
Blackburn; "another of October 9 was addressed by W. B. Cockran and S. S. Cox.
A Republican jollification over the results of the election took place November 3.
Hon. John Sherman w;is nomi
caucus January 11. Hon. Allen G
ated for Natii
mal Senator by the l!ci)ublican
Thurman was
i nominated by the Democratic
458 History of the City of Columbus.
caucus for the same office January 12. Mr. Sherman, the Senatorelect, was for-
mally received by the General Assembly and State officers at the Senate Chamber
January 19. Meetings in the interest of the Irish Land League were held in Co-
lumbus February 18, June- 17 and October 24. J. S. Eobinson resigned the office
of Commissioner of Railways and Telegraphs February 25; his successor, by
appointment, was HyJas Sabine. The JRepubiican State Convention was held
June 8 at Cleveland ; chairman, John Sherman. Nominations: Governor, Charles
Foster; Lieutenant-Governor, R. G. Richards; Supreme Court Judge, Nicholas
Longworth ; Attorne3'-General, George K. Nash; Treasurer, Josejih Turney;
Board of Public Works, George Paul. The Democratic State Convention was
held at C.)m8tock's Opera House July 13 ; temporary chairman, J. B. Spear ; per-
manent, T. B. Powell. Nominations: Governor, J. W. Bookwalter ; Lieutenant-
Governor, Edgar M Johnson ; Supreme Court Judge, E. F. Bingham; Attorney-
General, Frank C. Dougherty ; Treasurer, A. P. Winslow ; Board of Public Works,
John Crowe. The Prohibition State Convention was held at the Board of Trade
Room August 4; a State ticket was nominated. The Greenback-Labor party
held a Stale Convention at the City Hall June 15, and nominated a State ticket.
The assassination of President Garfield was referred to in the various pulpits of
the citj' July 3, atid prayers for the recovery of the Pi-esident were offered. The
assassination was first announced in the moi'ning jiapers of Saturday July 2, and
caused, for a time, a virtual suspension of business. Deep anxiety on account of
the event was felt throughout the community. On July 4 the festivals usual to
that anniversary gave place to public mourning and devotional services in the
churches. The death of the President was announced September 20, and in con-
sequence of this sad event the schools were dismissed, and the public buildings
dressed in mourning. Resolutions of sorrow and condolence were adopted by
numerous military and social organizations. On September 26 — the day of the
President's funeral at Cleveland — a meeting of citizens was held and numerous
addresses appropi'iale to the occasion were delivered. The day was further sol-
emnized by the firing of minute guns, closing of the schools, and suspension of
business. A Lodge of Sorrow was celebrated by the Masonic bodies in joint
assembly', and a memorial meeting was held at the Turners' Hall. An alleged
disturbance of a Republican parade on Chestnut Street September 30 caused some
excitement and discussion.
A socallod Sunday Law Mass Convention of the State was held at the Citj-
Hall May 2 ; temporary chairman, S. H. Hurst ; permanent, Richai-d Smith.
Resolutions were adopted favoring more stringent control of the liquor traffic,
and measures for the total suppression of the traffic on Sunday. The Republican
State Convention was held at the Opera House June?; temporary chairman,
D. A. Hollingsworth ; permanent, R. P.Kennedy. Nominations: Secretary of
State, Charles Townshend ; Supreme Court Judije, John H Doyle; Board of
Public Works, C. A. Flickinger. The Democratic State Convention was held in
Columbus July 20; temporary chairman, J. F. Follett ; permanent, George H.Pen-
dleton. Nominations : Secretary of State, James W. Newman ; Supreme Court
Judge, John W. Okey ; Board of Public Works, Henry Weibel. A Woman Suf-
frage Slate Convention was held in Columbus August 2, arid a State Association
organized. A Democratic "jollification" over the results of t'le election took
place October 20.
Political Events ; 18G8-188'J.
The Republican State Convention was iield at Comstock's Opera House June
5; temporary chairman, S. P. Wolcott; permanent, John Sherman. Nomina-
tions : (Tovernor, J. B. Foraker ; Lieutenant-Govcrnoi-, William B. Rose ; Supreme
Court Judttes, William H. Up8on and John II. Doyle; Supreme Court Clerk,
D\viu;ht Crowell ; Attorney General, M. B. Earnhart"; Auditor, John P. Oglovee ;
Treasurer, John ('. Brown; School Commissioner, Daniel DeWolf; Board of
Public Works, Leo Weltz. The Democratic State Convention assembled at Com-
stock's Opera House June 20; chairman, John McSwccney. Nominations: Gov-
ernor, George Hoadly ; Lieutenant-Governor, John T. Warwick; Supreme Court
Judi,'C8, M. D. Folleti and Selwyn Owen ; Supreme Court Clerk, J. W. Cruikshaiik ;
Attorney-General, James Lawrence; Auditor, Emil Kiesewetter; Treasui'cr,
Peter Brady; School Commissioner, Leroy D. Brown; Board nf Public Works,
John P. Martin. A State Convention of Prohibitionists met in Columbus, June
14, and nominated a Slate ticket. A State Convention favorable to the |)cndinfr
constitutional anieiidincnl prohibitory of the liquor traffic met at the City Hall,
July 24, and ori;ani/.ed .-i Slate Association. A large evening; meeting; was held in
the Capitol Square. On Auj^ust 21, a Tariff Club was organized by Ij. Sanial, an
airent of the New York Tariff League. State conventions of colored citizens were
held in Columbus, September 20 and December 26. A Democratic "jollification "
over the results of the election took )ilace October 19.
1884.
Henry B. Payne was declared elected National Senator, January l(i,and on the
following evening gave a banquet to his partisans at the Neil House. Governor
George Hoadly was inaugurated Januarj' 14. All display was avoided except an
escort of Democratic clubs. The ceremonies took place in the rotunda. The oath
of office was administered b}' Chief Justice Johnson. William Redmond, a mem-
ber of the British Parliament, delivered an address on the rights and wrongs of
Ireland at the City Hall, February 3. The Republican State Convention was held
at Cleveland, April 24-25; temporary chairman, C. H. Grosvenor ; permanent,
William McKinley. Nominations : Secretary of State, James S. Robinson ; Supreme
Court Judge, W.'W. Johnson, Board of Public Works, C. A. Flickinger; Elec-
tors at-Large, John Beatty and J. M. Comly. The Democratic State Convention
was held at Comstock's' Opera Hou.se, June 24-25 ; chairman, E. B. Finlcy.
Nominations ; Secretary of State, James W. Newman ; Supreme Court Judge, C. D.
Martin ; Board of Public Works, John H. Benfer. The Prohibition State Con-
vention was held at the City Hall, June 18, and nominated a State ticket. A pre-
vious convention of the same party, at the same place, March 6, had appointed
delegates to the National convention, at Pittsburgh. The Republican National
Convention was held at Chicago, June 3-6, and nominated James G. Blaine for
the Presidency and John A. Logan, for the Vice Presidency. The Democratic
National Convention was held at Chicago, July 7-11, and nominated Grover
Cleveland for President and Thomas A. Hendricks for Vice President. The Pro-
hibitioni.st National Convention, at Pittsburgh, July 23-24, nominated John P.
St. John for President and William Daniel for Vice President. A socalled Second
Amendment Convention was held at Columbus June 25, and organized an " Ohio
Voters' Union." On Se])tcmber 25, a Democratic meeting, accompanied by an
extensive parade of Democratic clubs, was addressed by A. G. Thurman, George
400 History of the City of Columbus.
H. Pendloton, Thomas F. Bayard, H. B. Payne and others. An Ohio Democratic
Club, embracing all tlie local clubs of the State, was organized. The largest
Eepublican meeting of the camjjaign took- place October 3, and was signalized by
the pre.'^ence of Hon. James G. Blaine, candidate for the Presidency'. A parade,
in four divisions, led by M. H. Neil, escorted Mr. Blaine from the railway station
to the Neil House, where he was introduced by Ex-Governor Foster, and spoke
from the balcony. Other speakers of the occasion were Channing Eichards, C. A.
Boutello, W. H. Gibson, John Beatty, Allen Miller and Stewart L. Woodford. On
October 9, Mr. lihiine was again in Columbus, and sojourned over night with his
relative, I^. IJlwing Miller. A Eepublican "jollification" over the results of the
October elections took place October 24. The Democrats "jollified " over the out-
come of the National election November 12.
A State Convention of Democratic Club.s was hold at Gumble Hall January
8. On tlie same date a banquet was held, in honor of the anniversary at the City
Hall. Among the distinguished Democratic speakers of these occasions were
A. G. Thurnjan, J. W. Denver, Gibson B. Atherton, Samuel F. Cary, Joseph H.
Outhwaite, Durbin Ward, W. J. Gilmore, H. B. Payne, G. H. Barger and Thomas
E. Powell. A Eepublican County Convention, held at the City Hall June 6,
selected delegates to the State Convention and instructed them to vote for the
nomination of John Beatty for Governor. The Eepublican State Convention was
held June (J, at Springfield; temporary' chairman, J. D. Taylor; permanent, Amos
Townshend. Nominations: Governor, J. B. Foraker; Lieutenant-Governor,
E P. Kennedy ; Supreme Court Judge, George W. Mcllvaine; Treasurer, John C.
Brown ; Attorney-General, J. A. Kohler; Board of Public Works, Wells S. Jones.
The Democratic State Convention was held at the Grand Opera House August 20 ;
chairman, John F. FoUett. Nominaiions: Governor, George Hoadly ; Lieutenant-
Governor, John G. Warwick; Supreme Court Judges, C. D. Martin and Gibson B.
Atherton ; Treasui'er, Peter Brady; Attorney-General, James Lawrence: Board of
Public Works, Henry Weible. On August 20 the Eepublican State Central Com-
mittee met in Columbus and nominated William T. Spear as Supreme Coui-t Judge
to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Judge Okey. The same committee met
Septembei- 3 and nomir.ated T. A. Minshall for Judge in lieu of Hon. G. W.
Mcllvaine, then lying in mortal illness. The Prohibition State Convention was
held July 2 at Springfield. A political association styling itself the Garfield
Club was incorporated Jul}- 22. On July 30 announcement was made of the
appointment of Hon. Joseph Falkeubach as Consul to Barmen.
An attempted fraud in the count of votes cast in the city at the October
election of this j'ear was a cause of much excitement and jjrolonged controversy.
The fraud consisted in the surreptitious alteration of the tallysheet of precinct
A, in the Thirteenth Ward, by changing the figures in such a way as to add
three huntlred votes to the number east and recorded for each Democratic candi-
date. This, with similar frauds attempted in Hamilton County would, if success-
ful, have given the Democrats a majoritj- in the General Assembly, and enabled
them to elect a United States Senator. In Columbus the fraud was committed by-
abstracting the returns from the safe of the Count}- Clerk on Saturda}^ night and
altering them during that night and the following Sunday. After alteration the
returns were replaced in the safe. This crime caused great indignation, which
was by no means confined to the Eepublican party. Democrats and Eepuljlieans
alike made diligent efforts to detect and punish the perjietrators of the fraud, and
lo-al n
ciiincii of the
■suits «
cTc aUainod.
ilcutity
of the .ii;iiilt3-
.lie frill
lie. The case
Uie 111-
(iseciitidn and
rOLITIOAr,
ill this tlie,y wore zoahMisly socomU'
Hon. Allen G. Thurinan. Ncvcii
Strong suspicions were formed in t
persons, but as yet no one has licci
illustrates the difficultios )iec-nliar
punishment of purely jiolilical otie
Governor J. ]?. Foral<er was iiinuu'urattMJ .lanuaiy 11. The inauguration
parade, led by Henry M. Neil, ('liicf Marshal, im-liided a large number of politi-
cal and military organizalimis. The ceiciunnics t<i<ik place in the rotunda. In
the evening a reeeptinii was licKI in thf Senate Cliainher. On January 12 Hon.
John Sherman was rei'lerUMl tn ihe National Si-nate ; on January 14 he was
received by the General Asseinlily in the Senate C'hamljer. A meeting at Com-
stock's Opera House January 15, under the auspices of the MationalLand League,
was accompanied by a parade nt Irish societies, and was addressed by Bishop
Watterson, John Bealty, D. J. liyan. IL .1. Booth, T. E. Powell, and others. A
Board of Elections, created by statute, held its first meeting March 1. A Parnell
Society was organized March 8 ; President, M. A. Daugherty ; Secretary, James
Caren ; Treasurer, John Beatty. On May 5 the Democratic Senators absented them-
selves in order to prevent tiie Reiniblicans from having a quorum wherewith to
seat the Hamilton County members who had been counted out in the tallysheet
frauds. The fugitives were contem]ituously called "squaw Senators." They re-
turned May 19 from a soujourn in the Southern States. The Democratic State
Convention was held at Toledo August 18; chairman, E. B. Finley. Nomina-
tions: Secretary of State, John McBride; Board of Public Works, Louis
Ludwig. The Republican State Convention was held at the Armory, on West
Spring Street, August 28 ; temporary chairman, E. F. Noyes ; permanent, J. B.
Foraker. Nominations: Secretary of State, J. S. Eobinson ; Supreme Court
Judge, Marshall J. William.s; Supreme Court Clerk, Urban H. Hester; School
Commissiouer, Eli T. Tappan; Board of Public Works, William M. Hahn.
Michael Davitt, the Irish agitator, arrived November 11 and was escorted by the
Hibernian societies and a committee of citizens. Mr. Davitt delivered an address
at the Metropolitan Opera House. During the latter part of December the follow-
ing persons were indicted by a special grand jury for alleged complicity iu the
tallysheet forgeries: R. B. and C. R. Montgomery, Algernon Granville, Otto W.
Horn, B. H. Marriott, John Francis and C. T. Blackburn.
1887.
The Democratic State Convention assembled July 21, at Cleveland ; chairman,
George E. Senev. Noininalions : Governor, Tlioiiias R. Powell; Lieutenant-
Governor, DeWi'tt C. Coolman; Suiuenie Curl .ludees, L. R. Critchfield and
Virgil P. Kline; Treasurer, George \V. Ilarjmr ; Attorney-General, William H.
Leet ; Board of Public Works, Peter Mur|ihy. The Republican State Convention
was held at Toledo July 28; chairman John Sherman. Nominations: Governor,
J. B. Foraker ; Lieutenant-Governor, William C. Lyon; Supremo Court Judges,
William T. Speer and F.J. Dickman ; Auditor, E. W. Poo ; Treasurer, John C.
Brown ; Attorney-General, D. K. Watson ; Board of Public Works, C. A. Flick-
inger. The Prohibition State Convention was held at Delaware June 30. A
462 History op the City op Columbus.
Stale Convention of the " Union Labor " parly was held at the City Hall July 4.
A long platform was adopted and a State ticket nominated. The first registra-
tion under the new registrj' law bei^an October 13. A Republican meeting at
the Fourteenth Regiment Armory October 29 was addressed by Governor j. B.
Foraker. A Democratic meeting at the City Hall October M was addressed by
General J. B. Gordon, of Georgia. Lucy E. Parsons, a Chicago anarchist, was
arrested and imprisoned March 10 by Mayor Walcutt. Mrs. Parsons was released
from custody March 12.
1888.
Hon. J. B. Foraker was inaugurated for the second time as Governor Janu-
aiy 9. The inauguration parade, which was extensive, was organized and led by
John G. Miichell. The ceremonies were attended by a large number of visiting
organizations. A banquet of the Republican League Clubs was held at the Wells
Post Hall Februaiy 13. The Democratic Clubs of Ohio held a delegate conven-
tion at Wirthwein's Hall March 21, and organized a State League. The jury in
the case of R. B. Montgomery, accused of complicity in the tallysheet forgeries,
disagreed March 24. This jjractically ended the prosecutions in Columbus. Allen
O. Myers, in whose case a change of venue to London, Ohio, was obtained, was
there acquitted December 23. No further prosecutions were attempted. The
Republican State Convention was held at Daj'ton April 18-19 ,- temporary chair-
man, J. W. Keifer; permanent, E. L. Lampson. Nominations: Secretary of
State, D. J. Ryan ; Supreme Court Judge, J. P. Bradbury ; Board of Public
Works, Wells S. Jones; Blectors-at-Large, A. H. Mattox and 1. P. Lampson ;
Delegates-at-Large, J. B. Foraker, Charles Foster, William McKi-nley and Benja-
min Butterworth. The Democratic State Convention assembled at Dayton May
15; chairman, S. F. Hunt. Nominations: Secretary of State, Boston G. Young;
Supreme Court Judge, Lyman R. Critchfield ; Board of Public Works, James
Emmit; Electors-at-Large, W. D. Hill and W. W. Ellsbury; Delegates-at-Large,
T. E. Powell, C. S. Brice, C. W. Baker and L. F. Holden. The Democratic
National Convention assembled at St. Louis June 5 and nominated Grover Cleve-
land for President and Allen G. Thurman for Vice President. The Republican
National Convention assembled at Chicago June 19, and nominated Benjamin
Harrison for President and Levi P. Morton for Vice President.
When Judge Thurman was first apprised of his nomination for the Vice
Presidency, he was quietly reading in his library. Laying aside his book, he
stated that he had not sought the nomination, or desired it. Being assured that
it had been made without opjwsition, he said : " You are mistaken. There was
vigorous ojiposition in this vei'y house. Mrs. Thurman opposed it, and she is a
jjretty strong factor around here." Telegraphic congratulations soon began to
pour in upon the "Old Roman," as Judge Thurman was politically styled, by the
score. During the days immediately succeeding the convention a great many
persons, including delegates from distant States, called to congratulate him person-
ally. The formal notification of his nomination was communicated to him at his
residence, by a committee ot the National Convention, June 28. Among the ]Jolit-
ical oi'ganizations incident to the canvass were the Old Roman Guard and the
Harrisonians of 1840.
A joint legislative committee appointed to revise the tax laws of the State
was addressed January 9, by Henry George and Thomas G. Shearman, of New
PoLiTiCAi, Events; 18fiS-18S9. 4(i3
York, and Thomas Ij. Jolinson, of (Mevcland. A foiiferorifo of ilelci^atos of single
tax clubsat wliidi lliesu speakoi'ri were preseiil, was lirM al tlic Wrils I'osl Hall,
January Id. A meeting of the Oliio Woman SullVaue A-s.. cation was held in the'
Masonic Cathedral, .lanuars- 14. Linuoin's liiiHiday anniversai-y was eidehi-aled
by a banciuet of the Oliio Ijeagtie of Rc])ublieaii Clidis al Wirth wein's Hall, Feb-
ruary 12. Benjamin Harrison, Presidcnloleet, passed throiifrh Columbus, e?i ro(/te
to VVasliington to assume the duties of the l'resiilene\- February 25. Ho was
greeted at tiie railway station by local political eliibs and a large crowd. The
lve|>ul)liean State Convention assembled at the Melrojiolitan Ojiera House June
2.5-211; chairman, W. C. Cooper. Nominations: Governor, J. B. Foraker ; Lieu-
tenant Ciovernor, E. L. Lampson ; Supreme Court Judges, Franklin J. Dickman ;
Treasurer, John C. Brown ; Attorney-General, D. K. Watson ; School Commis-
sioner, John Hancock; Supreme Court Clerk, Urban H. Hester; Board of Public
Works, W. M. Hahn. Contemporaneously with this convention a state assembly
of the Ohio Republican League was held at the City Hall. The Democratic State
Convention was held at Daj'ton, August 27-28; chairman, M. D. Harter. Nom-
inations: Governor, James E. Campbell; Lieutenant-Governor, William V. Mar-
quis; Supreme Court Judge, M. D. l<'ollett; Treasurer, W. B. Boden ; Supreme
Court Clerk, I. J. C. Shumaker; Attorney-General, Jessie M. Lewis; School
Commissioner, Charles C. Miller; Board of Public Works, Frank Reynolds. A
Eepublican meeting, held at the Board of Trade auditorium October 25, was
addressed hj Senator Sherman ; a Democratic meeting at the same place Novem-
ber 1, was addressed by A. G. Thurman, Isaac P. Gray, Isaac M. Jordan and
George L. Converse.
a^, //-(,
The Municipality.
CHAPTER XXX.
COUNCIL, MAYORALTY AND POLICE — I.
Tlie Borough of Columbus began its corporate existence pursuant to an act of
the General Assembly passed February 10, 1816. Some of the circunistanees
incidental to this new birth among the infant cities of Ohio have been narrated in
Chapter XIV of the preceding volume. The act of incorporation fixed the
boundaries of the borough, specified the duties and mode of selection of its officers,
and empowered its collective functionaries, as ''a body corporate and politic
to purchase, receive, possess and convey any real or personal estate for the
use of the said town of Columbus," provided the annual income thereof should
not exceed four thousand dollars. The officials thus empowered were nine in num-
ber, chosen by ballot and designated as "the mayor, recorderand common council-
men of said town." The law required that they should bo " suitable persons " — a
very important provision — and that they should also be "citizens, freeholders
or housekeepers, and inhabitants.". Three of the nine retired annually, the full
term of service being three years. They might sue and be sued and were
authorized to have a common seal, which they could alter at discretion. They
were further authorize<l to appoint an assessor, a town marshal, a clerk of the
market, a town surveyor, and such other subordinate officers as they might
deem necessary. Thej' could award fees to the recorder and other corporation
officers for their services, and might impose fines for refusal to accept such offices.
They had power to levy taxes within the borough, except on State property, which
was specifically exempted, but no tax might exceed the rates prescribed for county
purposes. Public buildings might be erected or repaired, as necessary, and laws
and ordinances for the government of the borough passed and published. The
mayor was vested with the powers of a justice of the peace within the corporation,
and was entitled to the same emoluments. He could administer oaths, levy rea-
sonable fines, and direct the marshal to collect such fines by distraint of property.
Appeals from his decisions might be taken to the Court of Common Pleas. The
annual borough election was set for the first Monday in May, beginning at twelve
o'clock meridian, and closing at four o'clock in the afternoon. Notice of an elec-
tion had to be posted " in five of the most public places in said town." Vacancies
in the offices of mayor, recorder and treasurer were filled by the common council,
and vacancies in the council were filled by choice from the electors by the mayor,
recorder, treasurer and councilmen. In the absence or inability of the mayor, his
functions were performed by the recorder. The county jail was used for the
imjjrisonment of offenders. Finally we have the freedom of the town conferred
upon live stock in the following words : " No law shall ever be made by this cor-
poration subjecting cattle, sheep or hogs, not belonging to any of the residents of
said borough, to be abused or taken up and .sold for coming within the bounds
thereof"
[467]
468 History of the City of CoLusrBUS.
Thus began the borough government. It continued eighteen years. Acts
amendatory to that of incorporation were passed January 18, 1818, and January
31, 1822. By the first of these, councilmen were forbidden to receive compensa-
tion for their services, the State property was exempted from taxation witiiin liie
corporate limits, and these were declared to include "the inlots in the town of
South Columbus."' The second amendatory act related merely to the places and
notices of elections.
Having been elected and organized pursuant to law, as narrated in a preceding
chapter,' the original borough council proceeded at once to business. The Mayor-
elect, Jarvis PiU-e, was duly sworn into oifice by Michael Patton, one of the council-
men, and the councilman i-eceived their oaths of office from the mayor. Tiules were
adopted which provided that the council should meetat the mayor's office on the
second Monday of each month, at one o'clock in the afternoon; that six members
should constitute a quorum ; and that absentees should be fined at discretion not
more than two dollai-s. In May, 1820, the fine for nonattendance was reduced to
one dollar, which might be remitted at the next meeting, but unless paid or
remitted, the delinquent member could not vote as to remitting the fine of a fellow
member. The fees of the town surveyor were prescribed; those of the recorder
were fixed at twelve and onehalf cents for each one hundred words written ibr the
use of the corporation. The marshal was allowed eighty and the clerk of the
market thirtyfive dollars per year ; the treasurer five per cent, on all money
received ; the assessor one dollar and fifty cents per daj- ; the councilmen each " one
dollar and fifty cents for each and every day employed in transacting the business
of the corporation." A device for a corporation seal was adopted bearing the
words, Seal of the Borough of Columbus, surrounding an eagle. The surveyor was
required to set suitable stones " at the corners of all lots where the streets intersect."
On Jul}', 1816, a tax levj' of one thousand dollars was ordered, including a tax on
dogs of fifty cents apiece. One quarter of one per cent, was levied on all in -and
outlets, and onesixth of one per cent, on all improvements. One of the early
ordinances required that the carcasses of all animals dying within the borough
"west of Fourth Street or within twenty poles of Broad Street'' should be
" removed as soon as possible at least thirty poles east of Fourth Street and at least
twentj- poles from Broad Street.'' The discharge of firearms within the borough
west of Fourth Street was prohibited by ordinance of June 10, which further
declared that no person should "gallup or run any horse, mare or gelding "in any
street west of Fourth Street on pain of a fine of from twentyfive cents to two
dollars. An amendment of November 19 likewise inhibited the running of " any
mule or ass," and raised the penalty from fifty cents to three dollars. "Stageplays"
were regulated by ordinance of May 23. On the same date the council decided to
build a markethouse but failed to come to an agreement as to the street on which
it should be placed. Town, State and Broad Streets were rejected. On May 27,
1816, the subject again came up, and the council after rejecting Town Street
west and Broad Street east of High as the location for the building, decided to
erect it on West State. During the proceedings on this occasion reference was
made to the purchase of an old markethouse which, as no previous notice of it
appears upon the record, had probably been built prior to the incorporation of the
borough. On July 25, 1816, a contract for erection of the new markethouse
was closed by the Maj-or and Council with John Shields. Pursuant to this con-
tract the building was to extend sixty feet west from a point twenty feet west of
High Street, and w^as to be two stories in height, the use of the upper story being
awarded to Shields as his compensation under the agreement. Butchers were for-
bidden by ordinance to erect any slaughterhouse west of Fourth Street.
On August 12, 1816, the Borough Council appointed C. Houston, J. Cutler and
J. Armstrong as members of a committee to '' procure a suitable print or engraving
on the
value of all
improve-
rehirati.
)n thiit a
frame build
; .11, lliu-l
' .^^
reet, neai
IjccTi rc
ported ill
the
boroui^li,
nfected
persons '
'to
a eonven
CoDNCiL, Mayoralty and Police— I. 4(J'J
tor small notes to be issued by this corporation," and on Sei^tember 'J, next tbllow-
inir, this committee reixirted that it had provided an issue of " small notes" eoni-
prisinn-tbe followiii-- amomitsand denominations: 120 at 75c; 454at50c; 464at25c;
H3G at 12Ac and L'li: at t; je ; total, $555.75. On Maj' 24, 1S19, the borough treasurer
reported that lie had redeemed these notes to the amount of $331.75.
On July 15, 1817, a borough tax was levied of " onehalf per cent " on all lots
within the corporation, and " onequarter per cent
ments. On May 10, same year, the eouneil made de
ing " commonly called the old markellnnise,' then
the intersection of Rich, was a public niiisanee. an(
1818.— On May 30, a case of smallpox haviiiir
an ordinance was passed requiring removal of ail
lent and safe distance," and Messrs. McCoy, Heyl and Kerr were appointed a
" committee of safety." By an amendment to the charter, three additional eoun-
eilmen were allowed, making nine in all, whicli number was elected. The use of
one of the lower committee rooms of the Statehouse for the sittings of the council
was granted by the Governoi-. On May 29, a common pound for estray animals
was established and the marshal's fees for taking them up were specified. Ball
alleys in connection witli taverns and other places of public resort were forbidden.
Market hours were a])pointed beginning at fifteen minutes before sunrise and con-
tinuing until ten o'clock, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and it was made unlaw-
ful to sell or purchase " any article of marketing anywhere within the borough "
during those hours, except at the markethouse. "William H. Richardson was
appointed Clerk of the Market.
1819. — On May 10, R. Osborn was ajipointed to make up an agreed case to
test the question as to the power of the borough to " levy and collect" a tax.
Dogs were taxed one dollar each when owned singly, but the owner of more than
one paid a tax of five dollars on each additional male and one of six dollars on
each additional female. Butter offered in the market had to be sold in pound or
halfpound cakes or i-olls, and if short in weight, was forfeited.
1820.- On May IS, the council adopted a "common seal for the Borough of
Columbus," its de\ii-e being " a front view of the Statehouse " surrounded by the
words Corjiorotiuii uf ('oliimlnis, Ohio. The rules of the council were so amended
as to exclude spectators from its sittings except when permitted to be present by
a majority of the members. An ordinance relating to the town surveyor desig-
nated the northwest corner of the Statehouse Square as the beginning point for
all surveys.- The marshal's salary was raised to $150 per annum. Thomas
Ewing, attorney for Jewett & Smith, proposed to lease their dam and mill, on the
Scioto, to the council, which finally offered $500 for control of the dam for two
and a half years. The obstruction of the current by the dam was believed to be a
a cause of sickness. The tax on in- and outlots was fixed at onehalf, and on
improvements at one quarter of one per cent. Olmsted, Jeffords and Kerr were
appointed a committee on nuisances; a committee on the markethouse was also
named, and a member was charged with the duty of ascertaining by what title
the corporation held " a certain lot of ground u.sed as a burying ground," and to
obtain, if possible, a deed for the same. John Kerr was appointed to " view and
order a road to be opened from Columbus to the [North] Graveyard."
1821. — The County Recorder was allowed a fee of one dollar for recording
a conveyance from John Kerr and wife for one and a quarter acres of land in tlie
North Graveyard. On August 9 the council passed an ordinance containing the
following quaint and significant passages;
Whereas, many evil disposed persons create disturbances at night in this Borough, and
commit many offenses with impunity when the good citizens are at rest ; Therefore
470 History of the City op Columbus.
Section 1. Be it ordained bij tiie Mayor and Council of the Borough of Columbtis^ That
there shall be a watch regularly established in said Borough, to corn'mence their routes at
ten of the clock, p. m., and continue until five of the clock A. M. of each night in the week,
which shall consist of all the able-bodied white male inhabitants of said Borough, who
shall be under the direction of the Mayor and Council of said Borough.
Sectiom 2. That the IJorough shall be divided into four districts, for each of which the
town marshal shall notify as many persons as may be necessary to constitute a patrole for
every night, at least three hours before the time of meeting, so long as the same may he
considered exprdient by the Mayor and Courtcil ; and if any person on being notified to
serve on the patrole shall neglect or refuse to do so, for such neglect or refusal he shall be
subjeia. to a fine of one dollar, which may be remitted by the Mayor upon a reasonable
excuse being given under oath.
Section 3. That the Mayor of said Borough shall make out and subscribe for each
person composing the watch a certificate in substance as follows :
Borough of Columbus [ilay of the week — day of the month]. .\. B. is appointed
watch for this evening. , Mayor.
Section 4. That it shall be the duty of any person composing .said watch to arrest and
detain any disorderly or suspected person or persons found in said Borough between the
hours of ten of the clock p. M., and five of the clock a. m., and to detain such disorderly or
susiiected pi-rsons until sunrise, when ho, she or they shall be brought befor,^ the Mayor of
said borough for examination.
1822. —On March 16 tiie council pi-ovidod b}' resolution that all order.s on the
borough should draw interest after one year, and prohibiteil the marshal from
receiving thorn at a discount. John Kerr, James Kooken and Robert VV. IMcCoy,
appointed as a committee on the finances of the corporation, reported M-Ay 12,
showing funds and resources amounting to $1,134.80, and an indebtedness of
S351.4ti, leaving a balance due the borough of $883.34. An oi-diuance of Sep-
tember 14 provided that swine running at large west of Fourth Street, if belong
ing to citizens of the borough, might be taken up by the marshal aud sold to the
highest bidder.
1823. — On April 15 Messrs. Kerr, McCoy and McElvain were instructed as a
committee to investigate and report upon the powers of the council with respect
to persons of the African race within the borough. This committee reported,
April 24, that the township overseers of the poor had power to remove all such
persons from the township who had not acquired a legal settlement, and recom-
mended that the marshal hold a conference with the overseers with respect to
application of their powers for the removal of all "disorderly black or mulatto
persons" found within the borough. On November 10 a committee was
appointed "to regulate the weight and price of baker's bread."
1824 —By resolution of October 18 it was declared that "their shall be a
Regular Saxton [sexton] appointed by the (IJouncil."
1825. — On April 1 H. ^. McCoy and James Robinson were appointed on the
part of the council, and Nathaniel McLean, Gustavus Swan, R. Osborn, Lync
Starling and Henry Br(jwn on the part of the citizens, as members of a committee
to receive General Lafayette who was then expected to but did not visit the capital
of Ohio.
1826. — By an act of the General Assembly passed January 30 the juri.sdiction
of the corporation was limited to the inlots.
1827. — An ordinance of March 12 required that the gutters on High Street
from Broad "to the allej- on the north side of the Mound " should be " made of
suitable width " and a pavement three feet wide, including the gutter, should be
laid "with small stones" under direction of the street committee. A newspaper
writer of April 19 praises the streets, but acknowledges that the " public alleys
are almost impassable, and have remained a perfect nuisance for a considerable
time." An ordinance of August 17 prohibits the establishment of anj' " ninepin
alley, hall alley or gambling house or place for gambling of any kind whatever."
Section two of the same ordinance declares :
Council, Mayoralty and Police — I. 471
That if any person or persons shall be found serenading or attempting to serenade any
individual or individuals, or making any unnecessary noise and disturbance, either with
drums, bells, fifes, horns, pans, kettles or any other thing whatever, so as to harass and dis-
turb any citizen or citizens of said borough, every such ofiender upon conviction thereof
shall be fined in any sum not exceeding ten dollars, or be imprisoned in the jail of the
county not exceeding twentyfour hours, or both, at the discretion of the Mayor.
Another ordinanee of December 6 declared :
That no person shall be permitted to engage, buy or sell any marketing of any kind or
description, except buying or selling meat from butchers, on any of the market <lays
established by ordinance, before market hours, which shall be known by ringing of the bell.
1828. — An ordinance of August 28 lays punishments upon any person found
within the borough in a state of intoxication, engaged in disorderly behavior, or
"strolling about the streets or alleys of said borough apparently with an improper
or evil design," after ten o'clock at night.
1829. — An ordinance of March 29 contains these clauses : "No person or
pei-sons shall be permitted to keep a grocery, confectionery, alehouse or shop, or
anj' place where ardent or other spirits or liquors are sold in less quantity than a
quart within said borough, licensed tavernkcepers excepted, without having first
obtained a license Irom the Mayor."
Tills ordinance further requires that any person intending to apply for a
license should give notice of such intention in " three of the most public places in
said borough " at least ten days before the sitting of the council, and authorizes the
mayor and council to fix the amount to be paid for such license. The fee ranged
from five to fifty dollars. An ordinance for the preservation of the peace and
good morals of the borough of Columbus," passed September 3, subjects to fine
and imprisonment all vagrants, idlers, and riotous or lewd persons guilty of dis-
orderly or indecent behavior; also all persons found intoxicated, or "strolling
about the sti'eets or alleys of said borough, apparently with an improper or evil
design, after ten o'clock at night, without giving satisfactory evidence of the honesty
of their intentions." An additional ordinance for the suppression of gaming within
the borough was passed September 3. A. I. McDowell was granted the privilege
of erecting a bathhouse on Spring Street, conditioned upon the annual payment of
one dollar.
1830. — On January 8, an ordinance was passed directing that a market should
be held, under direction of the clerk of the same, in the new building on State
Street, on Wednesday and Saturday morning of each week ; that the street should
bo kept clear of filth and unobstructed by " wagons, carts, horses or oxen;" and
declaring :
That the two west stalls and benches in the market house are reserved for the use of
tlie country people ; and the Clerk of the Market shall charge 25 cents for each beef, 12}^
cents for each hog, and 6}:i cents for each calf or sheep that is cut up or sold in the market-
house, and pay the same into the treasury for the use of the corporation.
Another ordinance of same date provided that " a building suitable for hay
scales shall be erected on the alley south of and adjoining the lot on which the
German church in Columbus is situate;" that a weigher should be appointed ;
that certain fees for weighing might be charged ; that 2,400 pounds should con-
stitute a ton of buy ; and that selling hay without having it weighed should be
unlawful. An ordinance for " protection of the borough of Columbus against
damage by powder," passed January 18, requires that gunpowder for retail shall
be kept " in a good canister made of tin or copper," and that when more than one
canister is kept, the additional quantity should be put into a good brick or stone
powderhouse on the back part of some lot. Eesolutions of February 12 declare
that, " whereas the location of the National Road through the county by the Gen-
472 History of the City of CoLaMBPs
eral Government is a matter in whicli the people generally have felt groat inter-
est, and particularly the citizens of this borough," and whereas the location, as
made, is satisfactory to the people of the borough ; therefore " High Slreet, so far
as the National Road shall run in the same, shall be made to the satisfaction of
the Superintendent [Jonathan Wright] and kept in good rejjair at the expense of
the corporation." The ordinance further directed that a plat of the borough be
made and sulimitted, with these resolutions, to the sujierintendent of the road for
transmission to the Secretary of War. An ordinance of June 21, provides for the
appointment of an engineer, and directs him to "commence and prosecute the
grading and making a wharf on the east banj^ of the Scioto River adjacent to the
town of Columbus, beginning at or near the run above Broad Street, thence down
the river to Town Street, including said street, the distance of which is computed
at about 1,25(1 feet; the improvement to be made and completed agreeably to a
plan and description submitted to the Council by Joseph Ridgway, Junior, and
such other additions as maj' be directed by the Council." The ordinance pro-
ceeds to provide for a wharfing fund, to be managed by three commissioners, who
were authorized to borrow $t),000 on " transferable certificates of stock of not more
than S500 each," redeemable at the pleasure of the corporation " between the first
day of 1834 and 1844." R. W. McCoy, Joel Buttles and L. Goodale were appointed
commissioners in pursuance of this ordinance. An ordinance of June 21 directs
that the sidewalks on State Street shall be paved, " from High Street west to the
alley." An ordinance of August 12, framed with usual clumsiness and redun-
dancy of language, begins with the following: ^'Whereas, much uneasiness and
great danger is apjjrehended ou account of Blacksmith shops within the Borough,
having lately taken fire, and from their situation and construction calculated when
on fire to communicate the same to adjoining buildings, thereby jeopardizing the
property of many citizens." The ordinance therefore provides that all such shops
shall thereafter be built of brick, and regulates the construction of hearths and
forges.
1831 — An ordinance of June 10 directs that during the months of June, Julj',
August and September the market shall be held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and
Saturdaj-8. In June proposals for grading and finishing State Street west of the
markethouse were invited. An ordinance of June 27 amending the liquor-license
regulations, requires that "all applications for license to keep a grocery, and
retail spirituous liquors, shall be made in writing and subscribed by at least
twentyfour respectable householders of said borough, certifying that the appli-
cant is a proper person to keep a grocer^' and retail spirituous liquors." This
ordinance contained the following Sunday-closing section :
That if any person or persons licensed agreeably to the provisions of this ordinance,
shall sell, barter or bargain for any spirituous liquors, or suffer or permit the same to be
drank in hie, her or their grocery, or on his or their premises, on the first day of the week
commonly called Sunday, he, she or they so offending shall, on conviction thereof, be fined
in a sum of not more than twenty dollars nor less than five dollars, and shall thereupon for-
feit his or their license, and shall not be relicensed for the space of one year thereafter.
1832 — April 9 : "If anj- person or persons shall dig up any of the streets,
lanes or alleys of said Borough for the purpose of making brick, or dig anj- pit
or hole, or in any manner dig up the streets, lanes or alleys to the hindrance of
travellers or others," the persons so offending shall be fined. June 11 : Side-
walk pavements ten feet wide and made of " good sand brick with good stone
curb on the outer edge," ordered to be put down on all the Broad Street lots between
High Street and the river. The width of such pavements on State Street was
fixed at eight feet. July 13 : " There shall be permanent stones sunk in the
ground" in the common centre of Front, High and Third sti'eets, and the streets
by which these are crossed.
Council, Mayoralty and Police — I. 473
1833. — This being tlie clioler.i year some attention was given to the coiuiition
of the slroets, which was evidently one of gi-eat unclcanncss. A newspaper con-
tributor writing on May 25 calls attention to a hcaj) of " filthy trash " on Lusk's
Lane, between Town and Rich streets, and says:
Wlien ihal nuisance is cleaned out of the highway we can then feel a freedom to invite
your attentiuli t.. other public highways in Colunihus, the present situation of which is a
gross inipeiliniciit i\cii tn a footman, almost impassable with a carriage, and too filthy to be
endured without (■(iin|ilaiiiino;."
In M;iy tin' liilh)wiiig street coinmitteo was appointed : Eobert W. Mct.'oy,
('hristiaii IJcyl. Smniicl I'tir.-ons, Robert Riardon, George Jeffries and Jonathan
Ncercaiiier, Messrs. iMet^>y and Jef1ri<>s were delegiited to provide a safe place
for tile keeping of powder. Among miineroiis street im))r<)venient8 ordered were
these: K'epuir of the bridge at the end ot Ivist I'liblie Ijane ; repair of the
bridge at the south end of" lligli Street; graveling of High Street south of the
bridge ; construction of a culvert in Rich Street at Front ; tilling of holes in Front
Street, entire length ; graveling of Tliird Street, on both sides of Lizard Creek ;
repair of two culverts on Lizard Creek, on Fourth Street; drainage of ])ond at
tiie east end of State Street, op]wsitc Judge Parish's ; culvert at the east end of
Town Street; opening of gutter on Fourth Street south of State; rejiair of High
Street from Friend to Broad ; and street repairs at the marketliouse.
Manifestly the cholera produced one useful result, if no other, in bestirring
the easygoing villagers to open their chokedup gutters and culverts, drain their
stagnant pools and remove the rotting garbagelieaps which gorged their neglected
alloj's.
NOTES.
1. Chapter XIX, Volume 1.
2. An old citizen informs the author that when the first iron fence around the Capitol
Square was built, the stones set by State Director .foel Wright when lie made the original
survev of the town were found in oosition.
CHAPTER XXXI.
COUNCIL, MAYORALTY AND POLICE -II.
The yoar 1S34 begins tlie life of the capital as a city. The act of the General
Assembly usually referred to as the " tirst city ch.-irter, " entitled '' an act to incor-
porate the City of Columbus in the State of Ohio," was passed and became a law
May 3. That act repealed the boroui^h charter of February ] 0, 1816, with all the
acts amendatory thereto, and inaugurated an entirely new municipal regime. Its
initial section defines the boundaries of the city in the following terms:
So much of the county of Franklin as is comprised witliin the following limits, to wit:
Beginning at a point where the southwef-t corner of the new penitentiary lot bounds ou the
Scioto river, thence north with the west line of said lot to tlie north side of Public Lane,
thence cast with Public Lane to the east side of Fourth Street, thence south with the east
side of Fourth Street to Broad Street, thence east with the nortli side of Broad Street to tbe
east fide of Seventh Street, tlience soutli with tlie east side of Seventh Street to South Public
Lane, thence west w ith the south side of Public Lane to the Alley which is the east boundary
of South Columl'us, thence with the south side of said Alley or Lane to the west side of the
Alley or Street which is the western boundary of South Columbus, thence north with the
west side of said Alley or Street to the south side of South Public Lane, thence west to the
west side of the (Jolumbus Feeder, so as to include the towpath, thence north with said tow-
path to the Scioto River, and in the same direction across said river, thence up the west side
of said river and with the meanders until a line drawn due north will reach the place of
begmning.
The territories thus bounded, and the inhabitants thereof, the act declares,
"are created a body corporate and politic, with perpetual succession, by the name
and style of the City of Columbus," capable of suing and being sued, pleading and
being impleaded and of holding and convej-ing real estate; and competent to
'' havfl, receive and enjoy all the rights, immunities, powers and privileges, and be
subject to all the .duties and obligations incumbent upon and appertaining to a
municipal corporation." The act divided the city into three wards, thus defined :
" The first ward shall comprise all the territor}- north of the centre of State Street;
the second ward all between the centre of State and the centre of Eich streets;
and the third ward all south of the centre of Rich Street."
The powers of the corporation were vested by this act in a mayor and a city
council to be chosen by the electors. The council comprised four representatives
from each ward, one of the four to be chosen annually for the term of four years.
The mayor's term of service was fixed at two years. The annual municipal
election was required to take place on the second Monday in April. The classi-
fication of powers and duties under the act seems to have been governed bj' no
clear or consistent rule. When we come to search the law for some welldefined
principle by which the balance and harmony of municipal functions may be
determined and arranged, we find none. Consequently the government which the
law creates is nt'l a system, but a medlej- of powers arbitrarily assigned. The
[474]
Council, MAYORALxy and Police— II. 475
powers vested in the mayor are both executive and judicial ; those vested in the
council both lei^islative and executive. Neither the mayor nor the council holds a
direct and individualized rcsiimisiliility to the people. Asonly four members of the
council retired inone yeai-, lis (luirac'ter could not be changed by any single election,
and a councilman, however derelict in conserving the interest.s of the city at large,
was amenable for his conduct only to the electors of his own ward. Such were
some of the leading, and as experience has abundantly shown, mischievous charac-
teristics of this law, most of which, with variations chiefly in mischievousness by
])artisan or State meddling, have been perpetuated in the government of Colum-
bus to the ])resent time.
The law cliarged the Mayor to be " vigilant and active at all times in causing
the laws and ordinances of said city to be put in force and dnly executed," and
made it his further duty to "inspect the conduct of all subordinate officers" in the
city government, and, " as far as in his power, to cause all negligence, carelessness
and positive violation of duty (o be prosccnlcd and ]iromptlv ]uinished ; at the
siimc time the agencies and inslrunienis through and by wliich alone the laws
could be executed were placed undei- I'.xclusive control of tlie council, which, in
addition to its legislative functions, was re<|uired to "appoint all assessors and
collectors of taxes, city surveyors, cici-ks of the market, street commissioners,
health otficcrs, weighers of hay, nieasm-ers of wood and coal, wharfmasters," and
all other city officers whose appointment or election was not otherwise jirovided
for. The r'ily Marshal was elected annually by the Council and appointed his
own deputies whom he might at pleasure remove from office. The council
selected from its own members a recorder and treasurer, each to serve for the
term of one year Power was reserved to the council to appoint health officers
and regulate their duties: to " e.stablish a city watch and organize the same ;"
to establish and organize tire companies and provide them with bylaws and regu-
lations; appoint " su)iervisors and other officers of streets ;" and fill vacancies in
office. The mayor ruled, the council governed. The city was virtuallj^ placed by
its charter under tlie control of a committee of twelve persons, one quarter of
whom, should the committee misbehave, might be dismissed by the voters at thi^
next election. The mayor was an executive in name only. He was rather a
general inspector and police justice, " vested with the powers coequal with justices
of the peace within said city." His judicial decrees were executed through the
marshal, who was amenable" not to him but to the city council, which had the
]iowcr to i-emove him, or any other city official, from office. The mayor had
original an.l exclusive jurisdiction of all cases of violation of the city ordinances,
but when a tine of five dollars, or more, was adjudged by him, exclusive of costs,
appeal might be taken from his decision to the Court of Common Pleas. From
the decisions of the council there was no appeal, except a modified one to the
The legislative body elected its own presiding officer; had the " custody, care,
superintendence, management and control of all the real and personal estate, and
other corporate property " belonging to the city; and had power to levy and col-
lect taxes on all property "returned on the grand levy" within the corporate
limits, provided the tax for any single year should not "exceed onefifth of one
per centum on the aggregate value of taxable property in said city." The taxes
were collected by the city marshal. The council, twothirds of its members con-
cuiring, might negotiate loans to pay the debts of the city, but one financial
jircrogative of its iDorough predecessor was forbidden it ; ' nor shall the said city
council," so the charter ran, "issue any printed notes or tickets to be issued
under their authority, or under the authority of said city, as a circulating medium
of trade or exchange, or in any way or manner, either directly or indirectly.
476 History of teie City of Columbus.
engaije ia the business of banking." As the corporation possessed no prison, the
use of the county jail was permitted.
Acts amendatory to the charter of 1S34 were passed by the General Assembly
as follows: March 5, 1838, regulating the collection of road tax and expenditure
of same in the improvement of streets, fixing the rate of the city levy, and per-
naitting general as well as municipal elections to be held by wards; March 7, 1839,
extending the corporate limits so as to include Gilbert's addition ; March 15, 1839,
authorizing the city council to fix the places of holding general elections ; March
25, 1841, exempting firemen from jury service; February 11, 1846, prescribing the
election of a mayor and marshal annually, fixing the number of couneilmen for
each ward at three, one of the three to be elected annuallj', constituting the city
as one road district and conferring upon the council the power possessed by
supervisors of highways in the collection of road tax; February 27, 1846,
authorizing the council to fill vacancies among its members; February 8, 1847,
extending the city boundary eastward to the east line of Washington Avenue;
December 28, 1847, further extending the corporation limits eastward ; and on
January 11, 1848, extending said limits southward. An act of Februarj' 1, 1847,
gave to the street then known as Meadow Lane the name of Washington Avenue.
An act of February 6, 1847, authorized the City Council, on vote taken and
approval given by the qualified electors, to subscribe for stock in the Cleveland,
Columbus and Cincinnati and the Columbus and Xenia railway companies to the
amount of fifty thousand dollars in each company. An act passed February 3,
1845, "for the support and better regulation of common schools, in the city of
Columbus" was amended by act of February 24, 1848. An act exempting the
wharf lots but not the buildings thereon from taxation was passed February 22,
1832. A general act specifying the manner in which all town and city taxes
should be levied and collected was passed February 22, 1848.
Directly after organization of the city government under the charter of 1834 the
legislation of the city increased rapidly and soon became so voluminous that only
some of its more novel and striking features can be mentioned in a sketch of this
kind. The first council under the new charter was elected April 14 and was
organized April 21, 1834. At the next meeting, held April 28, inventories of cor-
poration property in the possession of the mayor and marshal were taken, and
Abraham Stotts was elected marshal and clerk of the market. The funds in the
treasurer's office at the beginning of the new organization amounted to §90.75.
On December 8 John Brooks was paid S37.50 for a half year's salary as mayor.
On June 23 the tax levy for city purposes was fixed at two mills on the dollar.
On May 20 the council voted to license the sale of intoxicating liquors and fixed
the license fee at S150. An ordinance to prevent the introduction of contagious
diseases into the city passed September 1, and on September 8 another, doubtless
dictated by apprehension of the cholera, forbidding any jjerson to "introduce
into the city for use or sale anj' apples, plums, grapes, cabbages, cucumbers, water
or musk melons or green corn " until the fifteenth of the ensuing October. This
latter ordinance was repealed September 22. On September 9 George Kind,
William McDonald and Benjamin Sells were appointed health officers for the first,
second and third wards respectively. Their compensation was two dollars per
day. An ordinance of October 30 declares that " no person shall sell any article
of marketing whatever after two o'clock of the day before eac'b market daj', until
the ringing of the bell on market morniuL'." On December 29, Robert W. McCoy,
N. H. Swayne and Alexander Patton were delegated to communicate with Major
Brewster relative to construction of the Cumberland (National) Eoad through the
city. On October 3 the Council moved into new quarters — two rooms and a
cellar at six dollars per month — " on Mr. McCoy's lot."
OouNCiL, Mayoralty and Police — II. 477
1835. — An ordinance of March 21, to jirovido for ihc ]iajment of dobis and
protection of the city against fire, authorizes a loan of 111,1100, bc:u-iii<^iiiterest at
not more than 7.5 per cent, per annum, and directs tii.-it a corporation note of
$(>,500 to G. Swan and one of $500 to the Franklin Bank be redeemed March 1.
Notices of petitions for the extension of Fifth and Sixth streets from Town to
Broad and of State Street and Sugar Alley from Fourth to Seventh were given in
April. An ordinance of June 9 provides for the appointment of a street commis-
sioner to serve one year, with authority to made contracts for the im]irovement
of streets and supervise execution of the same. The compensation of this func-
tionary was three dollars per day. His appointment was made by the council.
Slieep and swine were forbidden to run at large by ordinance of June 24. A reso-
lution of July 13 required the marshal to notify all keepers of groceries where
spirituous liquors weie sold that the}' would be required to close their shops at
9:30 P. M. until October 1. On the same date a petition signed by five hundred
ladies of the citj' was presented to the council, asking that no license be granted
" to sell ardent spirits as a drink." Another ordinance of July 13, after reciting
that " Adin G. Hibbs has, by permission of the Council, erected hay scales on the
east side of High Street, opposite lot Number 347 in said city, at his own expense,"
provides for the appointment of a weigher, declares that the weight of a ton of
hay shall be 2,000 pounds, and authorizes the collection of a weigher's fee of
twentyfive cents per load, onehalf to go to the weigher and the other half to
Mr. Hibbs.i A long ordinance to provide for the suppression of immoral and dis-
orderly practices was passed June 24. This ordinance authorized any householder
to apprehend, without breach of the peace, any person violating it. The size of
street gutters, and the mode and material for paving were prescrihed by ordin-
ance of July 9. On the same date a tax of three tnills was levied. On Sep-
tember 7 Dean & McKinney petitioned for leave to establish a theatre. On
repoi't of a committee, in February, thirtytwo of the wharf lots were ordered to be
leased at from 120 to $62 per lot.
1836. — The city debt in April was 813,000. On May 2 a loan of $8,000 at
7.5 per cent, was authorized " for the improvement of the city." A loan of
$10,000 at 7.5 per cent. " for the payment of debts due by the city," was authorized
June 3. One section of this latter ordinance provided, "that there shall be a city
stock created to the amount of the sums borrowed, and scrip shall be issued bear-
ing an interest of seven and a half per centum per annum, and said scrip shall be
■signed by the President of the City Council and countersigned by the city
Recorder." An ordinance forbidding the hitching of " any horse, ox, mule or other
aniinal to the paled fence around the Public Ground belonging to the State " was
published in August. The stationing of market vehicles so that they might not
interfere with the passage of stages or use of the public cisterns by fii-emen, was
required by ordinance of November 19. A. Stotls, City Marshal, reported that
eight counterfeit dollars had been passed upon him in payment of taxes. The fee
for a th?eatre license was fixed at $75. The Recorder's salary was fixed at $75,
the Treasurer's at $50 and that of the Clerk of the Market at $60, On December
13 a committee was appointed to report on the location of a new markethouse. On
March 13, 1837, this committee reported in favor of Third Street from Rich to
Friend, provided the owners of the ground on each side of the proposed location
would donate a strip twelve feet wi<le. The report was tabled.
1837 — The revenues of the city were thus reported in May: Licenses of
taverns, etc., $820.00; theatre license, $75.00; rent of wharf lots, $168.00 ; licen-
ses to showmen and fines, $110.63; tax collected on the duplicate, $2,327,97; paid
by butchers lor stall rent, $235.72; from loans, $10,000. The expenses, were
$12,589. A newspaper card of September 6 expressed the opinion that the time
had arrived when a " city police " should be organized. The writer complained
478 History op the Citt of CoLUMBrs.
that the mandates of the council were not enforced. On ^Jovember 20 the council
unanimouslj' adopted the following :
Whereast, it has been represented to the City Council that niucli difficulty now exists
among the citizens for want of convenient change as a circulating medium, therefore,
Knohed, that the Bank of this city be requested to issue bills or tickets of credit of the
several following denominations: C^'^i^ 12%, 25, 50 and 75 cents and one dollar bills.
On December 10 a committee which had been appointed to consider the evils
resulting from coffeehouses and similar establishments, reported recommending
stringent measures for their regulation. At the same meeting of the council the
license fee for all places other than taverns where liquor was sold was fixed at
SlOO, and for beer shops at S50.
1838. — An amendment of January 9 to the ordinance licensing taverns, ale-
houses and porterhouses, requires all groceries, coffeehouses and beershops to close
at 10:30 p. m. and remain closed until 4 a. m. The same amendment provides that
no license shall in future be renewed unless the applicant shall bring a certificate
of at least three respectable householders that he has kept an orderly house, and
not j)ermitted gambling or drunkenness on his premises. An ordinance of April
16 provides that brick thereafter made for sale in the city shall be nine inches
long, 4§ inches wide and '1\ inches thick, and that the raeasurs of lime and all
other articles usually " sold by heaped measure," shall be 2,764 cubic inches to
the bushel, and the " standard for even measure " shall be 2,211 cubic inches per
bushel. Lime and coal in small quantities were required to be measured in
vessels of not less than nineteen inches diameter across the bottom, and contain-
ing not less than one bushel. The license to grocers was increased to a minimum
of fifty dollars. A committee was appointed to ascertain whether the city would
be requii'ed to keep the National Eoad in repair within its limits. After the mat
ter had been before the council several times, a committee was appointed to pur-
chase three acres of ground and build a hospital, for which purpose a loan of
11,200 was authorized.
1839. — The Ohio Board of Public Works was requested, but declined, to grant
the city part of the National Road tolls from the first gate eastward as compensa-
tion for repairing the road within the city limits. A committee was appointed to
confer with the Board as to the transfer to the city of that part of the road within
its boundaries. Purchase of eleven and a quarter acres of ground on the north
side of the Livingston Eoad, at one hundred dollars per acre, for the purpose of.
being laid out in " small family grave lots," was authorized. An ordinance pro-
viding for the election of a City Clerk, and defining his duties, was passed Decem-
ber 9.
1840. — "A citizen " writes under date of March 18 that " within two or three
weeks past a set of ruffians have infested our streets for the purpose of insulting
ladies who may happen to walk out after dark," and suggests the organization of a
secret watch. At the April election John G. Miller, Whig, was chosen mayor.
The Whig majority in the city was 219, and in the city and township 214.
1841. — Thomas Wood was appointed mayor by the council, vice J. G. Miller
appointed postmaster. Complaint was made that the m:irkei space was too small,
and inconveniently located. A newspaper cardwriler complains that the sidewalks
are so blocked with boxes and merchandise as to be nearly impassable; that
"nearly entire stores are exliibited on boxes piled on the jiavements ;" and that a
gang of profane and obscene rowdies congregates in the evening at the northeast
corner of High and Town streets. Public cisterns were located by a committee of
the Council as follows: Corner Friend and Town, south side; corner Town
and Third, south side; corner State and Third, scmth side; corner Gay and High,
south side; corner Mound and High, north side; corner Broad and Front, south
side ; corner State and Front, south side ; corner Rich and Front, south side.
Council, Mayoralty and Police — II. 47i)
1842. —Three market days per week were eslaMished in U-.wrh. A iiu'ciini;-
favoring a new location for the mai-kotlioiisc wa- held in the basement ot the
Baptist Church April 7. Resolutions were adopicl icMdinmending that a site be
chosen on or east of Third Street. Committees were apiiointed to attend to the
distribution of the tickets for the ])ur])Osc of taliing a vote as to the selection of a
new location at the next election. An ordinance of .Inly 12 forbiils anj- person
to take up any pavement, to cut down or fill up any street, lane or alloy, or to
change the grade of any sidewalk. The ]iresence ot dogs at the market was for-
bidden. The Mayor was authorized, at discretion, to keep and feed prisonei's at
the county jail in the ordinary wa.y, or on bread and water. The city evidenti}-
was fast losing, or had by this time alroaily lust, its bnrongb simplicity, lor on
December 13 George B. Harvey, City ilarshal. cantioiis citizens to be on their
guanl against burglars. "During tlie ])asl \\y<> niulit.-.' he says, "two houses
have been broken open and attempts made to bi'eak others. '
1843. —On March G a bill to amend the charter of Columbus, was reported
from a committee to which it bad been referred in the Ohio Senate, and on
motion of Mr. Eidgway was indefinitely postponed. The character of this bill is
indicated by the following extract from a card published by Mr. A. G. Hibbs, a
member of the council, in the Ohio Statesman:
I was among the tirst and most anxious for a change in the charter, giving it a more
republican character. The couucilmen are now elei-ted for four years while tlie memliers of
the legislature are only elected for one year in one House and two in the other, and many of
the officers of our city are not elected by the people at all. Wliya member of tlie City
Council of Columbus should not return his stewardship to the people in less time than every
four years I never could comprehend, from any correct ideas of democratic government.
Another contributor to the Statesman wrote;
Ought the appointing power to rest with a Council which appoints men to office most
notoriously derelict of duty? Look at the streets and alleys ; look at the boxes of goods and
wood placed on the sidewalks. iSome of them are impassable.
There may have been some partisan feeling at the bottom of these criticisms,
but it is very evident that the anomalous charter of 1834 was not producing the
very best results.
At a meeting of citizens held April 25 resolutions were adopted favoring the
purchase of the Theatre and its conversion into a Citj- Hall under supervision of
the City Council, the sum necessary for the purehase and repairs — $1,400 — to
be raised by private subscription.
1844. —Tax levy, four mills. Notwithstanding all the municipal fulmina-
tious against canines, the Ohio State Journal of May 30 was constrained to
remark: "The town is infe.sted with dogs -nasty, barking, snarling, useless
dogs."
1845. — An engraved map of the city, drawn by H. F. Wheeler, was pub-
lished this year by John M. Kinney.
1840. ^By ordinance of February 18 the city was divided into five wards,
the first comprising all territory " north of the centre of Gay Street and of a line
westwardly from the western termination of said Gaj' Street to the Scioto Eiver ;"
the second, all between the centres of Gay and State streets; the third all between
the centres of Gay and liicb streets; the tourtb, all "between the centre of Rich
Street and the centre of Mound Street extending to the corporation line on the
west side of the Columbus Feeder;" the litili, -all south of the centre of Mound
Street as above extended." By ordinance of .May 14 the salaries of the city
ofHcials were esiablished as follows : Recortler, $100, but iu case of the appoint-
ment of a city clerk nothing; Clerk $100, Marshal $450, Treasurer $150, Clerk of
the Market $100. It was by this ordinance made the duty of the Clerk of the
480 History of the City of Columbus.
Market to collect the "schoolhouse tax, wharf rents, stall rents in the market-
house, and all other moneys arising from the market or any other source not
otherwise provided for." The clerk was compensated for this collecting service by
percentages allowed him on the sums collected. An ordinance of July 18
requires that all shows and theatrical exhibitions for pay shall obtain permits
from the mayor, for which fees prescribed by the ordinance shall be paid.
Church, school, scientific, art and benevolent exhibitions were exempted from this
requirement. A market ordinance of July 21 declares that after its passage
The City Marshal and the Clerk of the Market shall direct all market wagons and carts
to be placed along the east side of High Street, between Gay and Friend streets, so as to
back up to the sidewalk, and so that the passage on the sidewalks on Broad, State, Town,
Rich and Friend streets shall be kept open.
1847. — By resolution of November 8 the purchase from Thomas Asbury of
two lots on Fourth Street, between Town and Eich, for a new markethouse was
authorized ; price, $2,000.
1848. — The legislation of this year was voluminous. On February 14 ordi-
nances were passed forbidding daylight bathing in the Scioto between the south
boundary' and the New Penitentiary; forbidding the discharge, within the city,
of any cannon, gun, pistol, anvil, log, stump, rocket, squib, cracker or any other
thing'charged with gunpowder without consent of the mayor; regulating use of
the wharves and forbidding boats from remaining there longer than two days;
providing for the suppi'ession of riots; further defining the duties of city oflScers ;
forbidding the throwing or firing of any rocket weighing more than one pound,
causing any balloon to ascend inflated otherwise than by gas, flying kites and
throwing fireballs saturated with turpentine or rolling hoops on sidewalks. The
ordinance for suppression of immoral practices was amended and reenacted
February 16. An ordinance of the same date authorized the City Marshal to
clear all' streets, lanes and alleys of fences and other obstructions. The size of
bricks moulded for use in the city was fixed at 2^x4|x9 inches. The measure of
lime, coal and other articles usually sold by heaped measure was declared to be
five pecks, or 26*88 cubic inches. Driving upon and obstructing the sidewalks
was forbidden. 'The location, construction, use and scavenging of gutters, drains,
vaults and sinks were regulated. The boundaries of the wards, five in number,
were readjusted by ordinance of March 23. The market ordinance was amended
and reenacted — retaining most of its old provisions — February 26. On July 10
a committee was appointed to procure a j)lan, with specifications, for a new
markethouse, and on August 14 a committee was instructed to proceed with the
erection of the building, for which purpose the sum of 84,000 was appropriated.
An ordinance of August 31 regulates the measurement and sale of firewood, a
cord to measure 8x4x4 feet "well stowed and packed." The wood measurer
was allowed a fee of five cents per load, and was authorized to designate the
place where the wood wagons should stand. Numerous ordinances for paving
and policing streets and alleys were passed.
1849. — An ordinance of February 17 " to establish a city watch " contains the
following clauses :
The watchmen now in office in this city shall constitute the city watch for the time
being, and the city council shall appoint as many watchmen in the month of May annually
as they may deem necessary ; and as many more in the month of November, annually, as
they may think proper, to serve during the winter, or for such time as they may be
appointed, and organize them under the general supervision of the City Marshal as a city
watch, and the said watchmen shall be ex ufficio police officers for the enforcement of the
ordinances of the city, and the laws of the State, within the city, in criminal cases. . . .
The watchmen shall assemble at the city watchhouse every night, precisely one hour after
sunset, at which time the evening roll shall be called by the marshal and the names of absen-
tees marked (if any), and immeiliately after the calling of the roll the several watchmen shall
M fLc&Jc
Council, Mayoralty and Police — II. 481
proceed to discharge their nightly duties, and shall continue in the discharge of their said
duties until such hour in the morning as shall from time to time be designated or directed
by the City Marshal, when they shall again assemble at the watchhouse, and the roll shall
be called again and the absentees marked by the Marshal, and a memorandum thereof
shall be laid by the Marshal before the City Council at their next monthly meeting ; and if
any watchman shall be found absent, or neglecting his duty twice without good reasons,
he shall be dismissed from the city watch.
The Marshal might appoint substitutes in case of sickness, but all vacancies in
the watcli were filled by the Citj' Council The watchmen were paid one dollar
for each nigiit of actual service. For daylight service, when required, their rate
of compensation was the same. The mayor might summon their assistance in
case of mobs and riots, but they were in no proper sense under his control. The
executive functions of the city government were still monojjolized by its law-
makers, while its nominally chief executive officer was no more than a police judge.
To call such a plan of municipal administration a system would be grossly out of
place ; it was a mongrel distortion of the fundamental principles of republican
government. Contemplating its heterogeneous and contradictory character, we
cannot wonder that the streets and alleys became so filthy as to invite pestilence ;
that the}' were obstructed with cord wood, garbage heaps and even fences; that
sidewalks were so piled with boxes and barrels as to force pedestrians into the
street ; that the commonness and brazenness of gambling and other vices became
almost insufferable, and that the growtii of the town was for many years by no
means commensurate with its advantages as the capital of, in many respects, the
most superb State in the Union. Wo are quite prepared to learn that on June 11,
1849, the council appointed a committee to propose a new city charter. The city
needed it.
NOTE.
]. The hayscales here referred to were situated on the east side of High Street, between
Rich and the alley next south.
CHAPTER XXXll.
COUNCIL, MAYORALTY AND POLICE — III.
On March 5, 1850, a new charter was adopted bj' the council and ordered to
be presented to the Geneial Assembly. On March 23 "an act to amend the
several acts incorporating the City of Columbus" passed that bodj- and became
a law. This act, like its predecessor of 1834, describes the boundaries of the city,
and adds the proviso: "That all grounds that now are or hereafter may be
laid out into lots as additions to said city, whether so named or not, if contiguous
thereto and designed or used as building lots, may, by the City Council, by ordi-
nance passed for that purpose, be included in and made a part of said city as
effectually as if embraced in the foregoing limits."
The approach made by this new " charter '' towards a more republican and
sj-stematic form of government was appreciable but slight. Its disdain of direct
amenabilitj- to the electors was a shade less sweeping than that of the act of
1S34, but its want of sj-stem was almost as complete and its classification of powers
almost as crude. The mayor continued to be a sort of city justice under the new
law as under the old, and though called " a principal officer," is neither named nor
constituted a chief executive. That function, if properly attributable to anybody,
belonged rather to the City Marshal than to the Mayor. It was again provided
that the mayor should be chosen by the electors, that he should hold his office for
the term of one year, and that he should have the powers and emoluments of a
justice of the peace. It was provided that the marshal and treasurer also should
be elected annually at the polls. The council continued to be, as before, a supreme
committee, the character of which, whatever its behavior, could under ordinary
conditions by no possibility be changed at any single election. It consisted of
fifteen members --three from each ward — only onethird of whom could be
annually retired. It was vested with power to change the boundaries of wards
and create new wards if it should see fit. It was further authorized to appoint a
city clerk, a city attorney, and all city surveyors, clerks of the market, street com-
missioners, health officers, weighers of hay, wharfmasters and measurers of wood,
coal and lime. These powers of executive appointment were subject only to this
qualification : " That the said City Council may at any time, when deemed
expedient by them, provide by ordinance for the election of any of said officers by
the qualified voters of the said city or wards, as the case may require." On July
8 the council appointed James L. Bates to the new office at its disposal, that of
City Attorney.
The act of March 23, 1850, continued to be the "charter" for the govern-
ment of Columbus until, pursuant to the constitution of 1851, the General Assem-
bly passed a general act " to provide for the organization of cities and incorpor-
" By that act, which was passed May 3, 1852, and which may be
[482]
Council, Mayoralty and Police — III. 483
considered tlie origin if not the basis of the present munici])al code, something
like a system in municipal government was inaugurated in Ohio. The act
repealed all statutes then in force for the organization and government of munici-
pal corporations, and c la^sified the muncipalities of the State as cities of the first
and sec-ond class, incorjioi'atcd villages and incorporated villages for special pur-
]i(isis, ('iiii^ having nunc than L'li.iloo inhabitant.s according to the last preced-
ing national ccnstis were assigni'd lo tlu' tirst class; all others to the second. The
"corpoi-ale authority of citizens "' oi-ganizod under the act was vested in " one
principal officer to be styled the Mayor ' and "in one Board of Trustees to be
denominated the City Council,'' together with such other officers as were men-
tioned in the act, or might be "created under its authority.'" The mayor of a city,
it was further provided, should be its chief executive officer and con.servator of its
peace. Having thus declared, the law proceeds to say: " It shall be his [tho
mayor'.s] special duty to cause the ordinances and regulations of the city to be
faithfully and constantly obeyed ; he shall supervise the conduct of all officers of
the city, examine the grounds of all reasonable complaints made against any of
them, and cause all their violations of dut}-, or their neglects, to be promptly
punished or reported to the proper tribunal for correction ; he shall have within
the city limits the powers conferred ujion the sheriffs of the counties to suppress
disorders and keep the peace."
Here we have, at length, a recognition of the maj'or as a " chief executive
officer;" we also find him vested by this law with additional though scarcely-
coordinate executive power. In a city of the first class the mayor was authorized
to appoint one chief of police and as many watchmen as the council might direct
and approve. The police force was placed, to a qualified extent, under his direc-
tion. He possessed, as before, " all the powers of a justice of the peace," but in
the cities of the first class was not required, except on special emergency, to hear
and adjudge any criminal case. In cities of the second class the mayor exorcised
exclusive jurisdiction over all violations of the ordinances, and performed, as
under the old constitution and statutes, the functions of a police judge. The new
law created the offices of marshal, civil engineer, fire engineer, treasurer, auditor,
solicitor, police judge and superintendent of markets, all to be filled by choice at
the polls. The term for which these offices, and also that of mayor, was to be
held was two years. The time a]ipointcd for the election of city officers was the
first Monday in April.
The City Council, under the act of 1852, ceases to be a supreme committee
and becomes amenable for its collective conduct to the electors. Its members are
chosen, two in each ward, for the term of two years, their terms to expire alter-
nately. The councilmen are spoken of as trustees, indicating a fiduciary relation
to the people for whom they are to legislate. The executive functions which they
enjoyed under the old law are reduced and lirnitcd but by no means wholly taken
away. The council shall have, in addition to its legislative powers, so the law
states, all other corporate powers not otherwise conferred or conceded, and shall
appoint or provide for the election of "all such city officers as shall be necessary
for the good government of said citj^, and for the due exercise of its corporate
powers as to whose appointment or election provision is not herein made."
This act — of May 3, 1852— was a ver}- important step in the direction of sys-
tematic municipal organization in Ohio. It was a transition from the dangerous
and uncertain ground of special legislation to the solid basis of general constitu-
tional principles. It was a distinct recognition of the practical value of the
coordination, if not coequality, of powers in municipal government. It was a
qualified ajjplication to municipal affairs of the same classification of func-
tions which has proved so wise and beneficent in national affairs. If the
law did not provide for a distinct separation and independent organization
484 History- OP the City op CoLUMBtJS.
of the executive, legislative and judicial departments, it gave at least a statutoiy
endorsement to that plan of organization and prepared the way for its practical
realization. More than had ever been done before, it fixed official responsibility
and brought the government of cities under the control of the people.
With such amendatory and supplementary legishition as has modified,
extended and sometimes distorted its provisions, the law of 1852 has been and
still is the code of municipal government in Ohio. To follow out all the changes
to which it has been subjectedand all the additions made to it would require more
space than can here be spared. The task belongs to general history rather than
to local. Further reference to the organic municipal legislation of the State will be
needed, and made, only so far as may be necessary for the interpretation of local
events, the course of which will now be resumed.
On May 14, 1851, an ordinance was passed providing for the appointment of
a captain of the city watch and as many vratchmen as might be deemed necessary.
The terra of service in this corps was one year. The watchmen were required to
assist the marshal when necessary, to clean and keep in good order the city gas
lamps, to light them in the evening and to extinguish them in morning. They
were subject to the direction of the captain. In May, 1851, announcement was
made that elegant rooms for the council and city officials had been fitted up in the
second story of the new markethouse on Fourth Street. A room 9:i feet long, 27
wide and 19 in height was appropriately furnished as a Citj' Hall. The City
Council held its meetings in the southern part of this chamber, adjoining which
was the maj-or's office, 37 feet by 20. A room 20 x 13 was set apart for the City
Marshal, and one of 30x13 for the City Surveyor and Clerk. Two cells were
arranged conveniently to the mayor's office for the temporary confinement of
arrested persons. The tax levy ot this year was five mills. The receipts of the
city treasury were $31,958.40 ; expenditures, $27,888.86.
1852.— On February 1, the Old Statehouse was destroyed by fire ; on Febru-
ary 2, the council tendered to the General Assembly the u.se of the City Hall and
offices. On February 13, a contribution of one hundred dollars was made by the
councilmen and citj' officials toward the construction of the Washington Monu-
ment. A resolution conferring upon the Columbus, Piqua & Indiana Eailway
Compimy the freedom of the town for its tracks and trains north of Broad Street,
•' except High Street," was passed May 8. Additional night watchmen were
appointed in December. Members of the council received for their services one
dollar each per meeting.
1853. — A fulUength portrait of Doctor Goodale, painted by Beard, was hung
in the Council Chamber. The room was further adorned with a portrait of Mr.
McCoy, by the same artist, and a large engraving of the Washington Monument.
On May 10, one hundred shares of stock in the Columbus & Cleveland Eailway
Company were advertised for sale by the City Treasurer. An ordinance to fund
the debts of the city was passed May 23. A resolution granting the Columbus &
Springfield Eailway Company a right of way for its tracks from the head of the
canal along Scioto Street and Bank Alley was passed, after much controversy,
June 20. Sunday liquorselling was forbidden by ordinance of June 25. On July
25, E. W. McCoy tendered his resignation as a member of the council, in which
body he had served continuously ever since the organization of the borough in
1816, and of which he had been president since the incorporation of the city. He
was obliged to retire by the infirmities of age. New market regulations were
adopted November 8. On October 24, five Bibles were ordered for use of the
judges of elections. On May 23, an issue of 6 per cent, twentyyear bonds suffi-
cient to pay the debt of the city was authorized. On November 14, the sum of $300
was paid by the State Board of Public Works for repairs on the National Road
Council, Mayoralty and Police - III. 485
within tho citj'. On July 14, a petition was presented aslsing for " tlie suppres-
sion of vice and disorder amoni^ the blacks."
1854. — In April the treasury contained a balance of $6,000 over expenditures,
which was considered " a novelty in the history of cities." After shie die adjourn-
ment of the retiring council April 7, its members, " with the city officers, report-
ers, &c., repaired to Ambos's and had a pleasant time generally." On April 10,
the new council met and endeavored to elect a president, but after having cast
thirtythree ineffectual ballots, took a recess until the next evening, when Theodore
Corastock was elected on the fortysecond ballot.
1855.— A brick stationhouse was begun near the City Hall this yeai'. On
March 12, the damming of Doe Run and Lyon's Creek was declared to be a nui-
sance. W. VV. Riley having '• constructed a sewer or underground ditch along the
soulhside of Long Street at its intersection with State Avenue," which sewer or
ditch prevented "the running stream known as Cold Run " from taking its natural
course and caused " a serious overflow," Riley was ordered, in June, to remove his
" sewer or ditch " so that the stream might " resume its natural channel." Riley
claimed that he had a valuable waterpower an<l carried the matter to the courts.
On April 9 the council cast 31, and on April 12 eightythree, ballots for president
without choice. On April 13, Henry Wilson was elected on the one hundred and
nineteenth ballot. A collation of the market ordinances was ordered in June. It
was said that these ordinances were numerous enough to fill a volume, but were
for the most part disregarded. On July 16, Colonel John Noble was chosen pres-
ident, oice Henry Wilson, resigned. Sale of $7,000 worth of Columbus & Xenia
Railway stock, to pay off an equal amount of city bonds, was authorized October
2. The police force comprised twelve night watchmen and three for day service.
These men were paid for their services at the rate of from $150 to $500 per year.
1856. — The Stationhouse begun in 1855 was completed this year. It was a
twostory brick, 24x34, and contained eleven cells, in two rows. Its upper story
contained a hall for the use of the police. The building cost $2,800. A loan of
$10,000 was authorized April 21, and another of the same amount May 11. Ou
January 25 T. V. Hyde was expelled from the council on charges of having been
interested in certain contracts for street paving contrary to law. A jury in
the mayor's court was authorized October 27. On December 22 Messrs. Noble,
Collins, Comstock, Decker and Reinhard were appointed a committee on " house-
warming " at the new Statehouse, and the sum of $300 was appropriated to make
the " warming " effectual.
1857.— Rate of tax, five mills. Market ordinances were passed June 22 and
July 20. On July 27 the market days and hours were changed to Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays, from daylight until nine a. m., and on Saturdays from
five until nine p. m. The printing of a revised code of ordinances was announced
September 14. .
1858.— Ten regular and twenty special policemen were elected by the council
May 17. Henry M. Wakeman was appointed Captain of the Police May 19.
Additional market regulations were passed November 22. On September 13 the
City Solicitor was directed to prepare an ordinance for submitting to the voters
of the city the question of levying a tax for the erection of a workhouse. The
expenses of the city during the six months ended October 4 were $30,789.29 ;
receipts, $37,351.60.
1859. — In the case of C. W. Kent vs. Martin White and John Fleming, police-
men, the Superior Court rendered a decision invalidating an ordinance authorizing
arrests without warrant and one forbidding auctions in the streets. The City
Solicitor was instructed to carry the case to the Supreme Court, on error. On
February 28 the Ways and Means committee was directed to sell $50,000 worth
of Columbus, Cincinnati & Cleveland railway stock, held by the city, at not less
486 History of the City of Columbus.
than par. The city's receipts during the year ended April 1 were S88,582,83 ;
expenses, §84,613.26. An ordinance aboiishint;: the oflBee of Street Commissioner,
and providing for streelcleaning by contract, failed to pass May 2. An ordinance
of July 14 located the " dray stands " as follows : South side of Broad, from High
to Third ; east side of High from Broad to Gay ; luirth side of State from High
to Thii'd ; east side of High, from Town to State ; west ^ide of High, from Fiicnd
to Eich. A cliaingaug ordinance was passed October 31, and chaingang street
labor was inaugurated November 7. The first "gang " comprised two while men
and three colored. On April 11 Haldeman Crary contested the right of Thomas
A. Jones to a seat in the council as a member from the first ward. During the
])roceeding8 Jones resigned and a new election was ordered. This is said to have
ijecn the only contest of the kind ever made in the city. Wood markets were
located on the north side of Gay Street from High to Front, west side of Fourth
Irom State to Town, and south side of Mound from High to Third.
1860. — The regular policemen appointed by the Cil_y Council June 4- were
H. M. Wakeman, Israel Lyon, John ITncles, O. T. Huff, Albert Hazelton, Solomon
Justice, Garret Fox, Charles Gain. W. B. Huffman and Nicholas Ketzel. John
Uncles was chosen C.iptain. An independent police service on Hi<,^h Stieet and
adjacent alleys was begun by Deputj- Marshals Martin, White and John Cool
June 16. Its surveillance wasconfiiied to High Street, between Broad and Fi-ieud,
and the neighboring alleys. A loan of §22,000 was authorized October 22 fbi-
payment of debts due to the estate of Lyue Starling.
1861. — On April 25 an ordinance was passed apjjropriating §20,000 for the
relief of soldieis' families. On July 1 A. O. Blair, chairman of the relief committee,
reported that he had disbursed S864.95 to families and recruits.
18o2. — A committee of reception to W. G. ("Parson") Brownlow was
appointed April 14.' On April 18 Messrs. Buttles, Wilson and Donaldson were
appointed a committee to cooperate with a committee of citizens in urging upon
Congress the location of a United States military post at Columbus. The wharf
lots were ordered sold December 22. On February 2, 1863, there was due to the
cit^- as rent of these lots the sum of §2,239.06; on a single one of these lots ti.e
debt amounted to §624. Fourteen of the lots were occupied without lease. A large
amount of territory on the West Side was annexed by ordinance of March 4. B.
McCabe was reappointeil Captain of the Police May 19. An act of the General
Assembly passed April 29 provided for election by the voters of a City Marshal for
one year and a City Solicitor for two years; also for appointment by the council
of a City Clerk for the term of two years. No provision was made for the election
or appointment of a city treasurer.
1863. — Receipts of the City Treasury', year ended April 1, §59,581.11 ; residue
on hand, §192.05. A suit between the city and the heirs of Jacob Hare resulted in
a division of the estate between the litigants. On August 31 eighteen of the
wharf lots sold for §10,732: on November 9 twcntytwo more of the lots sold for
§3,410.67.
1864. — On the fortythird ballot, Jacob Eeinhard u as elected President of the
Council over G. Douty. On June 10 the council decided to hold its regular meet-
ings on the first and third Mondays of each month. Total abolition of the public
markets was seriously proposed.
1865. — On April 18 citizens were requested bj' the mayor to drape their
houses in mourning for thirty days in honor of the late President Lincoln. A
committee of the council was appointed to cooperate with the citizens in the recep-
tion of the President's remains. On July 3 the council, by resolution, tendered
the hospitalities of the city to General Sherman. The srnne honor was tendered to
General Grant by resolution of September 18. On May 22 the council resolved,
on motion of Mr. Eeinhard, that the maj'or be authorized and instructed " to order
Council, MAvoKALTy and Police— 111. 487
all drinking houses, saloons and places of resort to be closed whenever, in his
opinion, the public safety and the interest of the city may demand it." Fears hav-
ing been expressed that the sewers emptying into the river would pollute the still
water in the State dam, the council decided to construct two sluiceways in the
dam, by the sudden opening of wiiichall accumulated sediment in the river might
be washed out. On September 18 a select committee was appointed to report on
the sanitary condition of the city. In an editorial complaining of the" inefficiency
or inadequacy of our present police force," the Ohio Statesman of November 11
says :
It is a saJ fact to which it is folly to shut our eyes that crime is rapidly on the increase
in our city A large portion of those who commit outrages upon persons and property
escape justice, not because of their acuteness or cunning, but because there is nobody on the
lookout — nobody to make an arrest.
18(36. - Suits against the city were pending in February, on claims for
damages said to amount to $100,000. After a long struggle, Theodore Comstock
was elected President of the Council on the two hundred eightyseventh ballot,
April 16, by a vote of 8 to 7. The candidate against Mr. Comstock was William L.
Ross. The council was equally divided in politics, nine of its members being Union
men and nine Democrats. After 121 ballots a recess was taken until April 16, on
which date, after the one hundred fiftyfirst ballot, Mr. Ross proposed that all the
inombers resign and that a new election be ordered by the mayor. This was lost,
9 to 9, and alter sundry motions for a recess, and further balloting, Mr. Comstock
was elected, as stated." The Democrats, refusing to acknowledge the validity of
the election, abstained from attending further meetings of the council, thereby
depriving it of a quorum. On July 26 Mr. Comstock resigned, and three ineffec-
tual ballots for choice of bis successor were taken, whereupon, on motion of
Mr. Reinhard, a committee of conference containing three members representing
each political party was appointed. After four additional recesses, Luther Donald-
son was chosen president on the twelfth ballot. The controversy hinged upon'
the question whether a majority of all the members legally elected to the council
was necessary to the choice of a president, the Democrats maintaining that it
was. By common consent the question was submitted to Hon. A. G. Thurman
and Hon. Henry C. Noble, who also disagreed, but recommended a plan of com-
promise which the Democrats accepted and in which the Unionists substantially
acquiesced, with the results stated. On September 4 the eouDcil, by resolution,
tendered the hospitalities of the city to President Johnson. On August 1 Justice
VV. L. Heyl reported suits against the city on his docket amounting to $2,209.04,
of which $736.30 had been collected on execution." On August 21 five judgments
against the city were referred to the Solicitor for examination, and on the same
day the Clerk was directed not to issue orders for the payment of inoney unless
all bills and accounts were authenticated and approved by the chairman and two
members of the proper committee. It would seem that claims against the city
had been paid without action of the council or even of one of its committees.
On July 22 a suit brought against the hackmen of the city to collect a tax of $18
and $25 on their vehicles pursuant to an ordinance of 1865 was dismissed on the
ground that the tax was illegal, the right of taxation being a sovereign power
vested only in the General Assembly of the State. The city, it was affirmed, had
the right to license and regulate in such cases, but no right to tax. Serious
demoralization of the police force pending the deadlock in the council was
alleged, and was evidenced, it was maintained, bj' a fight which took place
between two night watchmen. On August la" swamp " in the North Graveyard
was ordered to be filled up.
1867.— On April 29 a contract was made with D. W. and W. G. Deslilor and
A. G. Thurman for 23.59 acres of land for a City Park; price $15,000. On
488 History op the City of Columbus.
February 26, 1866, the Orphans' Home, a betievolent organization, transferred
$6,000 worth of property to the city on condition that it would add the same
amount and erect suitable buildings for the Hare Orphan's Homo. A Home was
completed March -i, 1867, but it is claimed that the eit}- has never fulfilled its part
of the contract. The usual annual petitions for some plan for the disposal of
sweepings, ashes and garbage were renewed this year. Such petitions arose from
a custom, long unchecked, of throwing all trash into the streets and alle}'*. On
April 5, 1866, the General Assembly passed an "act authorizing the appointment
of metropolitan j^olice commissioners in lities of the first class with a population
of le.-is than one hundred thousand inhabitants at the last federal census." This
act authoi-izcd the Governor to appoint for "each of said cities" four commis
sioners, who, with the mayor, should be the " chief officers of said metropolitan
police," and should have authority to appoint "a superintendent of the police
ibrce, a capiain of police and one captain in addition for each fifty ]iatrolnien
called into service more than the first fifty, and a sergeant of police toeach twelve
patrolmen, and al.so i-egular or compensated patrolmen not exceeding one to each
one thousand inhabitants as shown by the last federal census; ])rovided that the
number of said patrolmen may be increased by and with the consent of the City
Council ; and provided also that the said board shall l.ave the power, in cases of
emergency to appoint as many special patrolmen as they may think proper. "
The full terra of service of the members of the Board was "eight years.
On March 29, 1867, an act was passed by which the provisions of the metro-
politan police act wore extended " to all cities of the first class having a popula-
tion less than fiflj- thousand, and of the second class having a |)opulation of twelve
thousand and upwards at the last federal census." On April 15 the City Council
adopted a resolution directing the City Solicitor to make inquiry as to the consti-
tutionality of the metropolitan police law, and on April 22 this was followed by
an additional resolution authorizing the Solicitor and Judge Allen G. Thurman to
commence legal proceedings to prevent enforcement of the law with respect to
Columbus. Accordingly suit was brought, and on May 9 was argued, before Hon.
John L. Green, Judge of Common Pleas, praj'ing for an injunction in restraint
of John Field, Harvey P. Bancroft, Nelson Eush, John J. Janney and James G.
Bull, Police Commissioners appointed for Columbus. Messrs. Allen G. Thurman
and £. F. Bingham appeared for the city, and Attorney-General West and Judge
J. W. Baldwin for the defendants On May 21 the law was declared unconstitu-
tional, the injunction prayed for was granted, and all further proceedings in the
organization of a police force pursuant to the law were stayed. A restraining
order had meanwhile been issued at the time the injunction was applied for.
During the following February the bill, so far as it applied to Columbus and Day-
ton, was repealed.^ In July, 1867, an ordinance was passed, authorizing payment
of Sl,500 to Henry C. Crawford for damages sustained by falling into a sewer.
1868. — On January 28 a resolution was adopted asking for legislative author-
ity to issue bonds to the amount of $150,000 to build a City Hall. During the
same month the labor unions of the city presented a petition asking that public
improvements be executed under supervision of the Citj' Engineer instead of by
contract. On March 26 the council decided, at a special meeting, to submit the
question of appropriating §125,000 to provide a City Hall to the electors. A vote
on the question was taken April 6, and resulted : 3,406 ayes and 460 noes.^ On
May 4 the council passed an oi'dinanee by Mr. Eeinhard to organize a police force
of twentyfive men under direction of the City Marshal. On December 30 a reso-
lution was pas.sed to employ Thomas 0. Thurman to compile the laws and ordi-
nances of the city, together with its charter, and the decisions of the courts of
Ohio on questions of municipal government. A compensation to Mr. Thurman
of -5600 for this service was authorized. On June 8 an ordinance was passed
Council, Mayoralty and Police — III. 489
to establish a police force and prescribe its powers and duties. Tlie police uni-
form adopted comprised u singlebreasted frock coat of navy blue cloth, with roll-
ing collar; pantaloons of same cloth, with blue welt on the outer scam ; cap of
navy blue cloth and overcoat of same material. On Maj^ 8 the marshal was once
more directed to close the saloons on Sunday. The subject of markets and mar-
keting was fi'equontly liefore the council this year — as usual. On December 28 a
committee of three was appointed to have all houses provided with numbers and
to have the names of streets posted on corner buildings.
181)9. - On Maj' 7 of this j-ear the General Assembly passed a municipal code
for the Slate and repealed all other legislation for the organization and govern-
ment of cities, town and villages. The elective officers in cities of the second class
pursuant to this law, were mayor, clerk, treasurer, city commissioner (who was to
be also a superintendent of streets), marshal and solicitor; the offices which the
council might create and provide for filling by election were those of auditor, civil
engineer, fiie engineer and superintendent of markets. The official term of all
officers elected was fixed at two years. The mayor was declared to be " a conserva-
tor of the peace," and was given the judicial powers of a justice and the police
powers of a shcrift'. The marshal was declared to be the " principal ministerial
officer of the cor])oration," and was given power to appoint " one or more depu-
ties." In cities having no marshal the duties of that functionary devolved upon a
chief of ])olice, under direction of the mayor, who was authorized to appoint
policemen and night watchmen, subject to the approval of the council. The term
of police service was fixed at one year. The organization and control of the police
were practically vested in the council.
On Februai'y 2 the council gave a complimentary banquet to the State offi-
cers and members of the General Assembly at the Ambos Hall. The first
premium— $100 — for a plan for the City Hall was awarded to R. T. Brooks ; the
second premium — $75 — to Joseph Ireland, and the third— $50— to J. C. Auld.
Eight plans were submitted. On April 22, William Naghten was elected Presi-
dent of the Council on the one hundred sixtyfifth ballot. On February' 8, the
Committee on City Hall decided to purchase as a site for the Hall inlot438an(i
the west half of inlot439, at the corner of State and Pearl streets. The price at
which this property was held was $17,000 for lot 438 and $6,000 for the half of lot
439. A minorit}- of the committee — Messrs. Reinhard, Frankel, McAllister and
Comstock — filed a protest against the purchase on the ground that due competi-
tion was not allowed and the price extravagant. A contract to build the City
Hall, for $124,822, was closed with Hall, Fornoff & Co. May 24. The ceremony
of " breaking ground " for the Hall was celebrated by a banquet given to the
council, city officers and Board of Education at \Vagner"s dininghall May 27, by
Thomas Morton, of New York.
1870. -Luther Donaldson was elected President of the Council January 17, on
the fbrlyeighth ballot. The funded debt of the city was stated at $500,000 ; float-
ing debt, $15,000. On June 15 a proposed annexation of contiguous territory was
refused by the County Commissioners, after argument.^ A petition bearing nearlj'
six thousand signatures having been presented to Mayor Meeker, asking him l(»
close the saloons on Sunday, a reply to the petitioners was made b}' him contain-
ing the following passages interesting for their bearing upon the police powers of
the mayor :
The present police force of tliis city (as well as all other cities of the second class in Ohio)
is organized under an act of the legislature, passed May 7, 18G9. This act deprives the mayor
of tlie power conferred upon him by the first section of tfie ordinance to wliich you refer,
and lodge." it in the City Council and the Police Committee by tlial l)0(ly appi'inted. By
rules, regulations ami ordinances passc^l suhsequentiy to and in conformity with (his act of
tlie legislature, all violation or neglect of duly on the partof policemen must he reported to
the Chairman of the Police Committee, and whatever of punishment follows such report and
490 History of the City of Columbus.
investigation is wholly and exclusively under the control of that committee. You will
observe, therefore, that I am powerless as yourself to control the action of police officers or to
compel the observance of any order I may" make in regard to the enforcement of any particu-
lar ordinance.
Such was one of the more recent results of state intermeddling in niunici
pal government — executive functions vested in the legislative body and the chief
executive officer of the city deprived ot his proper executive authority.
The question oCannexing additional territory came up again in November,
the proposition being to add about 2,640 acres to the area of the city. An ordi-
nance was ]jrcp:ired in the council, and agreed to by the Count}' Commissioners,
milking a total addition to the city of 4,052 acres. The annexed territories com-
prised Franklinton, the settlement called Birmingham, west of Goodale Park, and
considerable tracts lying south and east.
1871. — Contest of Charles Engelke's election as City Marshal having been
brought before Judge Pugh by B. McCabe, the Judge dismissed the case on the
ground tiiat the law made no provision for such a contest. On October 7 a peti-
tion by Joseph Sullivant and others for a free public library was referred by the
council to Messrs. Janney, Reinhard and Smith. On November 13 VV. A. Piatt
and 125 others petitioned for a park in the eastern part of the <;ity, to be located
east of Twentieth Street and north of Broad.
1872. — An ordinance by Mr. Janney to establish a public library and read-
ingroom was passed January 8. On March 18 an ordinance was passed redistrict-
ing the city into eleven wards. The council first met in its chamber in the new
City Hall March 25. The City Hall was dedicated March 28. An ordinance
designed to abate the steamwhistle nuisance was passed August 5. On May 20 a
committee was appointed to provide for " burying dead aniaials and the oflTal and
filth of the city." A thorough sj'stem of rules, prepared by Mr. J. J. Janney, was
adopted by the Board of Health and proclaimed by the mayor. J. H. Halderman
was ap)iointed Health Officer, at a salary of $800 per year. A council committee
reported in iiavor of purchasing from seven to ten acres of laud, at $300 per acre, a
short distance below the Harrisburg bridge as a " bouej'ard."
1873. — The finances of the city were thus stated: Eeceipts, $213,112.30;
expenditures, $212,309.29; real and personal property $24,395,850 ; citj' levies, 8.8;
funded debt, $1,010,000; floating debt, $60,000. On April 11 Francis Collins,
Joseph Falkenbach, Theodore Comstock and Luther Donaldson were appointed
Police Commissioners by Governor Noyes. This board was nonpartisan — half
Republican and half Democratic. It was appointed pursuant to an act passed
March 29, 1873, extending to the cities of Columbus and Dayton the provisions of
the metropolitan police lav of April 5, 1866, as amended and supplemented April
2, 1868, March 11, 1872, and hy other enactments. The mayor was ex officio a
member oC tbe board. On May 29 the mayor issued a proclamation closing the
saloons and all business places on Sunday. On June 25 Judge Green rendered a
decision on the Sunday ordinance, holding so much of it as prohibited open places
for the sale of spirituous liquors to be valid, aud so much of it as imposed penalties
for selling wine, beer, porter, ale, sodawater, etc., to be void. A report on the
township and city boundaries was submitted to the County Commissioners by
Messrs. Bingham and Baber, February 21. The Commissioners decided that the
territory included within the corporation should be known as Montgomery Town-
ship. From the portions of that township lying outside of the corporation and
fractional parts of Hamilton Township was formed the new townshi]) of Marion.
In May efforts were made to disencumber the sidewalks of obstructing signs, sheds
and awnings in compliance with an ordinance which had long existed but had not
been enforced.
Council, Mayoralty and Police— III.
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1874. -Isaac S. Beeky was chosen President of the Council on tlio thirtieth
ballot. Samuel Thompson was appointed b_y the Commissioners to be Superinten-
dent of Police. A bill bv Mr. Heitman providing that the Police Commissioners
of Columbus should be elected by the people instead of holding their positions by
the act of April 5, 1866, was passed by the General
imissioners were chosen under the law for the term of
at ('oluiiibiis should take the position of a city of the
.March hut, on motion of Mr. Hinman, was reconsidered.
rast liaiik of the Scioto, below the Franklin Iron Com-
icd 113- a juiy. Discussion of the propriety of making
f c.Ncciitive of the city instead of a mere ])olice justice.
The mayor's control of the police under llie socalled
stated, ile])ended entirelj^ upon his personal relations
Police Committee of the council.
1875. — The Supreme Court decided adversol3- to the city in its request foi' a
mandamus to compel the County Auditor to enter on the tax duplicate a levy on
the whole cit^- for widening Long Street." A loan of 15,000 was authorized in
August to pay the police. The office of Sealer of Weights and Measures was
abolished August 23.
1876. —An ordinance forbidding the em]3loyiiient of waiter girls in saloons
was passed July 10. On August 7 this ordinance was adjudged by Judge
Bingham to be void.
1877.— A Police Benevolent Association was organized. Auction sales with-
out licen.se were forbidden ; license fee, $15. A claim upon the wharf lots by
John L. Gill was referred, by a resolution of the council, to three arbitrators, one
to be chosen bj- the city, ohe by Mr. Gill, and these two to name a third.
1878. — The council expelled one of its members, and asked the resignation of
another who was under indictment on charges of raising checks.
1879. — The City Hall was remodeled, and on A|)ril 9 its improvements were
celehrated. The acoustic properties of the audienceroom were supposed to be
much improved by the changes made. After a deadlock of considerable duration,
H. E. Bryan was elected city clerk April 28. The butchers of the city joined in
a pledge to abandon the markethouses after July 3 because of alleged denial of
protection to their business against outside and nontaxpa3-ing dealers. A message
to the council by Mayor Collins May 5 contained the following passages :
I desire to draw j'our attention to the bonded .indebtedness of the city, the greater part
of which is held by eastern capitalists. Some of the bonds are bearing interest at the rate
of eight per cent., and others at seven per cent., a portion of which are due and becoming
due; and I rHcominend [thai] as they become (hie they be refunded at a lower rate of
interest, ami that the new bonds to be issued to pay off the old ones be first advertised and
ollered for sale at Ooluinbus, instead of New York, and, if possible, sold at home. . . .
The general ordinances of the city have not been revised or publishe<l for the pabt
twenty years,ll and many of them conflict with each other, and the citizen who is expected
to obey them can only learn their requireinents by a perusal of the records in the office of
the City Clerk — the only place [where] the ordinances can be found. I therefore recom-
mend that the ordinances be revised and reenacted where they are defective, and that they
be codified and published in book form
About one hundred and fifty suits at law, in most of which the city was
defendant, were pending in the different courts in M-aj. A large proportion of
these suits were cases of allcired illegal assessments and the rcsulis of careless and
contradiitoiy Icui-hilioii. The Police Benevolent Association held its fourth
18S0.— Frederic'v Sjiade, said to have been the first policeman and night
watchman emplo\eil in the city, died Feliriiaiy 15. A redistricting ordinance was
passed March' 1. This ordinance, enacted b3' a Republican Council, was deemed
492 HisTOEY OF THE City of CoLUiMBUs.
by the Democrats to be extremely unfair in its arrangement of the ward boundaries
which were so adjusted, it was claimed, as to produce the most favorable results
for the political partj' then controlling the council. The dissentients therefore
brought suit to enjoin the maj-or from issuing an election proclamation recogniz
ing the validity of this ordinance, and also of one passed March 6 dividing the
wards inlo election precincts. The court — Judge Bingham — refused to grant
the temporary injunction prayed for. Application was also made for a writ of
mandamus to compel the mayor to issue an election proclamation recognizing an
ordinance to redistrict the city, passed March 18, 1872, and an ordinance passed
June 18, 1877, to divide the wards into election precincts. On this application an
alternative writ was allowed, hut, on hearing, the court refused to make it per-
emptory, and the case was dismissed. The retiring and new members of the
council and city officers regaled themselves with a congratulatory feast April 19.
A committee of inquiry as to revision and codification of the citj' ordinances
reported on July 8 pointing out the manner in which the work could be performed
and stating that its proper execution would cost from $1,500 to 82,000.
1881. — Stephen A. Rhodes was elected Chief of Police May 7. Resolutions
favoring legislation providing for pensioning policemen disabled in service were
reported from a special committee by Solicitor Krumm. The resolutions failed of
adoption. Colonel S. Thomp.son was elected Superintendent of Police October 28.
The police force comprised at that time fortytwo regulars, one special and four
substitutes, making, with the employes at the City Prison, a total of fiftytwo.
1882. — A meeting of citizens held at WalcuttHall March 13 appointed a com-
mittee to pi'epare a bill providing for three police commissioners for the city and
excluding the ma3-or from the board. This action was prompted by an alarming
prevalence of crime, and the removal of the Chief of the Fire Department by the
mayor. A bill pre))ared in accordance with the views of the meeting was
introduced in the General Assembly March 14. An act of April 17 authorized the
city to issue bonds to the amount of $150,000 for the construction of waterworks.
Publication was made of a compilation of the general ordinances of the city,
by H. E. Bryan, City Clerk.
1883. — An act of March 7 made important changes in the Revised Statutes
with respect to the appointment, organization and duties of the police force,
and the powers of the hoard of Police Commissioners, which was vested with
entire control of the force including its appointment, organization and disci-
pline. On Ajjril 16 an act was passed providing for a board of Trustees of
the Sinking Fund, comprising five members, to be ajjpointed, in cities of the
third grade, first class, and first grade second class, by the Court of Common Pleas.
These trustees were required to serve without compensation.
1884. - An act passed April 3 authorized the city to " construct, maintain and
keep in order and repair a dam across the Scioto River upon the site of Moler's
milldam."
1885. — On February 27 an act of the General Assembly commonly called,
from its author, and disrupting character, " the Myers ripper bill," passed the
Senate and became a law. The act purported to be one to " reorganize and con-
solidate cities of the first grade of the second class," and was especially intended
for the " reorganization " of Columbus. The act began its reorganizing work by
providing that, " in cities of the first grade of the second class " it should be the
duty of the trustees of the sinking fund appointed pursuant to the act of April 16,
1883, to proceed, with the aid of such engineers and assistants as they might deem
necessary, " to redistrict such cities " into as manv wards as, in their opinion, might
be deemed advisable, which wards should be "bounded by streets, alleys, avenues,
public grounds, canals, watercourses or corporation lines, and be comjjosed of adja-
cent or com])act territory." The act further provided that the wards so formed
Council. Mayoralty and Police— III. 493
should contain nearlj^ an equal number of inhabiliints and be consecutively num-
bered. The purpose of these provisions was to overturn the districting of .March
1, ]880, alleged to bo grossly unfair and partisan. A majority of the Board of
Trustees of the Sinking Fund hi'in;;- hcnioerats. that board could be safely entrusted
with the work of reconstruction desired. But the trustees were not permitted to
proceed with their work unrestrained. A petition for an injunction against the
redistricting was argued before Judge Bingham March 2, and an information in
quo irananto was filed in the Circuit Court March 6. The Circuit Court, on March
7, granted a temporary restraining order, but as that court was about to adjourn,
and an adjudication of the conti-oversy prior to the April election was much desired,
the r/»(i trarvnnto case was, by direction of Governor Hoadly, carried immediately
to the Supreme Court which, on March 25, pronounced the Myers Law to be
unconstitutional and void so far as its provisions for redistricting Columbus were
concerned. The law further provided for consolidating all the departments of the
city under the management of one board of three members to be elected bj'
the first council chosen under the new districting, the members to be each paid a
salary of $2,500 per annum, to give their entire time to their ofiicial duties and to
serve for the term of three j^ears. This part of the law was also pronounced void
by the Supreme Court.
1886. — A street improvement law especially designed for Columbus, and com-
monly known as the Taylor Law,' was passed May 11. The extent and character
of the improvements executed under this law have been described in Chapter
XXXII, Volume I. Its principal feature consisted in conferring upon the council
authority to issue bonds to cover the cost of each particular improvement, the bonds
to run for a period of not less than eight years, at six per cent., and to be a lien
on the abutting property, bj' the assessment of which, according toils frontage,
the cost of the improvement, principal and interest, was to be paid. On Febru-
ary 18 Thomas B. Vuuse was appointed City Inspector of Milk and Meat.
1887. —A fifteenth ward was created by ordinance of February 28. A con-
tract for the renumbering of houses was awarded May 16. On April 22 John B.
Murphy was chosen by the Commissioners to be Chief of Police. Mr. Murphy
had previously gained important experience as a detective. The office of police
sergeant was abolished by the board, and the position of roundsman was created.
Frederick Stoker was elected Police Captain. Laws authorizing the city to pur-
chase pumping engines, and to finish and equip fireengine houses were passed
February 2. An issue of trunk sewer bonds was authorized by act of March 18.
The registration and election laws were so amended as to all apply to Columbus
Marcli 16. The sanitary police force of the city was abolished by act of March 21.
1888. — A law forbidding obstruction of the streets of the city by railway
trains was passed March 24 An act to provide for cleanitig, repairing and
sprinkling streets and planting trees in the same, was passed March 28. An act
authorizing, on consent of the voters of the county, an issue of bonds for the
improvement of Franklin Park was passed March 30. An issue of $150,000
waterworks bonds was passed April 14. A tax levy for the establishment of a
manual training school was authorized by an act of April 14. John H. Parr was
elected Captain of the Police March 5.
1889. — Further authority to issue trunk sewer bonds was conferred by act of
March 27. An act providing for the improvement of Franklin Park was passed
April 12. '
In 1887 a radical change of system in the government of the city was exten-
sively agitated. The subject was discussed in the Board of Trade, in the news-
papers and in the pulpit, and this discussion has since been spasmodically renewed
with each recurring spring election. The predominant idea in the change pro-
posed is that of classifying the departments of municipal administration more
494 History of the City of Columbus.
nearly in conformity with the division of power in the National Government, the
resemblance to which of the scheme suggested has caused it to be commonly
known as the "federal plan."* In the discussion of this plan the feebleness of the
maj^or's authority and the incongruity of his functions, together with the appor-
tionment of executive power between the council and various administrative
boards are asserted to be the cause of serious inefficiencj^ and much evil.
With the incorporation of the borough of Columbus its mayor began to be
chiefly a police justice, and with slight and transitory variations he has continued
to be such untila very recent date. At first supreme authority, both legislative
and executive, was vested in the council. This continued to be the ease until the
advent of the constitution of 1851, and the legislation pursuant thereto, beginning
with the act of May 3, 1852, heretofore referred to, which made a new classifica-
tion of municipal corporations, and a new distribution of their powers. In that
act the mayor was specifically styled a " principal oiBcer," to which position, after
having risen, in the course oflegislation, to the nominal dignity of chief executive
officer, he has since relapsed. The act of 1852 and the amendments, supplements
and municipal codifications which have followed it, have steadfastly withheld
from the council much of the executive authority vested in it bj- the s])ecial legis-
lation for the borough, but they have by no means transferred that authority, as a
whole, to the ma\or. From the absolutism of a council, practically holding all
authority and acting as a supreme committee unchangeable at any single election,
a transition was made to a council bound more closely, though not exclusivelj', to
the province of legislation, answerable at the polls for its conduct, and sharing
administrative duties with boards and commissions.
In producing this result, two very different causes seem to have operated :
First, a desire to scatter and diffuse responsibility for partisan or personal profit;
second, a fear that if executive power should be concentrated in the mayor, as it
is in the President or Governor, the right class of persons might not be chosen to
use it. Consequently the history of municipal government in Columbus, as in
many other cities, shows a constant seesawing back and forth between council
government on the one hand and commission government on the other, with a
feeble and nondescript executive, like a cork between the poles of a magnet, some-
times clinging to one and sometimes to the other. Under the code of 1869, and
the laws of a special nature authorizing public improvements, the council regained
much of its administrative prestige, and has not hesitated, on occasion, to use its
control of ward and precinct boundaries to perpetuate its authority. At present
this absolutism of the council, so far as administration is concerned, and to some
extent also as to legislation, is held in check by a board of public woi-ks of four
members appointed originally b}' the mayor but now elected bj' the people.'" The
term of service on this board is lour years ; the salary paid its members, $3,000.
Its sittings are held daily. The board exercises the functions of all the usual
municipal commissions except that of police, and may participate but not vote, in
the proceedings of the council. It maj^ appoint a civil engineer, a sealer of
weights and measures, and such number of clerks, superintendents and market-
masters as it may deem necessary. In all cases where assessments are to be
made, or where the estimated cost of any work or material exceeds five hundred
dollars, the board is required to transmit to the council, with its recommendations,
a resolution or ordinance, as the case may be, authorizing the execution of such
work, or the purchase of such material at a cost not to exceed the amount of the
estimate, which must also be transmitted. The city is divided into districts to
each of which one member ot the board is a'ssigned, for personal supervision of
the cleaning, ligliting and repair of its thoroughflires, and for the inspection and
care of all its public property and improvements. The members of the board are
Council, Mayoralty and Police— III.
requireil to devote to its service their entire time. TlK\y iiavo tluis lui' b<
uprit;ht men, and have performed their duties in a manner higiil^* advanta
the city.
NOTES.
1. Ohio State Journal. April 12, 1SG2: "Last night, being the last meeting of the old
council, on invitation of Mr. Butler they repaired to Lindeman & Ritz's saloon and partook
of an excellent oyster supper."
2. On July 10, 1800, notices of a constable's sale of five horses and carts to satisfy exe-
cutions against the city were posted on every street corner. The vehicles were garbage carts
use<l by the Street Commissioner. The amount realized on them, and the horses belonging
to them, was .f 7S0. The property was sold to satisfy claims for wages on the part of the city's
employes, for whose benefit no appropriation had been or could be made pending the dead-
lock in the council with respect to its presidency.
3. The repealing act provided for the election of policemen by the City Council.
4. The members of the council committee on City Hall were Messrs. Patterson, Don-
aldson, Conistock, McAllister, Reinhard, Frankel, Wall, Bergin and Caren.
5. The area within the city limits at that time amounted to about 2,700 acres ; the ter-
ritory which it was proposed to annex contained 3,475 acres.
" (i. This controversy was thus explained in the Ohio Slate Journal : " In .lune last the
city council certified to the Auditor, to be placed on the general duplicate, a levy of twelve
and onehalf mills, and specified in the distributions that three mills of the twelve and one-
half was for a sinking fund. Council also certified to the Auditor, to be placed upon the
general duplicate, a separate and extra levy of three mills for the improvement of streets,
making the whole amount levied by Council loli niills. Auditor Strader held that the
Council could not legally levy altogether more than yj^ mills, and declined to put more than
that amount upon the duplicate. 'Thereupon the Council went into the Supreme Court for
a mandamus to compcd the Auditor to put upon the duplicate the extra levy of three mills
for street improvements, without making any contest on the excess of three mills in the levy
of 121^."
7. The law was introduced in the General Assembly by Hon. Henry C. Taylor, Rep-
resentative from Franklin County ; hence its name.
8. The use of the word " federal," in the sense here intended, as descriptive of the
general government of the Unite 1 States is, the author believes, misplaced and misleading.
We had a confederacy anterior to the constitution and we have also had one since. The for-
mer was superseded by the constitution, the latter was overthrown by force of arms. Both
have vanished, and we have now a nation. Our government is national, not federal.
9. The city has now a police judge who relieves the mayor of most of his judicial func-
tions. The law establishing this office in Columbus was passed March 2, 1891.
The organization and control of ihe police force of the city are still vested in aboard of
Police Commissioners, three in number, chosen at the polls, pursuant to the metropolitan
police law of 1806, and the subsequent amendatory and supplementary acts which constitute
the existing municipal code. The mayor is ex-oficio president of the board.
10. The act creating this board was introduced in the (ieneral Assembly liy Hon. A. D.
Heffner, Representative from Franklin County, and was passed and became a law April 3,
1890 The original members of the board, appointed by Mayor J. P. Brack, were E. L. Hin-
man, .lames M. Loren, William Wall and .Joseph A. Schwartz.
11. A compilation of the general ordinances of the city, with municipal .statutes, was
made by James A. Wilcox, and published in 1858.
History of the Citt of Columbus.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XXXII.
THE CITY GOVERNMENT.
ISll).
Mayor, .Jarvis Pike. Marshal, Samuel King.
Recorder, Robert W. McCoy. Surveyor, John Kerr.
Treasurer, Robert Armstrong. Clerk of the Market, William Long.
Trustees: Jeremiah Armstrong,' Roliert Armstrong. Henry Brown, John Cutler, Caleb
Houston, John Kerr, Robert \V. McCoy, Michael Patton, Jarvis Pike.2
1. Resigned April 22, 1817; Christian Heyl elected for unexpired term.
2. The borough council was first organized at the Columbus Inn on May 13, 1S16.
Mayor, Jarvis Hike. Marshal, Samuel King.
Recorder, Robert W. McCoy. Surveyor, John Kerr.
Treasurer, Robert Armstrong. Clerk of the Market, William Long.
Trustees: Robert Armstrong, James B. Gardiner, Christian Heyl, Caleb Houston, John
Kerr, Robert W. McCoy, William McElvain, Michael Patton, Jarvis Pike.
1818.
Mayor, John Kerr. Marshal, James Fisher.
Recorder, James B. Gardiner.i Surveyor, John Kerr.
Treasurer, Christian Heyl. Clerk of the Market, W. H. Richardson.
Trustees: James B. Gardiner, Christian Heyl, Caleb Houston, John Kerr, James
Kooken, Robert W. McCoy, Townsend Nichols, Ralph Osborn, Jarvis Pike.
1. Resigned December 19, 1818 ; Ralph Osborn elected for unexpired term.
1819.
Mayor, .John Kerr. Marshal, Demming L. Rathbone.'
Recorder, Ralph Osborn. Surveyor, John Kerr.'
Treasurer, Christian Heyl. Clerk of Market, William H. Richardson.
Trustees: James B. Gardiner, Christian Heyl, Caleb Houston, John Kerr. James
Kooken, Robert W. McCoy, Philo B. Olmsted, Ralph Osborn, Jarvis Pike.
1. Resigned June 26, 1819; William H. Richardson elected for unexpired term.
Mayor, Eli C. King. Marshal, Samuel Shannon.
Recorder, John Kerr. Surveyor, Jeremiah McLene.
Treasurer, Christian Heyl. Clerk of Market, Samuel Shannon.
Trustees: James B. Gardiner, Christian Hevl, John Jeffords, John Kerr, Eli C. King,
James Kooken, Robert W. McCoy, Philo H. Olmsted, Jarvis Pike.
Bosideiice of Frederick Ja
152 Ectst State Sti-eet, built in 1850.
The City Government. 497
1S21.
Mayor, Eli C. Kinsj. Marshal, Samuel Shannon.
Recorder, John Kerr. Surveyor, John Kerr.
Treasurer, Christian Heyl. Clerk of Market, Samuel Shannon.
Trustees: Lincoln Goodale, Christian Heyl, John Jeffords,' John Kerr, Eli C. King,
James Kooken, Robert W. McCoy, William McElvain, Philo H. Olmsted.
1. Died October oO, 1821 ; Charles Lofland appointed to vacancy.
1822.
Mayor, Eli C. King. Marshal, Samnel Shannon.
Recorder, John Kerr. Surveyor, John Kerr.
Treasurer, Christian Heyl. Clerk of Market, Samuel Shannon.
Trustees; Lincoln Goodale, Christian Heyl, John Kerr, Eli C. King, James Kooken,'
Charles Lofland, WilMam T. Martin, Robert W. McCoy, William McElvain.
1. Resigned February 10, 1823 ; James Robinson appointed to vacancy.
1823.
Mayor, John Loughrey. Marshal, Samuel Shannon.
Recorder, William T. Martin. Surveyor, Jeremiah McLene.
Treasurer, Christian Heyl. Clerk of Market, Samuel Shannon.
Trustees: Lincoln Goodale, John Greenwood, Christian Heyl, John Kerr,' John Lough-
rey, William T. Martin, Robert W. McCoy, William McElvain, James Robinson.
1. Died ; Henry Brown appointed to vacancy August 16, 1823.
1824.
Mayor, William T. Martin. Marshal, Benjamin Sells.
Recorder, William Long. Surveyor, Jeremiah McLene.
Treasurer, Christian Heyl. Clerk of Market, Samuel Shannon.
Trustees: John Greenwoo<l, Christian Heyl, William Long, John Loughrey, William
T. Martin, Robert W. McCoy, William McElvain, James Robinson, John W. Smith.
Mayor, William T. Martin. Marshal, Samuel Shannon.
Recorder, William Long. Surveyor, Jeremiah McLene.
Treasurer, Christian Heyl. Clerk of Market, Samuel Shannon.
Trustees: John Greenwood, Christian Heyl, William Long, John Loughrey, William
T. Martin, Robert W. McCoy, William McElvain, James Robinson, John W. Smith. i
1. Resigned April 8, 1825; Ralph Osborn elected for unexpired term.
1826.
Mayor, William T. Martin. Marshal, Samuel Shannon.
Recorder, William Long. Surveyor, Jeremiah McLene.
Treasurer, Christian Heyl. Clerk of Market, Samuel Shannon.
Trustees: Joel Buttles, Christian Heyl, William Long, William T. Martin, Robert W,
McCoy, William McElvain, Nathaniel McLean, Ralph Osborn, James Robinson, »
32*
History of the Citt of CoLUMBtis.
Mayor, James Robinson.' Marshal, John Kelly.
Recorder, William Long. .Surveyor, Jeremiah McLene.
Treasurer, Christian Heyl. Clerk of Market, John Kelly.
Trustees: Joel Buttles, Christian Heyl, William Long, William T. Martin,"^ Robert W.
McCoy, Nathaniel McLean, Ralph Osborn, Joseph Ridgway, Senior, James Robinson. ^
1. Resigned September 11, 1827 ; William Long elected to vacancy.
2. Resigned June 11, 1827 ; Lincoln Goodale elected to vacancy.
3. Resigned September 11, 1827 ; Samuel Barr elected to vacancy.
Mayor, William Long. Marshal, Benjamin Sells.
Recorder, Lincoln Goodale. Surveyor, Jeremiah McLene.
Treasurer, Robert W. McCoy. Clerk of Market, Benjamin Sells.
Trustees: Joel Buttles, Lincoln Goodale, George Jeffries, William Long, Robert W.
McCoy, Nathaniel McLean, Ralph Osborn, Joseph Ridgway, Senior, John Warner.
Mayor, William Long. Marshal, Benjamin Sells.
Recorder, Lincoln Goodale. Surveyor, Jeremiah McLene.
Treasurer, Robert W. McCoy. Clerk of Market, Benjamin Sells.
Trustees: Robert Brotherton, Lincoln Goodale, George Jeffries, William Long,
Robert W. McCoy, Nathaniel McLean, Ralph Osborn, Joseph Ridgway, Senior, John Warner.
Mayor, William Long. Marshal, Julius G. Godman.i
Recorder, Lincoln Goodale. Surveyor, Jermiah McLene.
Treasurer, Robert W. McCoy. Clerk of Market, Julius G. Godman.
Trustees: Robert Brotherton, Lincoln Goodale, George Jeffries, William Long, Robert
W. McCoy, Nathaniel McLean, Ralph Osborn, Joseph Ridgway, Senior, John Warner.2
1. Died ; Benjamin Sells appointed to vacancy January 21, 1831.
2. Died ; Christian Heyl appointed to vacancy February 25, 1831.
1831.
Mayor, William Long. Marshal, John Kelly, i
Recorder, Nathaniel McLean. Surveyor, Joseph Ridgway, Junior.
Treasurer, Robert W. McCoy. Clerk of Market, John Kelly.
Trustees: Robert Brotherton,2 Christian Heyl, George Jeffries, William Long, Robert
W. McCoy, Nathaniel McLean, Philo H. Olmsted, Ralph Osborn, Joseph Ridgway, Senior.
1. Removed; Benjamin Sells elected to vacancy December 8, 1831.
2. Resigned ; Samuel Parsons appointed to vacancy July 11, 1831.
1832.
Mayor, William Long. Marshal, Benjamin Sells.
Recorder, Ralph Osborn. Surveyor, Byron Kilbourn.
Treasurer, Robert W. McCoy. Clerk of Market, Benjamin Sells.
Trustees : Christian Heyl, George Jeffries, William Long, Robert W. McCoy, Jonathan
Neereamer, Ralph Osborn, Philo H. Olmsted, Joseph Ridgway, Senior, Robert Riordan.
The City Government.
1S33.
Mayor, Philo H. Olmsted. Marshal, George B. Harvey.
Kecorder. John Patterson. Surveyor. Byron Kilbourn.
Treasurer, Robert W. McCoy. Clerk of Market, George B. Harvey.
Trustees: Christian beyl,' George Jeffries, Robert W. McCoy, Jonathan Neereamer,
Philo H. Olmsted, Samuel Parsons, John Patterson, Robert Riordan, Moses R. Spurgeon.
Board of Health: Peleg Sisson, M. B. Wright, J. Campbell, Joel Buttles, John Patter-
son, William Minor, Alfred Kelley, P. B. Wilcox, R. Brotherton, Christian Heyl, George
Jeffries, John Noble.
1. Resigned July 9, 1833 ; William Miner appointed to vacancy.
1834.
Mayor, John Brooks. Marshal, Abraham Stotts.
Recorder, William T. Martin, Surveyor, C. R. Prezriminsky.
Treasurer, William I^ong. Clerk of Market, Abraham Stotts.
Councilmen: Robert W. McCoy, President; First Ward, Henry Brown, Otis Crosby,
Robert W. McCoy, Joseph Ridgway, Senior ; Second Ward, William Long, Jonathan Neerea-
mer, Francis Stewart, Noah H. Swayne ; Third Ward, Christian Heyl, William T. Martin,
William Miner, John Patterson.
Board of Health : Doctors Parsons, Sisson, Wright, Aaron and Miller.
Mayor, John Brooks. i Marshal, Abraham Stotts.
Recorder, William T. Martin. Surveyor, J. A. Lapham.
Treasurer, William Long. Clerk of Market, Abraham Stotts.
Councilmen: Robert W. McCoy, President; First Ward, Henry Brown, Elijah Con-
verse, Robert W. McCoy, Joseph Ridgway, Senior ; Second Ward, William Long, Jonathan
Neereamer, Moylen Northrup, Noah H. Swayne ; Third Ward, Christian Heyl, William T.
Martin, William Miner, John Patterson.
Board of Health: Samuel Parsons, Robert Thompson, M. B.Wright, Ralph Osborn,
George Jefiries, M. Mattliews, P. B. Wilcox.
1. Resigned April 21, 1835; John Bailhache elected to vacancy by the Council.
1836.
Mayor, Warren Jenkins. Marshal, George B Harvey.
Recorder, William T. Martin. Surveyor, Nathaniel Medbery.
Treasurer, Jonathan Neereamer. Clerk of Market, George B. Harvey.
Councilmen : Robert W McCoy, President ; First Ward, Henry Brown, i Elijah Con-
verse, Robert W. McCoy, Joseph Ridgway, Senior ; Second Ward, Aurora Buttles, Jonathan
Neereamer, Moylen Northrup, Noah H. Swayne; Third Ward, William T. Martin, William
Miner. John Patterson, M. B. Wright.
1. Resigned September 12, 1836; Moses H. Kirby elected to vacancy.
1837.
Mayor, Warren Jenkins.i Marshal, George B. Harvey.
Recorder, William T. Martin. Surveyor, John Field.
Treasurer, Jonathan Neereamer. Clerk of Market, George B. Harvey.
Councilmen: Robert W. McCoy, President; First Ward, Elijah Converse,' Moses H,
Kirby,' Robert W. McCoy, Joseph Ridgway, Senior ;* Second Ward, Aurora Buttles, Matthew
J. Gilbert, Jonathan Neereamer, Moylen Northrup; Third Ward, A. G. Hibbs, William T.
Martin, John Patterson, M. B. Wright.'
500 History op the City of Columbus.
Board of Health : S. Parsons, M. B. Wright, R. Thompson, G. Jeffries, P. B. Wilcox.
1. Resigned September 4, 1837 ; Philo H. Olmsted elected to vacancy.
2. Resigned April 17, 1837; J. N. Champion' appointed to vacancy.
3. Resigned ; John Noble elected March 12, 1838, to vacancy.
4. Resigned April 17, 1837 ; Joseph Ridgway, Junior, elected to vacancy.
5. Resigned September 4, 1837 ; John Greenwood elected to vacancy.
6. Resigned March 12, 1838; John L. Gill elected to vacancy.
1838.
Mayor, Philo H. Olmsted. Marshal, George B. Harvey.
Recorder, William T. Martin. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer, John Greenwood. Clerk of Market, George B. Harvey.
Councilmen : Robert W. McCoy, President; First Ward, John L. Gill, Robert W.
McCov, John Noble, Joseph Ridgway, Junior; Second Ward, Aurora Buttles,' Matthew J.
Gilbert, Moylen Northrup, John VVilson ; Third Ward, John Greenwood, A. G. Hibbs,
William T. Martin, John Patterson.a
1. Resigned ; Philip Reed elected to vacancy October 2, 1838.
2. Resigned April 16, 1838 ; James Bryden elected to vacancy.
Ma3'or, Philo H. Olmsted. Marshal, George B. Harvey.
Recorder, William Miner. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer, John Greenwood. Clerk of Market, George B. Harvey.
Councilmen : Robert W. McCoy, President ; First Ward, Bela I^tham, Robert W.
McCoy, John Noble, Joseph Ridgway, Junior ; Second Ward, Matthew J. Gilbert, I'hilip
Reed," Joseph Whitehill, John Wilson; Third Ward, James Bryden, John Greenwood,
A. G. Hibbs, William Miner.
1840.
Mayor, John G. Miller.i Marshal, George B. Harvey.
Recorder, William Miner. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer, John Greenwood. Clerk of Market, George B. Harvey.
City Clerk, B. F. Martin.
Councilmen: Robert W. McCoy, President; First Ward. Robert Cutler, Bela Latham,
John Noble,! Joseph Ridgway, Junior ; Second Ward, Matthew J. Gilbert, Robert W. McCoy,
Joseph Whitehill, John Wilson ; Third Ward, James Bryden. John Greenwood, A. G. Hibbs,
William Miner.
1. Removed from the city ; Jacob Strickler appointed to vacancy March 9, 1840.
Mayor, John G. Miller. i Marshal, George B. Harvey.
Recorder, William Miner. Surveyor, Nathan B. Kelley.
Treasurer, John Greenwood. Clerk of Market, George B. Harvey.
City Clerk, B. F. Martin.
Councilmen: Robert W. McCoy, President; First Ward, Robert Cutler, Bela Latham,"
Joseph Ridgway, Junior, Jacob Strickler ; Second Ward, William Armstrong, Robert W.
McCoy, Joseph Whitehill, John Wilson;^ Third Ward, James Bryden, John Greenwood,
A. G. Hibbs, William Miner.
1. Resigned May 4, 1841 ; Thomas Wood elected by council to vacancy.
2. Resigned April 1, 1841 ; Justin Morrison appointed to vacancy.
3. Died November 2, 1841 ; Peleg Sisson appointed to vacancy.
The City Government. 501
1S42.
Mayor, Abram I. McDowell. Marshal, George B. Harvey.
Recorder, William Miner. Surveyor, Nathan B. Kelley.
Treasurer, John Greenwood. Clerk of Market, George B. Harvey.
City Clerk, B. F. Martin.
Councilmen : Robert W. McCoy, President ; First Ward, Robert Cutler, Justin Morri-
son, Joseph Hi<lgway, Junior, Jacob Strickler ; Second Ward, William Armstrong, Robert
W. .McCoy, Itobert Russell, Joseph Whitehill ; Third Ward, James Bryden, John Green-
wood, A. G. Hibbs, William .Miner.
1843.
Mayor, Smithson E. Wright. Marshal, George Riordan.
Recorder, Joseph Ridgway, Jr. Surveyor, Nathan B. Kelley.
Treasurer, William Armstrong. Clerk of Market, George Riordan.
City (;lerk, B. F. Martin.
Councilmen: Robert W. McCoy, President; First Ward, David Evans, William A.
Gill, Joseph Ridgway, Junior, John Taylor; Second Ward, William Armstrong, Joseph N.
Glazier, Robfrt W. McCoy, Robert Russell ; Third Ward, James Bryden, William Harrison,
Adin G. Hibbs, Alfred P. Stone.
1844.
Mayor, Smithson E. Wright. Marshal, George B. Harvey.
Recorder, Joseph Ridgway, Junior. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer, William Armstrong. Clerk of Market, John Whitzell.
City Clerk, B. F. Martin.
Councilmen : Robert W. McCoy, President ; First Ward, Richard Jones, John Miller,
Joseph Ridgwav, Junior, Robert Riordan ; Second Ward, William Armstrong, Henry Butler,
Joseph N. Glaz'ier, Robert W. McCoy; Third Ward, Frederick Cole, John Funston, 0. P.
Hines, Cornelius Jacobs.
1845.
Mayor, Alexander Patton. Marshal, George B. Harvey.
Recorder, Joseph Ridgway, Junior. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer, William Armstrong. Clerk of Market, George B. Harvey.
City Clerk, B. F. Martin.
Councilmen: Robert W. McCoy, President; First Ward, Richard Jones, John Miller,
Joseph Ridgway, Junior, Robert Riordan ; Second Ward, William Armstrong, Henry Butler,
Joseph N. Glazier, Robert W. McCoy ; Third Ward, William Harrison, O. P. Hines, Cornel-
ius Jacobs, John Walton.
1846.
Mayor, A. S. Decker. Marshal, George B. Harvey.
Recorder, Joseph Ridgway, Junior. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer, William Armstrong. Clerk of Market, Jacob Turney.
City Clerk, B. F. Martin.
Councilmen: Robert W. McCoy. President; First Ward, Richard Jones, John Miller,
Robert Riordan ; Second Ward, Benjamin Blake, Joseph Ridgway, Junior, Edward N.
Slocum ; Third Ward, William Armstrong, Clark Higgins, Robeit W. McCoy; Fourth Ward,
James Bryden, William Harrison, John Walton; Fifth Ward, Louis Hoster, Solomon
Lighter, Asa Walling.
Board of Health : Robert Thompson, I. G. Jones, R. L. Howard, Morrill, John
B. Thompson, S. Z. Seltzer, James Cherry.
HisTORy OF THE City of Columbus
Mayor, Alexander Patton. Marshal, John Whitzell.
Recorder, Joseph Ridgway, Junior. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer, William Armstronj;. Clerk of Market, Jacot) Turney.
City Clerk, B. F. Martin.
Councilmen: Robert W. McCoy, President; First Ward, Luther Hillery, Richard
Jones, John Miller ; Second Ward, Benjamin Blake, Joseph Ridgway, Junior. Edward N.
81ocuni;i Third Ward, William Armstrong, Clark Higgins, Robert W. McCoy ; Fourth Ward,
James Bryden, William Harrison, Thomas F. Jones; Fifth Ward, Louis Hoster, Solomon
Lighter, Asa Walling.
1. Resigned March 2:J, I.S4.S ; Joseph VVhitehill appointed to vacancy.
1S4,S.
Mayor, Alexander Pattoii. Marshal, John Whitzell.
Recorder, Joseph Ridgway, Junior. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer, William Armstrong. Clerk of Market, George B. Harvey.
City Clerk, B. F. Martin.
Councilmen : Robert W. McCoy, President ; First Ward, Luther Hillery, Richard Jones,
John Miller; Second Ward, Benjamin Blake, Robert Cutler, Joseph Ridgwav, Junior; Third
Ward, William Armstrong, Lucian Buttles, Robert W. McCoy; Fourth Ward, James Bryden,
Thomas F. Jones, John Walton; Fifth Ward, Louis Hoster, "Solomon Lighter, Asa Walling.
Board of Health: Robert Thompson, John B. Thompson, R. L. Howard, Saruuel M.
Smith, S. Z. Seltzer, Isaac Cool, John L. Gill, Ale.vander E. Glenn, James Cherrv, Uriah
Stotts.
Mayor, Alexander Patton. Marshal, John Whitzell.
Recorder, Joseph Ridgway, Junior. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer, William Armstronj;. Clerk of the Market, George B. Harvey.
City Clerk, B. F. Martin.
Councilmen : Robert W. McCoy, President ; First Ward, Luther Hillery, Richard Jones,
John Miller ; .Second Ward, Benjamin Blake, Robert Cutler, Joseph Ridgway, Junior ; Third
Ward, William Armstrong, Lucian Buttles, Robert W. McCoy ; Fourth Ward, John Butler,
Thomas F. Jones, William Miner ; Fifth Ward, Louis Hoster, James H. Stauring, Asa Walling.
Board of Health : Isaac Dalton, N. W. Smith, George B. Harvey, W. W. Pollard, James
Cherry.
1850.
Mayor, Lorenzo English. Marslial, John Whitzell.
City Clerk, B. F. Martin. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer, William Armstrong. Clerk of Market, George B. Harvev.
Solicitor, James L. Bates.
Councilmen: Robert W. McCoy, President; First Ward, Richard Jones, John Miller,
Robert Riordan ; Second Ward, J. W. Baldwin, Benjamin Blake, Robert Cutler ; Third Ward,
William Armstrong, Lucian Buttles, Robert W. McCoy; Fourth Ward, John Butler, Thomas
F. Jones.i William Miner; Fifth Ward, Louis Hoster, James H. Stauring, Asa Walling.
Board of Health : George B. Harvey, Isaac Dalton, W. Pollard, T. J. McCamish.
December 9, 18.50 ; William T. Martin appointed to vacancy.
Mayor, Lorenzo English. Marshal, John H. Turney.
City Clerk, B. F. Martin. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer. William Armstrong. Clerk of Market, George B. Harvey.
Solicitor, James L. Bates.
The City Government. 503
Councilmen: Robert W. McCoy, President; First Ward, Richard Jones, John Miller,
Robert Riordan ; Second Ward, J. W. Baldwin, Benjamin Blake, Robert Cutler ; Third Ward,
William Armstrong, Robert Hume, Junior, Robert W. McCoy; Fourth Ward, John Butler,
Theodore Comstock, William Miner ; Fifth Ward, Louis Hoster, John Rader, James H,
Stauring.
1852.
Mayor, Lorenzo English. Marshal, James Stephens.
City Clerk, B, F. Martin. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer, William Armstrong. Clerk of Market, Isaac Marple.
Solicitor, James L. Bates.i
Councilmen: Robert W. McCoy, President; First Ward, John Mdler, John Noble,
Robert Riordan; Second Ward, J. W. Baldwin, Benjamin Blake, Robert Cutler; Third
Ward, William Armstrong, Robert Hume, Junior, Robert W. McCoy; Fourth Ward, John
Butler, Theodore Comstock, William Miner; Fifth Ward, Louis Hoster, John Rader, James
H. Stauring.
1. Resigned January 12, 1852; Henry F. Page appointed to vacancy; Henry C. Noble
appointed April 10, 1852, to succeed Page, who removed from the city.
1853.1
Mayor, Lorenzo English. Marshal, James Stephens.
City Clerk, B. F. Martin. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer, William Armstrong. Clerk of Market, B. B. Brown.
Solicitor, Emory Butler.'
Councilmen: Robert W. McCoy,' President; First Ward, William Dennison, Myron P.
Howlett, John Miller, John Noble; Second Ward, J. W. Baldwin, Benjamin Blake, Robert
Cutler, Luther Donaldson ; Third Ward, William Domigan, Robert Hume, Robert W. McCoy,*
Dwight Stone ; Fourth Ward, Theodore Comstock, A. S. Decker, William Miner, John
Butler; Fifth Ward, Louis Hoster, John Rader, Jacob Reinhard, James H. Stauring.
1. The Council as reorganized under act of May 3, 1852, contained four members for
each ward during 1853, two of the four being old members who held over until the expira-
tion of their term.
2. Resigned; James A. Wilcox appointed to vacancy, April 17, 1854.
0. Resigned as President ; William Miner elected to vacancy August 1, 1853.
4. Resigned as councilman July 25, 1853 ; Lucian Buttles elected August 20, 1853.
1854.
Mayor, Lorenzo English. Marshall, Henry M. Wakeman.
City Clerk, B. F. Martin. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer, William Armstrong. Clerk of Market, B. B. Brown.
Solicitor, James A. Wilcox.
Councilmen: Theodore Comstock, President; First Ward, William Dennison, John
Noble, Henry Wilson ; Second Ward, J. W. Baldwin, Benjamin Blake, Luther Donaldson ;
Third Ward, Lucian Butiles, William Domigan, Robert Hume ; Fourth Ward, Theodore
Comstock, A. S. Decker, William Miner; Fifth Ward, Louis Hoster, Jacob Reinhard, James
A. Stauring.
1855.
Mayor. Lorenzo English. Marshal, Henry M. Wakeman.
City Clerk, B. F. Martin. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer, William Armstrong. Clerk of Market, James W. Watson.
Solicitor, James A. Wilcox.
Councilmen: Henrv Wilson, President; First Ward, Henry Wilson, Wohn Noble ;'
Second Ward, Luther Donaldson, Thomas V. Hyde;' Third Ward, Robert Hume, William
Domigan; Fourth Ward, Theodore Comstock, A. S. Decker; Fifth Ward, Jacob Reinhard,
James H. Stauring.
1. Resigned July 9, 1855; R. B. Adams elected to vacancy.
2. John Noble elected President July 16, 1855, vice Henry Wilson resigned.
3. Expelled January 28, 185(3 ; George Gere elected to vacancy.
504 History of the City of Columbus.
1856.
Mayor, Lorenzo English. Marshal, Henry M. VVakeiiian.
City Clerk, B. F. Martin. Surveyor, Uriah Lathrop.
Treasurer, William Armstrong. Clerk of Market, James W. Watson.
Solicitor, James A. Wilcox.
Councilmen . Theodore Comstock, President; First Ward. John Noble, James M.
Westwater;' Second Ward, George Gere, Francis Collins; Third Ward, William Domigan,
Theodore Comstock; Fourth Ward, A. S. Decker, John F. Ijams ; Fifth Ward, James H.
Stauring, Jacob Reinlmrd.
]. Resigned October 13, 1856 ; George W. Cushman elected to vacancy.
1857.
Mayor, Lorenzo English. Marshal, John B. Coffroth.
City Clerk, .Joseph Dowdall. Civil Engineer, Philip D. Fisher.
Treasurer, William Armstrong. Clerk of Market. Samuel Ross.
Solicitor, James A. Wilco.K. Street Commissioner, J. N. Dellicker.
Councilmen: Theodore Comstock, President; First Ward, George W. Cushman, Ilalde-
man Crary ; Seconil Ward. Francis Collins, Joseph H. Riley; Third Ward. Theodore Com-
stock, C. P. L. Butler; Fourth Ward, John F. Ijams, J. E. St. Clair; Fifth Ward, Jacob Rein-
hard, James H. Stauring.
Mayor, Lorenzo English. Marshal, John B. Coffroth.
City Clerk, Joseph Dowdall. Civil Engineer, Philip D. Fisher.
Treasurer, William Armstrong. Clerk of Market, Samuel Ross.
Solicitor, James A. Wilcox. Street Commissioner, J. N. Dellicker.
Councilmen: Theodore (!omstock, President; First Ward, Haldeman Crary, Grafton
Douty ; Second Ward, Joseph H. Rilev. Thomas Arnold : Third Ward, C. P. L. Butler, Theo-
dore "(.lomstock ; Fourth Ward, J. E. St. Clair, John F. Ijams; Fifth Ward, James H. Staur-
ing, Jacob Reinhard.
Mayor, Lorenzo English. Marshal, John B. CofTroth.
City Clerk, Joseph Dowdall. Civil Engineer, Philip D. Fisher.
Treasurer. William Armstrong. ' Clerk of Market, Benjamin Monett.
Solicitor, James A. Wilcox. Street Commissioner, Washington Dixon.
Councilmen: Luther Donaldson, President; First Ward. Grafton Douty, Thomas A.
Jones;' Second Ward, Thomas Arnold, Luther Donaldson; Third Ward, Theodore Com-
stock, C. P. L. Butler; Fourth Ward, John F. Ijams, Joseph H. Riley ; Fifth Ward, Jacob
Reinhard, James H. Stauring.
1. A certificate of election was given to Thomas A. Jones, but his seat was contested
by Haldeman Crary, June 1.3, 1859. Jones resigned and on June 27, 1859, Samuel E. Ogden
was chosen his successor at a special election ordered by the City Council.
1860.
Mayor, Lorenzo English. Marshal, .lohn B. Coffroth.
(nty Clerk, Joseph Dowdall. Civil Engineer, Philip D. Fisher.
Treasurer, William Armstrong. Clerk of Market, Benjamin Monett.
Solicitor, James A. Wilcox. Street Commissioner, Washington Dixon.
Chief of Fire Department, John Miller.'
Councilmen: Luther Donaldson, President; First Ward. Samuel E. Ogden, Grafton
Douty ; Second Ward, Luther Donaldson, A. B. Buttles ; Third Ward. C. P. L. Butler, Theo-
dore Comstock; Fourth Ward, Joseph H. Riley. Isaac Eberly ; Fifth Ward, James H.
Stauring, L. J. Moeller.
1. Office created, and John Miller appointed Chief Engineer November 26,1860.
The City Government.
1861.
Mayor, Wrav Thomas. Marshal, Samuel Thompson.
City Clerk. J. .1. Fiinston. Civil Engineer, Philip P. Fisher.
Treasurer. William Armstrong. Clerk of Market, Joseph F. Martin
Solicitor, Francis Collins. Street Oommissioner, James H. Beebe.
Chief of Fire Department, John Miller.
Conncilmen: Luther Donalflson. Prpsi<lent ; First Ward. Grafton Douty, L. L. Smith ;
Second Ward, A. R. Buttles, Luther Donaldson; Third Ward. Theodore Comstock, A. O.
Blair;' Fourth Ward, Isaac Eberly, Horace Wilson; Fifth Ward, L. J. MosUer, James H.
Stanring.
1. Resigned August 26, 1861 ; C. P. L Butler elected to vacancy.
1862.
Mayor. Wray Thomas. Marshal, Samuel Thompson.
Citv Clerk, .t. J. Fun=ton. Civil Engineer, Philip D. Fisher.
Treasurer.! T. P. Morton. Clerk of Market, .Joseph F. Martin.
Solicitor. Francis Collins. Street Commissioner, James H. Beebe.
Chief of Fire Department. .John Miller.
Conncilmen : Luther nonaldson, President: First Ward, L. L. Smith, Grafton Douty ;
Second Ward, Luther Donaldson, A. B. Buttles; Third Ward, C. P. L. Butler, A. S. Glenn ;
Fourth Ward, Horace Wilson, Isaac Eberly ; Fifth Ward, James H. Stauring, J. J. Rickly.
1. By act of the General Assembly passed April 29 1862, the office of City Treasurer
was abolished and its duties were transferred to the County Treasurer.
Mayor, Wray Thomas. Marshal, Samuel Thompson.
Citv Clerk, J. J. Fnnston Civil Engineer, Philip D. Fisher.
Solicitor, H. J. Wylie. Clerk of Market, B. McAlister.
Chief of Fire Department, .lohn Miller.' Street Commissioner, Bernard McNally.
Conncilmen : Jacob Reinhard, President; First Ward, Grafton Douty, Amos McNairy ■,^
Second Ward, A. B. Buttles, Luther Donaldson ; Third Ward. A. S. Glenn. John Graham ;
Fourth Ward, Isaac Eberlv, John G, Thompson ; Fifth Ward, J, J, Rickly. .Tacob Reinhard ;
Sixth Ward, Frederick .Jaeger, John Rader ; Seventh Ward, Walstein Failins, Horace Wil-
son ; Eighth Ward, Frank Howard, E. B. Armstrong ; Ninth Ward. William Naghten, Daniel
Carmichael.
1. Resigned November 2, 1S63; I. H. Marrow appointed to vacancy.
2. Died ; .Tames Patterson elected to vacancy October 13, ISfi;',.
1864.
Mayor, Wrav Thomas. Marshal, Samuel Thompson.
City Clerk, Joseph Dowdall. Civil Engineer, Philin D, Fisher.
Solicitor, H. J. Wylie. Clerk of Market, D, McAlister.'
Chief of Fire Department, I. H. Marrow. Street Commissioner, Bernard McNally.
Conncilmen: Jacob Reinhard. Presi<lent ; First Ward, .James Patterson. Grafton
Doutv; Second Ward. Luther Donaldson, A. B. Buttles; Third Ward, John Graham. Silas
N. Field ; Fourth Ward, John G. Thompson. B. Gilmore; Fifth Ward. Jacob Reinhard. J. J.
Ricklv;2 Sixth Ward, .John Rader, Frederick Jaeger ; Seventh Ward. Horace Wilson. 3 Wil-
liam H. Gaver; Eighth Ward. E. B. Armstrong, John Miller; Ninth Ward, Daniel Car-
michael, William Naghten
1. From December 26, 1864, the duties of Clerk of the Market were perform-d bv J. J.
Funston.
2. Resigned March 20, 186.5.
3. Resigned; William L. Ross elected to vacancy October 11, 1864.
History of the City of Columbus.
1865.
Mayor, James G. Bull. Marshal, Adam Stephens.
City Clerk, Joseph Dowdall. Civil Engineer, Philip D. Fisher.i
Solicitor, H. J. Wylie. Clerli of Market, O. K. Brake.
Chief of Fire Department, I. H. Marrow. Street Commissioner, Harvey Fletcher.^
Councilmen : Grafton Douty, President ; First Ward, Grafton Douty, James Patterson ;
Second Ward, A. B. Buttles, Luther Donaldson; Third Ward, Silas N. Field, Theodore Corn-
stock ; Fourth Ward, B. Gilmore, E. Barcus ; Fifth Ward, James H. Stauring, Jacob Rein-
hard ; Si.\th Ward, Frederick Jaeger, Newton Gibbons; Seventh Ward, William H. Gaver,
William L. Ross; Eighth Ward, John Miller, H. F. Booth ; Ninth Ward, William Naghteu,
Charles W. Douty.
Board of Health: W. M. Awl, J. B. Thompson, J. H. Coulter, H. Mahlman, C. E.
Boyle, William Trevitt, John Field, J. E. St. Clair, C. E. Felton, Isaac Dalton, W. W.
Pollard.
1. Resigned July 10, 1865 ; W. W. Pollard appointed to vacancy.
2. Resigned ; William Harrison appointed to vacancy February 26, ISfid.
Mayor, James G. Bull. Marshal, Patrick Murphy.
City Clerk, Levi E. Wilson. Civil Engineer, W. W. Pollard.
Solicitor, H. J Wylie. Clerk of Market, O. R. Brake.
Chief of Fire Department, L H. Marrow. Street Commissioner, William Harrison.
Councilmen; Luther Donaldson, i President; First Ward, James Patterson, Robert
Chadwick ; Second Ward, Luther Donaldson, William J. Fell ; Third Ward, Theodore Corn-
stock, J. C. Toll ; Fourth Ward, E. Barcus, Isaac S. Beeky ; Fifth Ward, .facob Reinhard,
C. Kammerer; Sixth Ward, Newton Gibbons, Frederick Jaeger; Seventh Ward, William L.
Ross, William H. Gaver; Eighth Ward, H. F. Booth, E. B. Armstrong; Ninth Ward,
Charles W. Douty, William Naghten.
The council was not organized until July 26
1S67.
Mayor, James G. Bull. Marshal, Patrick Murphy.
City Clerk, Levi E. Wilson. Civil Engineer, H. W. Jaeger.
Solicitor, E. F. Bingham. Clerk of Market, John G. Hartraan.
Chief of Fire Dep't, I. H. Marrow. Street Commissioner, William Harrison.
Councilmen : Jacob Reinhard, President ; First Ward, Robert Chadwick, James Patter-
son; Second Ward, William J. Fell, Luther Donaldson; Third Ward, J. C. Toll, Theodore
Comstock ; Fourth Ward, Isaac S. Beekey, Daniel McAlister; Fifth Ward, C. Kammerer,
Jacob Reinhard; Sixth Ward, Frederick Jaeaer, Newton Gibbons; Seventh Ward, William
H Gaver, William L. Ross; Eighth Ward, E. B. Armstrong, Thomas Bergin ; Ninth Ward,
William Naghten, John Caren.
Board of Health : William Trevitt, Frederick Fieser, R. Walkup, Frank Howard, John
Miller, Louis Hoster.
Police Commissioners:' John Field, H. P. Bancroft, Nelson Rush, John J. Janney, James
G. Bull.
1. Under act of March 29, 1867, afterwards declared unconstitutional.
Mayor, James G. Bull. Marshal, Patrick Murphy.
City Clerk, Levi E. Wilson. Civil Engineer, H. W. Jaeger.'
Solicitor, E. F. Ringham Clerk of Market, C. K. Cuckler.
Chief of Fire Dep't, William S. Huffman. Street Commissioner, B. McNally
The City Government. 507
Councilmen : William Naghten, President; First Ward, James Patterson, Robert
Chadwiclc; Second Ward, Luther Donaldson, J. J. Janney ; Third Ward, Tlieodore Comstock,
William McDonald ; Fourth Ward, D. McAlister, Isaac S. Beekey ; Fifth Ward, Jacob Rein-
hard, John Knopf; Sixth Ward. Newton Gibbons, Marcus Frankel ; Seventh Ward, William
L. Ross, William Wall ; Eighth Ward, Thomas Bergin, E. B. Armstrong; Ninth Ward, John
Caren, William Naghten.
1. Resigned June 1, 1868; B. F. Bowen appointed to vacancy.
18(i9.
Mayor, George W. Meeker. Marshal, Cliarles Engelke.
City Clerk, Levi E. Wilson. Civil Engineer, B. F. Bowen.
Solicitor, E. F. Bingham. Clerk of Market, C. K. Cuckler.
Chief of Fire Dep't, Henry Heinmiller. Street Commissioner, L. Aumiller.
Councilmen: William Naghten,! President; First Ward, Robert Chailwick, John
Uncles; Second Ward, J. J. Janney, Luther Donaldson; Third Ward, AVilliain McDonald,
Theodore Comstock ; Fourth Ward, Isaac S. Beekey, John G. Thompson ; Fifth Ward, John
Knopf, Jacob Reinhard ; Sixth Ward, Newton Gibbons, Marcus Frankel ; Seventh Ward,
William Wall, D. F. Suydara ; Eighth Ward, E. B. Armstrong, L. L. Smith; Ninth Ward,
John Caren, AVilliam Naghten.
1. Accidentally killed January 7, 1870; L. Donaldson elected to vacancy.
1870.
Mayor, George W. Meeker. Marshal, Charles Engelke
City Cleik. Levi E. Wilson. Civil Engineer, B. F. Bowen.
Solicitor, E. F. Bingham. Clerk of Market, C. K. Cuckler.
Chief of Fire Dep't, Henry Heinmiller. Street Commissioner, L. Aumiller.
Councilmen: Luther Donaldson, President ; First Ward, John Uncles, Robert Chad-
wick ; Second Ward, Luther Donaldson, J. J. Janney; Third Ward, Theodore Comstock,
William McDonald ; Fourth Ward, John G. Thompson, Lorenzo English ; Fifth Ward, Jacob
Reinhard, George Beck ; Sixth Ward, Newton Gibbons, Marcus Frankel ; Seventh Ward,
D. F. Suydam, John Gore ; Eighth Ward, L. L. Smith, P J. Lofland ; Ninth Ward, John
Caren, Martin Kelley.
1871.
Mayor, James G. Bull. Marshal, Charles Engelke.
City Clerk, Levi E. Wilson. Civil Engineer, B. F. Bowen.
Solicitor, Francis Collins. Clerk of Market, C. K. Cuckler.
Chief of Fire Dep't, Henry Heinmiller. Street Commissioner, L. Aumiller.
Councilmen: Luther Donaldson, President; First Ward, Robert Chadwick, Isaac B.
Potts ; Second Ward, J. J. Janney, Luther Donaldson ; Third Ward, William McDonald,
Theodore Comstock ; Fourth Ward, Lorenzo English, Louis Zettler ; Fifth Ward, George Beck,
Jacob Reinhard ; Sixth Ward, Marcus Frankel, Jonas Pletsch ; Seventh Ward, John Gore. D.
F. Suydam; Eighth Ward, P. J. Lofland, L. L. Smith; Ninth Ward, Martin Kelley, John
Walsh.
Mayor, James G. Bull. Marshal, Charles Engelke.
City Clerk, Levi E. Wilson. Civil Engineer, John Graham.
Solicitor, Francis Collins. Clerk of Market, C. K. Cuckler.
Chief of Fire Dep't. Henry Heinmiller. Street Commissioner, L. Aumiller.
Councilmen: Theodore Comstock, President; First Ward. Isaac B. Potts, R. C. Hull;
Second Ward, Luther Ponaldson, John G. Mitchell ; Third Ward, Theodore Comstock, J. II.
Flowers; Fourth Ward, Louis Zettler, Lorenzo English ; Fifth Ward, Jacob Reinhard, John
U. Rickenbacher ; Sixth Ward, Jonas Pletsch, August Leibfarth ; Seventh Ward, D. F. Suy-
508 IIlSTORY OF THE CiTY OF COLUMBUS.
dam, Charles L. Kemmerle ; Eighth Ward, L. L. Smith, William Williams; Ninth Ward,
John Walsh, E. L. Hinman ; Tenth Ward, Martin Kelly, Joseph H. Fuller; Eleventh Ward,
H. Mithoff, C. C. Smith.
Board of Health : J. G. Bull, President ; Levi E. Wilson. Secretary ; Nathaniel Merion,
W. H. Akin, J. E. St. Clair, John J. Janney, William Powell, J. R. Hughes.
1873.
Mayor, James (t. Bull. Marshal, Charles Engelke.'
City Clerk, Levi E Wilson.^ Civil Engineer, John Graham.
Solicitor, G. G. Collins. Street Commissioner, L. Aumiller.
Chief of Fire Dep't, Henry Heinmiller. Clerk of Market, C. K. Cuckler.
Infirmary Director,-5 Thomas R. Sparrow.
Councilmen: John G. iMitchell, President; First Ward, R. C. Hull, Isaac B. Potts;
Second Ward, John G. Mitchell, James M. Elliott; Third Ward, J. R. Flowers, William R.
Kent; Fourth Ward, Lorenzo English, Isaac S. Beekev ; Fifth Ward, John U. Rickenbacher,
A. Schab ; Sixth Ward, August Leibfarth. Jonas Pletsch ; Seventh Ward, Charles L. Kem-
merle. D. F. Suydam; Eighth Ward, William Williains, Charles Breyfogle ; Ninth Ward,
E. L. Hinman, John Walsh ; Tenth Ward, Joseph H. Fuller, Martin Kellv ; Eleventh
Ward, C. C. Smith. H. Mithoflf.
Board of Health: J. G. Bull, Pr. sident; L. E. Wilson, Secretary; Nathaniel Merion,
W. H. Akin, J. E. St Clair, J. J. Janney, William Powell, J. R. Hughes.
Trustees of Water Works: William B. Hayden, Richard Nevins, E. B. Armstrong.
J. R. Armstrong, Secretary ; Frank Doherty, Superintendent; H. M. P. Dole, Inspector.
Police Commissioners: J. G. Bull, President; W. H Hume, Secretary ; Joseph Falken
bach, Theodore Comstock, Luther Donaldson, Francis Collins.
1. Metropolitan Police established by act of March 29, 1873, and office of Marshal
abolished. Alexis Keeler elected Superintendent of Police May 1, 1873.
2. Died August 11, 1873; Frank Wilsou appointed to vacancy.
3. Office created September 15, 1873, and Thomas R. Sparrow appointed Director.
Mayor, James G. Bull. Superintendent of Police, Samuel Thompson.
City Clerk, Frank Wilson. Civil Engineer, Josiali Kinnear.
Solicitor, G. G. Collins. Clerk of Market, C. K. Cuckler.
Chief of Fire Department, Henry Heinmiller. Street Commissioner, L. Aumiller.
Infirmary Director, P. E. Blesch. Police Captain, Charles Engelke.
Councilmen: Isaac S. Beekev. President; First Ward, Isaac B. Potts, R. C. Hull;
Second Ward, James M. Elliott, John G. Mitchell; Third Ward. William R. Kent, J. R.
Flowers; Fourth Ward, Isaac S. Beekey, Peter Baker; Fifth Ward, A. Schab, J. U. Ricken-
bacher; Sixth Wani, Jonas Pletsch, August Leibfarth; Seventh Ward, D. F. Suydam,
Charles F. Kemmerle ; Eighth Ward, Charles Brevfogle, S. P. Elliott ; Ninth Ward, John
Walsh, E. L. Hinman; Tenth Ward, Martin Kelly, Lewis Morrell ; Eleventh Ward,
H. Mithoflf, P. Kinnel.
Board of Health: J. G. Bull, President; William Allen, Secretary; P. E. Blesch,
Medical Examiner.
Waterworks Trustees: W. B. Hayden, Richard Nevins, E. B. Armstrong, James R.
Armstrong, Secretary; Frank Doherty, Superintendent; H. N. P. Dole, Inspector.
Police Commission : J. G Bull, President ; William Allen, Secretary.
Mayor, John H, Heitman. Superintendent of Police, Samuel Thompson.
Citv Clerk, Frank Wilson. Civil Engineer, Josiah Kinnear.
Solicitor, J. W. Quinn. Clerk of Market, C. K. Cuckler.
Chief of Fire Department, Henry Heinmiller. Street Commissioner, John Kelly.
Infirmarv Director, P. E. Blescli. Police Captain, Charles Engelke'
Councilmen : John (t. Mitchell, President ; First Ward, R. C. Hull, Isaac B. Potts ;
Second Ward, John G. Mitchell, James M. Elliott; Third Ward, J, R, Flowers, George F.
The City Government. 509
O'Harra- Fourth Ward, Peter Baker, George J. Bodeufels ; Fifth Ward, J..hn U Riokoij-
bacher E. Kiesewetter ; Sixth Ward, August Leibfarth, Andrew Schwarz; Seventh Ward
C F Kemmerle, George S. Stephens; Eighth Ward, S. P. Elliott, Charles Breyfogle ; Ninth
Ward E L Hin.nant John Short; Tenth Ward, Lewis Morrell, C Lewis; Eleventh Ward,
^■^'^'Cnl"r'Herith'''''john H. Heitman, President; William Allen, Secretary; P. E.
^'''' WaterwOTL^S'^eT; W. B. Hayden, Richard Nevins, E. B. Armstrong; Superintea-
•^^"^oHcl'coSliin^^ Louis Zettler, Thomas Bergin. F. W.
Merrick.
Mayor, John H, Heitmann. S"Pt- o*" Po''"" (acting), Charles Engelke.
City Clerk, Frank Wilson. Civil tngmeer, Josiah kinnear.
Solicitor, J. W. Quinn.
Clerk of Market, Aaron P. Spencer.
Chief of Fire Department, Henry Heinmiller. Street Commissioner, John Kelly.
Tnfirirmrv Director E Hevl. Police Captain (acting), James Hannan.
'"'™rncilmet ' Isaac g. Potts, President ; First Wa/d, Isaac B. Potts, R. C. Hull ; Second
Ward, James M. Elliott, John G. Mitchell; Third Ward George O Harra, JR. Flowers ,
Fourth Ward, George J. Rodenfels, Peter Baker ; Fifth Ward, E. Kiesewetter, Philip Schmitt;
Sixth Ward, Andrew Schwarz, August Leibfarth; Seventh Ward, George S Stephens,
Appleton J. ide ; Eighth Ward, Charles Breyfogle, T. R. Marshall ; Ninth Ward. John Short,
E. L. Hinman ; Tenth Ward, C. Lewis, George B. McNary ; Eleventh Ward, Henry Pausch,
^' ^Police Commission : J. H. Heitman, D. W. Brooks, George Butler, Thomas Bergin,
Louis Zettler.
Mayor John H. Heitmann. Supt. of Police (acting), Charles Engelke.
City Clerk, Frank Wilson. Civil Engineer, Josiah Kinnear.i
Solicitor, E. P. Sharp. Clerk of Market, A. P. Spencer.
Chief of Fire Department, Henry Heinmiller. Street Commissioner, John iox.
Tnfirmflrv Director E Hevl. Police Captain (acting) James Hannan.
CouncUmen 'Henry Pausch, President; First Ward, R. C. Hull,2 John E. Murphy ;
Second Ward, John G. Mitchell, J. M. Elliott; Third Ward J R^ Flowers George F
O'Harra; Fourth Ward, Peter Baker, George J. Rodenfels; Fifth Ward, Philip Schmitt,
Jacob Lohrer; Sixth Ward, August Leibfarth, Andrew Schwarz; Seventh Ward, Appleton
J Ide DeWittC. Jones; Eighth Ward, Thomas R. Marshall, Charles Breyfogle; Ninth Ward,
E. L. 'Hinman, M. A. Joyce; Tenth Ward, George B. McNairy, S. J. Cochran; Eleventh
Ward, P. Kinnel, Henry Pausch. „ ., ^ ^, t j c
Board of Health: John H. Heitman, ex-officio President; C. G. Lord, Secretary;
E. Heyl, M. D., Health Officer. t^ „ o u ^ q p
Waterworks Trustees ; W. B. Hayden, Richard Nevins, D. H. Royce ; Secretary, S. P.
Axtell; Superintendent, Frank Doherty; Inspector HN P. Dole
Police Commission: J. H. Heitmann, D. W. Brooks, E. J. Blount, George Butler,
L. Zettler.
1 Resigned February 11, 1878; T. N. Gulick appointed to vacancy.
2. Died March 23, 1878.
Mayor, John H. Heitmann. Superintendent of Police, Charles Engelke.
Citv Clerk, Frank Wilson. Civil Engineer, T. N. Gulick.
Solicitor, E. P. Sharp. Clerk of Market, A. P. Spencer.
Chief of Fire Department, Henry Ht-iiimiller. Street Commissioner, John t ox.
Infirmary Director, H. A. Mahhuauu. Police Captain (acting), James Hannan.
Councilraen: Henry Pausch, President; First Ward, John E. Murphy, William Wel-
per • Second Ward, James M. Elliott, Samuel Thomas ; Third Ward, George F. O Harra,
510 History of the City of Columbus.
W. S. Ide ; Fourth Ward, George J. Rodenfels.i Peter Baker; Fifth Ward, Jacob Lohrer,
Junior,^ PhiHp Schmitt; Sixth Ward, Andrew Schwarz, Adam Neufang ; Seventh Ward,
DeWitt C. Jones,3 W. Neil Dennison ■* Eighth Ward, Charles Breyfogle, P. V. N. Mvers ;
Ninth Ward, M. A. Joyce, John Short: Tenth Ward, S. J. Cochran, William AVassall ;5
Eleventh Ward, Henry "Pausch, Charles Freeh.
Police Coramission: J. H. Heitmann, D. W. Brooks, E. J Blount, George Butler. John
U. Rickenbacher.
1. Resigned April 15, 1878; Isaac Eberly elected to vacancy.
2. Expelled June 24. 187S; Jacob Hess elected to vacancv.
3. Resigned March 10, 1879.
4. Resigned March 17, 1879.
0. Resigned March 10, 1879.
Mayor, G. G. Collins, Superintendent of Police, Charles Engelke.t
Citv Clerk, H. E, Bryan. Civil Engineer, T. N. Gulick.
Solicitor, A. W. Krumm. Superintendent of Market, Joseph Amos.
Chief of Fire Department, Henry Heinmiller. Street Commissioner, Jacob Haering.
Infimarv Director, H. A. Mahlmann. Police Sergeant, C. Benninghof.
Coiincilmen ; Charles Breyfogle, President; First Ward, William Welper, R. Reynolds ;
Second Ward, Samuel Thomas, George W. Ball; Third Ward, W. S. Ide, C. C. Corner ;
Fourth Ward, Peter Baker, James Nelson ; Fifth Ward, P. Schmitt, Jacob Hess ; Sixth
Ward, Adam Neufang, William Loos: Seventh W^ard, James H. Corbin, A. J. Ide; Eighth
Ward, P. V. N. Myers, Charles Brevfogle ; Ninth AVard, John Short, M. A. Jovce ; Tenth
Ward, W. B. McClung, Frederick Michel ; Eleventh Ward, Charles Freeh, A. H. Rollin.
Waterworks Trustees: D. H. Royce, Richard Nevins, W. B. Hayden ; Superintendent,
Frank Doherty ; Secretary, S. P. Axtell ; Engineer, John Kilroy ; Inspector, H. N. P. Dole.
Police Commission : Van S: Seltzer, H. F. Ambos, B. McCabe, M. Burns; the Mayor
ex-officio President.
1. Removed November 14, 1879 ; John W. Lingo appointed to vacancy.
2. Resigned August 2.5, 1S79 ; P. M. Wagenhals elected to vacancy.
Mayor, G. G. Collins Superintendent of Police, J. W. Lingo.'
City Clerk, H. E. Bryan. Civil Engineer, John Graham.
Solicitor, A. W, Krumm. Superintendent of Market, Joseph Amos.
Chief of Fire Department, Henry Heinmiller.' Street Commissioner, Jacob Haering.
Infirmarv Director, James C. Kroesen. Police Sergeant, John Fox.
Cou'ncilmen : William B. McClung, President ; First Ward, Richard Revnolds, Charles
Freeh ; Second AVard, George AV. Ball, Joseph Falkenbach f Third AA'ard, C. C. Corner, R. J.
Fanning; Fourth AVard, James Nelson, Henry Plimpton; Fifth AA'ard, Jacob Hess, E. L.
DeAVitt; Sixth AVard, AA'illiam Loos, R. C. Hofl'man ; Seventh AA'ard, A. J. Ide, H. B. Dear-
duff ;' Eighth AVard. Charles Brevfogle, David Davies ; Ninth AA'ard, M. A. Jovce, James
Poindexter; Tenth AVard, Frederick Michel, P. M. AVagenhals;* Eleventh Ward. A. H.
Rollin, AVilliam Felton; Twelfth AVard, Charles Stevens; Thirteenth AVard, William B.
McClung; Fourteenth AVard, Charles AVesterman.
AVaterworks Trustees: D. H. Royce, Richard Nevins, AV. B. Hayden ; Frank Doherty,
Superintendent ; A. P. Axtell, Secretary.
Police Commission : Michael Burns, Bernard McCabe, Alonzo B. Coit, Henry Pausch.
1. Removed September 17, 1880; S. A. Rhodes appointed to vacancy. S. A. Rhodes
removed December 3, 1880 ; John AV. Lingo appointed to vacancy.
2. Removed September 6, 1880; D. D. Tresenrider appointed to vacancy.
3. Resigned ; Jonas Pletsch elected to vacancy December 28, 1880.
4. Died March 11, 1881.
d. Died March 16,1881.
The City Government. 511
1881.
Mayor, George S. Peters. Supt. of Police, J. W. Lingo. i
City Clerk, H. E. Bryan. Civil Engineer, John Graham.
Solicitor, A. W. Krumm. Superintendent of Market, Joseph Amos.
Chief of Fire Dep't, D. D. Tresenrider. Street Commissioner, Jacob Haering.
Infirmary Director, James C. Kroesen. Police Captain, Frederick Stoker.
Councilmen: AV. B. McClung, President; First Ward, Charles Freeh, A. H. Rollin :
Second Ward, Jonas Pletsch, Philip Corzilius ; Third Ward, R. J. Fanning,^ L. Aumiller;
Fourth Ward, H. Plimpton, John A.Sarber; Fifth Ward, E. L. Dewitt, A. D. Hetfner ; Sixth
Ward, R. C. Hoffman, James Nelson; Seventh Ward, W. T. MoUoy, George W. Walters;
Eighth AVard, David Davies, T. Reynolds ; Ninth Ward, James Poindexter, J. F. Baldwin ;
Tenth Ward, (i. C. Hoover, George P. Morrow; Eleventh Ward, William Felton,R. G. Warner;
Twelfth Ward, Charles Stevens, James C. Cleary ; Thirteenth Ward, W. B. McClung, W. M.
Mutchmore ; Fourteenth Ward, Charles Westerman, N. T. Bradford.
Waterworks Trustees : D. H. Royce, Richard Nevins, W. B. Hayden ; Secretary, S. P.
Axtell ; Superintendent, Frank Doherty; Inspector, H. N. P. Dole ; Engineer, John Kilroy.
Police Commission : G. G. Collins, Alonzo B. Coit, Michael Burns, Bernard McCabe,
Henry Pausch.
1. Removed May 6, 1881 ; S. A. Rhodes appointed to vacancy. S. A. Rhodes removed
October 28, 1881 ; Samuel Thompson appointed to vacancy.
2. Resigned ; E. C. Briggs elected to vacancy May 14, 1881.
Mayor, George S. Peters. Supt. of Police, Samuel Thompson.
City Clerk, H. E. Bryan. Civil Engineer, John Graham.
Solicitor, A. W. Krumm. Superintendent of Market, Joseph Amos.
Chief of Fire Dep't, D. D. Tresenrider. Street Commissioner, Jacob Haering.
Infirmary Director, C. M. Savage. Police Captain, Frederick Stoker.
Councilmen : President, R. C. Hoffman ; First Ward, Charles Freeh, A. H. Rollin ; Sec-
ond Ward, Philip Corzilius, F. J. Reinhard ; Third Ward, L. Aumiller, E. C. Briggs; Fourth
Ward, John A. Sarber, Jonathan Dent; Fifth Ward, A. D. Heffner, Michael Halm; Sixth
AVard, James Nelson. R. C. Hoffman; Seventh Ward,. George AV. Walters, AV. T. Mallov;
Eighth AA'ard, R. Reynolds, David Davies; Ninth AVard, J. F. Baldwin, James Poindexter;
Tenth AVard, George P. Morrow, G. C. Hoover ; Eleventh AVard, R. G. AVarren, William Fel-
ton ; Twelfth Ward, Samuel Cleary, C. Stevens; Thirteenth AA'ard, AV. H. Muchmore, AV. B.
McClung; Fourteenth AVard, N. T. Bradford, Charles Westerman.
AVaterworks Trustees: E. B. Armstrong, Richard Nevins, A\\ B. Hayden, Frank
Doherty, Superintendent; S. P. Axtell, Secretary; John Kilroy, Chief Engineer.
Police Commission: George S. Peters, A. B. Coit, Thomas J. Dundon, Henry Pausch,
Bernard McCabe.
1883.
Mayor, C. C. AValcutt. Superintendent of Police, Samuel Thomp.son.
City Clerk, H. E. Bryan. Civil Engineer, John Graham
Solicitor, Charles T. Clark. Superintendent of Market, Joseph Amos.
Chief of Fire Department, D. D. Tresenrider. Street Commissioner, Jacob Haering.
Infirmary Director, F. S. Wagenhals. Police Captain, Frederick Stoker.
Councilmen: William Felton, President; First AVard, Charles Freeh, Adolph Theo-
bald ; Second AVard, Frank J. Reinhard, Philip Corzilius; Third AV^ard. E. C. Briggs, B. L,
Schmitt; Fourth AVard, Jonathan Dent, Charles Frank; Fifth AVard, Michael Halm, A. D
Heffner ; Sixth AVard, R. C. Hoffman, C. C. Corner ; Seventh AVard. AVilliam T. Malloy
George AValters; Eighth AVard, David Davies, Richard Reynolds; Ninth AVard, James Poin
dexter, James P. Poston ; Tenth AVard, G. C. Hoover, George P. Morrow ; Eleventh AVard
AVilliam Felton, Henry C. Taylor ; Twelfth AVard, Charles Stevens, James (\ Cleary ; Thir
teenth AVard, AVilliam B. .AlcClung, AV. M. Muchmore; Fourteenth Ward, Charles Wester
man. N. T. Bradford.
AVaterworks Trustees: AVilliam B. Hayden, Isaac B. Potts, Elliott B. Armstrong
Police Commission: C. C. Walcutt, Alonzo B. Coit, Thomas J. Dundon, Henry Pausch
Bernard McCabe.
512 History of the City of Columbus.
1884.
Mayor, C. C. Walcutt. Superintendent of Police, John W. Lingo.
Citv Clerk, H. E. Bryan. Civil Engineer, John Graham.
Solicitor, Charles T. (lark. Superintendent of Market, Joseph Amos.
Chief of Fire Department, D. D. Tresenrider. Street Commissioner, Jacob Haering.
Intirmary Director, F. S. Wagenhals. Police Lieutenant. C. Wilcox.
Councilmen: Henry C. Taylor, President; First Ward, Charles Freeh, A. Thpobald ;
Second Ward, A. C. Ebner, Philip Corzilius ; Third Ward, E. C. Briggs, B. L. Schmitt;
Fourth Ward, Jonathan Dent, Charles Frank ; Fifth Ward, W. B. Page, A. D. Heffner ; Sixth
Ward, G. H. Stewart, C C. Corner; Seventh Ward, Samuel Barger, George Walters; Eighth
Ward, A. P. Krag, Richard Reynolds ; Ninth Ward, B. W. Custer, J. P. Barton ; Tenth
Ward, B. F. Rees, George P. Morrow ; Eleventh Ward, Sextus Scott, H. C. Taylor; Twelfth
Ward, P. J. Connor, J. C. Cleary ; Thirteenth Ward, J. H. Hatcher, E. M. Muchmore ; Four-
teenth Ward, C. Westerman. N.' T. Bradford.
Waterworks Trustees; W. B. Hayden, E. B. Armstrong, Isaac B. Potts; Secretary, S. P.
Axtell; Engineer, John Kilroy; Superintendent, W. Kovce ; Inspector, A. F. Blesch.
Police Commission : C. C. Walcutt, A. B. Coit, T. J. Dundon, Bernard McCabe, D. H.
Royce.
Tax Commission: C. C. Walcutt, C. T. Clark, E. L. Hinman, Jacob Reinhard, James
Watson.
Sinking Fund Commission: Joseph H. Outhwaite, President; H. E. Bryan, Secretary;
B. F. Martin, John M. Pugh, Isaac Eberly, Luther Donaldson.
18S5.
Mayor, C. C. Walcutt. Superintendent of Police, J. W. Lingo.
City Clerk, H. E. Bryan. Civil Engineer, John Graham.
Solicitor, James Caren. Superintendent of Market, Joseph Amos.
Chief of Fire Department, D. D. Tresenrider. Street Commissioner, Jacob Haering.
Infirmary Director, F. S. Wagenhals. Police Captain, C. Wilcox.
Councilmen: Walter B. Page, President; First Ward, Charles Freeh, A. Theobald;
Second Ward, A. C. Ebner, Peter Baker; Third Ward, E. C. Briggs, B. L. Schmitt ; Fourth
Ward, Jonathan Dent, Charles Frank; Fifth Ward, W. B. Page, Robert Dent ; Sixth Ward,
S. W. Latham, J. E. Robinson; Seventh Ward, Samuel Borger, Jonas Wilcox ; Eighth Ward,
A. P. Krag, Richard Reynolds; Ninth Ward, B. W. Custer, David Halderman ; Tenth Ward,
A. C. Williams, F. E. Havden ; Eleventh Ward, Sextus Scott, H. C. Taylor; Twelfth Ward,
P.J. Connor, Daniel Suliivant ; Thirteenth Ward, J. F. Hatcher, E. B. Adams; Fourteenth
Ward, L. T. (iuerin, 1). E. Sullivan.
Waterworks Trustees : Carl T. Pfatf, Isaac B. Potts, Robert Curtis.
Police Commission: C. C. Walcutt, Jacob Albright, P. H. Bruck, B. McCabe, D. H.
Royce.
Tax Commission : C. C. Walcutt, James Caren, E. L. Hinman, Jacob Reinhard, James
Watson.
Sinking Fund Commission: Joseph H. Outhwaite, President; H. E. Bryan, Secretary;
B. F. Martin, John M. Pugh, Isaac Eberly, Luther Donaldson.
Mayor, C. C. Walcutt. Superintendent of Police, John W. Lingo.
City Clerk, H. E. Bryan. Civil Engineer, John Graham.
Solicitor, James Caren. Superintendent of Market, Joseph Amos.
Chief of Fire Department, D. D. Tresenrider. Street Commissioner, Jacob Haering.
Infirmary Director, S. M. LeCrone. Police Captain, C. Wilco.v.
Councilmen: R. Reynolds, President; First Ward, Charles Freeh, A. Theobald;
Second Ward, A. C. Ebner, P. Baker ; Third Ward, E. C. Briggs, B. L. Schmitt ; Fourth
Ward, Samuel Crouch, Charles Frank ; Fifth Ward, W. B. Page, R. Dent ; !-ixth Ward,
S. W. Latham, J. E. Robinson ; Seventh Ward, David Brown, Jonas Wilcox ; Eighth Ward,
J. L. Bancroft, R. Reynolds; Ninth Ward. W. H. Navin, D. Haldeman ; Tenth Ward, R. A.
Chapman, F. E. Hayden ; Eleventh Ward, Sextus Scott, H. C. Taylor; Twelfth Ward, P. J.
Connor, D. Sullivan ; Thirteenth Ward, P. E. Fleck, E. B. Adams ; Fourteenth Ward, L. T.
Guerin, D. E. Sullivan.
The City Goveunment. 513
Board of Health : C. 0. Walcutt, Bernard JNIoCabe, P. H. Royce, Jacob Albright, Philip
H. Bnick.
Waterworks Trustees : Isaac B. Potts, Robert Curtis.
Police Commission: B. McCabe, D. H. Royce, Jacob Albright, P. H. Bruck, C. C.
Walcutt.
Tax Commission : C. C Walcutt, James Caren, E. L. Hinman, Jacob Reinhard, James
Walson.
Sinking Fund Commission: B. F. Martin, John M. Pugh, Isaac Eberly, L. Donaldson.
1887.
Mayor, Philip H. Bruck. Superintendent of Police, John E. Murphy.
City Clerk, H. E. Bryan. Civil Engineer, R. R. Marble.
Solicitor, James C!aren. Superintendent of Market, Joseph Amos.
Chief of Fire Department, D. D. Trcsenrider. Street Commissioner, David Lakin.
Infirmary Director, S. M LeCrone. Police Captain, Frederick Stoker.
Sealer of Weights and Measures, Theodore Jones.
Councilmen : Frank E. Hayden, President; First Ward, Charles Freeh, J. L. Trauger ;
Second Ward, A. C. Ebner, P. Baker; Third Ward. E. C. Briggs, L. Heinmiller; Fourth
AVard, Samuel Crouch, J. Dent ; Fifth Ward. W. B. Page, George J. Karb ; Sixth Ward, S. W.
Latham, J. E. Robinson; Seventh Ward, David Brown, J. D. O'Dea; Eighth Ward, J. L.
Bancroft, R. Reynolds ; Ninth Ward, AV. H. Navin, C. M. AVilliams ; Tenth AVard, R. A.
Chapman, F. E. Hayden; Eleventh AVard, Sextus Scott, H. G. Price; Twelfth AVard, P. J.
Connor, D. Sullivan; Thirteenth AVard, P. E. Fleck, J. C. Guitner ; Fourteenth AVard, L. C.
Guerin, L. L. Rankin; Fifteenth AVard, D. E. Sullivan, E. E. Corwin.
AVaterworks Trustees : R. Curtis, John Kilroy, L, AV. Sherwood ; Superintendent, A. H.
McAlpine ; Secretary, Dudley A. Fdler.
Police Commission : George Burke, Jacob Albright, Z. AV. Merrick, Dennis Kelly,
Philip H Bruck. ^
Tax Commission: Philip H. Bruck, James Caren, E. L. Hinman, J. Reinhard, J. T.
Holmes.
Sinking Fund Commission: B. F. Martin, John M. Pugh, C. AV. Hess, L. Donaldson,
W. J. Gilmore.
Mayor, Philip H. Bruck. Superintendent Police, John E. Murphy.
City Clerk, H. E. Bryan. Civil Engineer, R. R. Marble.
Solicitor, James Caren. Superintendent of Market, Joseph Amos.
Chief Fire Department, D. D. Tresenrider. Street Commissioner, David Lakin.
Infirmary Director, W. T. Rowles. Police Captain, John H. Parr.
Councilmen: J. E. Robinson, President; First Wanl, Otto Nusbaum, J. L. Trauger;
Second Ward, Jacob Heer, Junior. Peter Baker; Third Ward, E. C. Briggs. L. Heinmiller;
Fourth VA'ard, G. A. Schauweker, J. Dent; Fifth Ward, Benjamin Monett, George J. Karb ;
Sixth Ward, D. T. Ramsey, J. E. Robinson; Seventh Ward. D. J. Clahane, J. D. O'Dea;
Eighth Ward, T. S. McDonald, R. Reynolds; Ninth Ward, Isaac D. Ross, C. D. Williams;
Tenth Ward, R. A. Chapman, F. E. Hayden ; Eleventh Ward, Sextus Scott, W. G. Price ;
Twelfth Ward, Charles H. Neil, D. Sullivan ; Thirteenth AVard, C. A. Stribling, J. C. Guit-
ner; Fourteenth AVard, James T. Lindsay; Fifteenth Ward, P. E. Fleck, C. E. Corwin.
Board of Health : Philip H, Bruck, ex-officio President ; N. S. Townshend, M. D., Alexis
Keeler, Z. F. Guerin, M. D., A. E. Evans, AI. D., J. M. Dunham, M. D., Josiah Medbery, M. D. ;
Health Officer, F. Gunsaulus, M. D.
Waterworks Trustees: John Kilroy, L. W.Sherwood, R. B. Callem ; Superintendent,
A. H. McAlpine.
Police Commission: Philip H. Bruck, D. Kelley, B. McCabe, Charles L. Young, Jacob
Albright.
Tax Commission : Philip H. Bruck, James Caren, E. L. Hinman, J. Reinhard, J. T.
Holmes.
Sinking Fund Commission: B. F. Martin, John M. Pugh, C. W. Hess, L. Donaldson,
W. J. Gilmore.
3.3 «
History of the Citt of Columbus.
i88;i
Mayor, Philip H. Bruck. Superintendent Police, John E. Murphy.
City Clerk, H. E. Bryan Civil Engineer, R R. Marble.
Solicitor, Paul .Tones. Superintendent of .Market, Joseph Amos.
Chief of Fire Department, D. D. Tri-senrider. Street (Commissioner, David L:ikin.
Infirmary Director, W. T. Rowles. Police Captain, John H. Parr.
Councilmen: D. J. Clahane, President; First Ward, Otto Nusbaum, J. L. Trauger;
Second Ward, Jacob Heer, Junior, (ieorge Ball ; Third Ward, E. C. Briggs, Jonathan Dent ;
Fourth Wanl, Gustav A. Schauweker, E. B. Weitirich ; Fifth Ward, Benjamin Mnnelt.
Joseph C. Campbell; Sixth Ward, David T. Ramsey, Charles G. Lord; Seventh Ward.
Dennis J. Clahane, Samuel Borger; Eighth Ward, Thomas J. Black, Charles J Lauer; Ninth
Ward, Isaac D. Ross, Felix A. Jacobs; Tenth Ward. Pilchard A Chapman, Charlns O. tlun-
ter; Eleventh Ward, Sextus Scott, H. G. Price; Twellth Ward, Charles H. Neil, John C.
Finneran; Thirteenth Ward, Charles A. Stribling, D. S. Wilder; Fourteentli Ward, James
T. Lindsay, William D. Dixon ; Fifteenth Ward, William M. Maize, John H. Green.
Board of Health: Philip H. Bruck, e.r-officio President ; N. S. Townshend, M. D.. Z. F.
Guerin M. D., F. S. Wagenhals. M. D., A. E. Evans, M. D., J. M. Dunham, M. D., Josiah
Medbery, M. D. ; Health-Officer, F. Gunsaulus, M. D.
Waterworks Trustees: L. M. Sherwood, R. B. Collier, Peter Monroe; Superintendent,
A. H. Mc.\lpine; Secretary, Dudley A. Filler.
Police Commission : Philip H. Bruck, Dennis Kelly, George J. Karb, B. McCabe,
Charles L. Young.
Tax Commission: Philip H. Bruck, Paul Jones, Edward L. Hinman, Jacob Reinhanl.
J. T. Holmes.
Sinking Fund Commission: R.S.Smith, John M. Pugh, C. W. Hess, L. Donaldson,
W. J. Gilmore.
Board of Equalization : W. M. Muchmore, George F. O'Harra, J. M. Bennett, S. W.
Latham, David Davies, Eugene Lane.
Board of Elections : H. J. Falkenbach, James D. Poston, N. A. Sims, W. F. Burciell ;
E. R. Vincent, Secretary.
Mayor, Philip H. Bruck. Superintendent of Police, John E. Murphy.
City Clerk, H. E. Bryan. Civil Engineer, Josiah Kinnear.
Solicitor, Paul Jones. Superintendent of Market, .Joseph Ballard.
Chief of Fire Dep't, H. Heinmiller. Street Commissioner, David Lakin.
Inflrmarv Director, George S. Stein.
Councilmen : D. S. Wilder, President ; First Ward, J. L. Trauger, Otto Nusbaum ; Second
Ward, George Voll, John R. Hellenthal ; Third Ward, Ephraim Weirich, E. C. Briggs; Fourth
Ward, Jonathan Dent, S. A. Kinnear; Fifth Ward, Joseph C. Campbell, Adam Kirschner;
Sixth Ward, Charles G. Lord, David T. Ramsey ; Seventh Ward, Samuel Borger. Dennis J.
Clahane; Eighth Ward, Charles J. Lauer, John N. Koerner; Ninth Ward, F. A. Jacobs, A.
J. Evans; Tenth Ward, C. 0. Hunter, R. A. Chapman; Eleventh Ward. Hiram G. Price. C.
N. Bancroft; Twelfth Ward, J. N. Finneran, James Hayden ; Thirteenth Ward, D. 8.
Wilder, H. F. Romain ; Fourteenth Ward, J. A. McDonald, W. H. Kelly; Fifteenth Ward,
J. H. Green, William M. Maize.
Board of Health: Philip H. Bruck, George J. Karb, Dennis Kelly, William D. Dickson,
B. McCabe ; Health Officer, Lee McBriar, M. D.
Waterworks Trustees: Board of Public Works; Dudley A Filler, Secretary; A. H.
McAlpine, Superintendent; A. A. Brodie, Inspector
Police Commission ; Philip H. Bruck, George J. Karb, Dennis Kelly, B. McCabe, W. M.
Dixon.
Tax Commission: P. H. Bruck, E. L. Hinman, D. E. Williams, Jacob Reinhard, J. T.
Holmes.
Sinking Fund Commission: R. S. Smith, John M. Pugh, Adolph Theobald, A. D.
Heifner.
Board of Equalization, Aanual : James Burns. Charles Ebner, B. L.Terry, David Davis,
John R. Elrich. Christopher Wilcox; Decennial: John H. Hunt, Williatn E. Horn, Joseph
Falkenbach, William M. Muchmore, J. N. Bennett. William Williams.
Board of Elections: J. D. Poston, N. A. Sims, H. J. Falkenbach, W. F. Burdell.
Board of Public Works: James M. Loren, E. L. Hinman, William Wall, Joseph A.
Schwarz.
City Government.
Mayor George J. Karb. Superintendent ot Police, John E. Murphy.
City Clerk, John M. Doane. Civil Engineer, Josiah Kinnear.
Solicitor, Paul Jones. Superintendent of Market, Joseph Ballard.
Chief ot Fire Department. Henry Heinmiller. Street Commissioner, David Lakin.
Infirmary Director, George S. Stein. Police Captain, John H. Parr.
Councilmen: C. O. Hunter, President; First Ward, John L. Trauger, Otto Nusbaum ;
Second Ward, Henrv Dierker, John R. Hellenthal ; Third Ward, John W. Kaiser, Elisha C.
Briggs; Fourth Ward, Herbert E. Bradlev, Samuel A. Kinnear; Fifth Ward, Edwin B.
Gager Adam Kirschner ; Sixth Ward, William Chandler, David T. Ramsey; Seventh Ward,
Samuel Horger, Dennis J. Clahane ; Eighth Ward, Charles J. Lauer, John N. Koerner; Ninth
Ward Hartvvell Tuller, Abraham J. Evans; Tenth Ward. Charles O. Hunter, Thomas B.
Simons; Eleventh Ward, John H. Culbertson, Carl N. Bancroft; Twelfth Ward, Patrick H.
Butler, James Hayden ; Thirteenth Ward, F. H. Croughton, Henry F. Roraaine ; Fourteenth
Ward, William A. Wasson, Clarence E. Turner; Fifteenth Ward, William Hess, William M.
Board of Health: George J. Karb, Dennis Kelly, William Dickson, Bernard McCabe ;
Health Othcer, Lee McBriar, il. D. , , ^, . . t. ■
Waterworks Trustees: The Board of Public Works; Superintendent and Chief Engi-
neer, A H. McAlpine; Dudley A. Filler, Secretary.
I'olice Commission ; George J. Karb, Dennis Kelly, Bernard McCabe, William D.
Dickson.
Police Judge, Hon. Matthias Martin ; Prosecutor, Frank T. Clarke ; Clerk, George W.
Tax Commission: George J. Karb, Edward L. Hiniiiaii, D. E. Williams, ,Iacob Rein-
hard, F. C. Eaton.
Sinking Fund Commission: R. S. Smith, John M. Pugh, Adolph Theobald, A. D.
Hetfner; D. E. Williams, Clerk.
Board of Elections : Nelson A. Sims, President ; James D. Poston, Charles Kemmler,
William F. Burdell, W. S. Connor, Secretary.
Board of Public Works: E. L. Hinman, President; James M. Loren, William Wall,
Joseph A. Schwarz ; F. M. Senter, Clerk.
Board of Equalization: Joseph Falkenbach, J. N. Bennett, Theodore Jones, B. L.
Terry, Charles ~
Mayor, George J. Karb. Superintendent of Police, John E. Murphy.
City Clerk, John M. Doane. Civil Engineer, Josiah Kinnear.
Solicitor, Paul Jones. Superintendent of Market, Joseph Ballard.
Chief of Fire Department, Henry Heinmiller. Street Commissioner, David Lakin.
Infirmary Director, (leorge S. Stein. Police Captain, John H. Parr.
Councilmen : John L. Culbertson, President ; First Ward, John L. Trauger, Otto
Nusbaum; Second Ward, Henrv Dierker, Frank Miller; Third Ward, John W. Kaiser,
Elisha C. Briggs ; Fourth Ward, Herbert E. Bradley, Henry Harmon ; Fifth Ward, Edwin B.
Gager, Morton Hayes; Sixth Ward, William Cuandler, Ralph Bulkley ; Seventh Ward,
Samuel Borger, Cbarles H. Brown; Eighth War<l, Charles J. Lauer, Richard Reynolds;
Ninth Ward, Hartwell Tuller, A. J. Evans; Tenth Ward, Charles O. Hunter, Thomas A.
Simons ; Eleventh Ward, John H. Culbertson, Carl N. Bancroft; Twelfth Ward, Dennis J.
Sullivan, James Hayden ; Thirteenth Ward, F. H. Croughton, John G. Parsons; Fourteenth
AVard, Clarence E. Turner, William A. Wasson ; Fifteenth Ward, William G. Hess, Albert
Cooper.
Board of Health : George J. Karb, President ; Dennis Kelly, William D. Dickson, John
E. Overly, John A. Pfeifer ; Health Officer, Lee McBriar, M. D.
Waterworks Trustees : The Board of Public Works ; Superintendent and Chief Engi-
neer, A. H. McAlpine; Secretary, Dudley A. Filler.
Police Commission: George J. Karb, President; Dennis Kelly, William I). Dickson,
John A. Pfeifer.
Police Judge, Hon. Matthias Martin ; Prosecutor, Frank T. Clarke ; Clerk, George W.
Dun.
Tax Commission: George J. Karb, Edward L. Hinman, D. E. Williams, J. J. Stoddart,
F. C. Eaton.
51() History op the City op Columbus.
Sinking Fund Commission: R. S. Smith, John M. Pugh, A.Theobald, A. D. Heffner,
C. D. Firestone ; D. E. Williams, Ulerk.
Board of Elections: Nelson A. Sims, President ; James D. Poston, Charles Kemniler,
William F. Biir.lell ; W. S. Connor, Secretary.
Board of Public Works: E. L. Hinman, President; W. M. Muchmore, William Wall,
Jerry P. Bliss ; F. M. Senter, Clerk.
Board of Equalization: C. C. Nefl', James Burns, Charles Ebner, John Wn^'cnhals,
George Beard, Benjamin Clark.
PUBLIC LIBRARY AND REAPING ROOM.'
The first meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Public Libary and Reading Room was
held February 19. 1872. Trustees e.r nfficio : James G. Bull, Mayor; Luther Donaldson, Presi-
dent of the City Council; Frederick Fieser, President of the Board of Education. Trustees
chosen by the City Council : John W. Andrews, A. S. Glenn, William B. Hayden and Otto
Dresel. The Board organized by electing the following otHcers for the ensuing year : Presi-
dent, John W. Andrews; Secretary, Otto Dresel ; Treasurer, A. S.Glenn ; Librarian, Rev. J.
L. Grover.
Trustees: John W. Andrews, President; Otto Dresel. Secretary; A. S. Glenn, Treas-
urer ; William B. Hayden. Ex officio : James G. Bull, Mayor ; John G. .Vlitchell, President of
the City Council ; Starling Loving, President of the Board of Education. Librarian, James
T,. Grover.
Trustees: John W. Andrews, President; Otto Dresel, Secretary; Charles C. Walcutt,
Treasurer; Luther Donaldson. Ex officio: James G. Bull, Mayor; Isaac S. Beekey, Presi-
dent of the City Council ; C. C. Walcutt, President of the Board of Education. Librarian,
James L. Grover.
1875.
Trustees ; John W. Andrews, President ; Otto Dresel, Secretary ; C. P. L. Butler,
Treasurer; Luther Donaldson. Librarian, James L. Grover. Ex officio: J. H. Heitman,
Mayor ; John G. Mitchell, President of the I ity Council ; Charles C. Walcutt, President of
the Board of Education.
1876.
Trustees: John W. Andrews, President; Otto Dresel, Secretary; C. P. L. Butler,
Treasurer; Luther Donaldson. Ex officio: J. H. Heitman, Mayor; Isaac B. Potts, President
of the City Council ; C. C. Walcutt, President of the Board of JEducation. Librarian, James
L. Grover.
1877.
Trustees: John W. Andrews, President; Henry Pausch, Vice President; Luther Don-
aldson, Treasurer ; Frederick Fie-ser, Secretary. Ex officio: J. H. Heitman, Mayor ; Henry
Pausch, President of the City Council; Starling Loving, President of the Board of Educa-
tion. Librarian, James L. Grover.
The City Government. 517
1878.
Trustees; John W. Andrews, President ; S. S. Rickly, Vice President; Fredericli Fieser,
Secretary; C. P. L. Butler, Treasurer. E.c officio: J. H. Heitnian, Mayor; Henry Pausch,
President of tlie City Council ; Starling Loving, President of the Board of Education. Libra-
rian, James L. Grover.
1879.
Trustees : John W. Andrews, President : S. S. Rickly, Vice President ; Frederick Fieser,
Secretary; Lutlier Donaldson, Treasurer. Ex officio: G. G. Collins, Mayor; Charles Brey-
fojrle. President of the City Council ; Henry Olnhausen, President of the Board of Educa-
tion. Librarian, James L. Grover.
1880.
Trustees: John W. Andrews, President ; Luther Donaldson, Vice President; John J.
Jaiiney, Treasurer ; Frederick Fieser, Secretary. Mr officio : G.G.Collins, Mayor; W. B.
McCluMg, President of the City Council ; C. C. Walcutt, President of the Board of Education.
Librarian, James L. Grover.
1881.
Trustees: John W. Andrews, President; Frederick Fieser, Secretary; J. J. Janney,
Treasurer ; Luther Donaldson. Ex officio: George S. Peters, Mayor ; VV. B. McClung, Presi-
dent of the City Council ; C. C. Walcutt, President of the Board of Education. Librarian,
James L. Grover; Assistants, Charles H. Bell, John J. Pugh.
Trustees: John W. Andrews, President; Frederick Fieser, Secretary ; John J. Janney,
Treasurer; Luther Donaldson. E.c officio: George S. Peters, Mayor; R. C. Hoffman, Presi-
dent of the City Council ; C. C. Walcutt, President of the Board of Education. Librarian,
James L. Grover; Assistants, Charles H. I5ell, John J. Pugh.
1883.
Trustees: John W. Andrews, President; Luther Donaldson, Vice President; Frederick
Fieser, Secretary ; John J. Janney, Treasurer. Ex officio: George S. Peters, Mayor; William
Felton, President of the City Council ; Edward Pagels, President of the Board of Education.
Librarian, James L. Grover; Assistants, Charles H. Bell, John J. Pugh.
1884.
Trustees: John W. Andrews, President; Luther Donaldson, Vice President; Henry C.
Taylor, Secretary ; John J. Janney, Treasurer. Ex officio : Charles C. Walcutt, Mayor ;
Edward Pagels President of the Board of Education ; Henry C. Taylor, President of the City
Council. Librarian, James L. Grover; Assistants, Charles H. Bell, John J. Pugh.
1885.
Trustees: John W. Andrews, President; Luther Donaldson, Vice President; Walter
B Page, Secretary; John J. Janney, Treasurer. Ex officio: Charles C. Walcutt, Mayor;
Walter B. Page, President of the City Council; B. N. Spahr, President of the Board of
Education. Librarian, James L. Grover ; Assistants, John J. Pugh, Evan J. Williams.
lll.sTORY OF THE UlTY OF CuLUMBUS.
1886.
Trustees: .lolin W. Andrews, President; B. N. Si)alir, Vice President; Frederick Fieseri
Secretary ; I iitlier Donaldson, Treasurer; E. O. Randall. Kc tiffic.io : 0. C. Walcutt, Mayor ;
Richard \V. Keynolds, President of the City Council ; B. N. Spahr, President of the Board of
Education. Librarian, James 1>. Grover; Assistants, John J. Pugh, Evan J. Williams.
Trustees: John VV. Andrews, President; B. N. Spahr, Vice President; Frederick
Fieser, Secretary; Francis C. Sessions, Treasurer; E. O. Randall. E.i officio: C. C. Wal
cutt, Mayor ; Frank E. Hayden, President of the City Council ; B. N. .^palir, President of the
Board of Education. Librarian, James L. Grover; Assistants, John J. Pugh, Evan J.
Williams.
1888.
Trustees: John W. Andrews, President; E. O. Randall, Vice President; Frederick
Fieser. Secretary; Francis C. Sessions, Treasurer. Ex officio: Philip H. Bruck, Mayor;
J. E. Robinson, President of City Council ; J. E. Sater, Presidi nt of the Board of Education.
Libnirian, James L. Grover ; Assistants, John J. Pugh, Evan J. Williams.
1889.
Trustees: John \V. Andrews, President; E. O. Randall, Vice President; Fre<lerick
Fieser, Secretary; Francis C. Ses.sions, Treasurer. Ex officio : Philip H. Bruck, Mayor;
D. J. ("lahane. President of the City Council ; J. E. Sater, President of the Board of Educa-
tion. Librarian, James L. Grover ; "A.=sistants, John J. Pugh, Evan J. Williams.
Trustees: John W. Andrews, President; E. O. Randall, Vice President; Frederick
Fieser, Secretary ; Francis C. Sessions, Treasurer. E.r officio: Philip H, Bruck, Mayor ; I). S.
Wilder, President of the City Council ; J. A. Hedges, Presi<lent of the Board of Education.
Librarian, James L. Grover ; Assistants. Jolm J. Pugh, Evan J. Williams.
Trustees:"^ Francis C. Sessions, President; James Kilbourn, Vice President; C. O. Hun-
ter, Secretary; J. B. Schueller, Treasurer; E. O. Randall. E.r officio : George J. Karb,
Mayor; CO. Hunter. President of the City Council Librarian, James L. Grover ; Assis-
tants, John J. Pugh, Evan J. Williams.
18;i2.
Trustees: James Kilbourn, President; John H. Culbertson, Vice President; Osman
C. Hooper, Secretary; J. B. Schueller. Treasurer; E. O. Randall. E.r officio: George J.
Karb, Mayor; John H. Culbertson, President of the City Council. Librarian, James L.
Grover; Assistants, John J. Pugh, Evan J. Williams.
1. The author is indebted for the foregoing compilation to Librarian Grover and his
assistants.
2. Pursuant to act of the General Assembly a reorganization of the Board of Trustee^
took place July 29, 1891.
CHAPTER XXXI
STREETS, SEWERS AND PARKS.
Tlio Boroii.i,'h of Columbus began without thoroughfares of any kind other
than ti'ails through the forest. No wagonroads entered it from any direction. Its
earliest patlis foi^ wheels were private lanes, crossed by gates. The first task of the
original settlers was to build their cabins; having accomplished this, they began
to study public conveniences and to prepare the way for village traffic and neigh-
borhooii intercourse. Foresttrees standing in the streets laid out by the State
Director were cut down, and a portion of their stumps were pulled out or burned.
The stems were used in building or were split up and corded for fuel. Through
the clearings thus formed crooked footpaths were soon beaten by the busy villag-
ers and wagon tracks, disdainful of the surveyor's lines or corners, wore cut in the
virgin soil. As marshes, treestumps, brushheaps and other obstructions had to be
avoided, the first streets of Columbus were very devious, and in wet weather very
ilifficult.
Probably not much attention was paid to their improvement until the incor-
poration of the borough, a consummation which their condition may have hast-
ened. The first street ordinance of the village, of which we have any account,
was passed May 'S3, 1816. By this measure obstruction of the tboroughfares by
lumber, firewood, stable garbage, earth from cellars or any other means, was for-
bidden under penalty of a fine at the discretion of the mayor. At a later date
which does not appear on the records, but which seems to have been in May, 1818,
John Kerr and Caleb Houston were appointed a street committee with authority
to gravel "the centre of High Street seventyfive feet wide," from a point " oppo-
site inlot No. 268. and extending to the south side of Town Street," being in all
about sixty poles. The ordinance required that the thickness of the gravel should
be one foot at the centre of the street and six inches at the sides. By an ordi-
nance of June 26, 1820, the marshal was " directed to remove any logs from Broad
Street, west of Fourth Street, that may have grown on the ground anil is tiillen
thereon." On July 17, same year, Henry Brown was allowed twentyfour dollars
for the erection of two bridges on Fourth Street. On May 21 a graveled sidewalk
was ordered to be laid on the north side of Friend Street from High to Front and
thence to Scioto Street and the Penitentiary. On March 1, 1822, a council committee
reported against graveling the sidewalk on High Street from Broad to the Run. On
May 8, same year, a contractor was required to " make a good bridge " on Rich
Street " between inlots 104 and 105." On March 12, 1827, the gutters on High
Street " from Broad Street to the alley on the south side of the Mound," were ordered
to be paved at the expense of the lotowners. On January 11, 1832, the sidewalks on
Broad Street, between High and the Scioto River, on Front between Broad and
Friend, and on State between Front and the first allej' east, were ordered to be
[519]
520 History of the City of Columbus.
paved. Auother ordinance of the same year, date not given, required the occu-
pants of lots on High Street between Broad and Friend, "to collect the dii-t into
convenient heaps on Saturday of each week before ten o'clock, from May 1 to
November 1." On September 8, 1834, all improved lots on Front Street, between
Broad and Friend, were ordered '• to be paved on the credit of the ci.ty." The
ajjpointment of a street commissioner was provided for by an ordinance of
January 9, 1835. An ordinance for protection of the Public Square was passed
August 22, 183t).
On May 15, 1837, it was ordered that the member of the council from each
ward be authorized to contract for and superintend whatever public improvements
might be necessary in his ward The niembers charged with these dniies were
furnished lunds sufficient foi- the execution of a progi'amme of imjirovement map-
ped out in council beforehand. This arrangement grew into a practice which was
kept up for many years, and leii to abuses. On May 14, 1838, the marshal was
instructed to inspect the streets and gutters every two weeks, and see that they
were kept clear of all obstructions. By ordinance of June 29, 1840, it was required
that no member of the council should spend more, as superintendent of any public
work, than was specifically approjjriated. On April 19, 1840, the marshal was
directed to employ some one as often as necessarj' to " clean the paved gutters
within the citj' of all dirt and filth." On petition of A. H. Pinney, P. Haj'den,
S. T. Heffner, J. Ridgway & Co. and William Phelan, Scioto Street was " extended,
laid out and established ' in 1845. Its required width was seventy feet; its direc-
tion "from the centre of the second door from the east end of the Franklin Build-
ing (socallcd) tu the centre of the front of the Ohio Penitentiary." On petition of
John VValcutt, Philij) Reed, Charles Scott and others an ordinance was passed
June 14, 1845, to lay out Pearl Street. In September, same yeuv, a gutter at the
corner of Fourth and Town was complained of as being dangerous; also as not
being so constructed as to drain " the flats in the eastern part of the city." On
April 19, 1847, a supervisor was appointed by the council for every ward in the
city. An ordinance directing that the streets, lanes and allej-s be cleared offences
and other obstructions was passed February 16, 1848. On March 23, same year,
proposals were invited for cleaning market spaces and all paved gutters, removing
and burying dead animals, removing firewood, etc. The houses of the city were
imperfectly numbered in 1849. In that year North and South High Street began to
be so designated. The construction of a bridge over the canal on Mound Street
was ordered September 10.
On Maj- 14, 1850. contracts were made, on proposals, for cleaning the streets
and alleys. On July 11, 1851, the City Engineer invited proposals for surfacing
High Street from Broad to North Public Lane with broken limestone, the grade
to be first brought up to the proper level with unscreened gravel. On Februarj-
10, same year, a committee was appointed to consider the propriety of the names
of streets at all intersections, but there is no record of its having been done. In
March the Statehouse Commissioners were authorized to lay a track on Third
Street from the Columbus & Xenia Railway to the Capitol Square. On February
28, 1852, a citizen thus wrote of the condition of East Broad Street:
On Tuesday last a couple of friends from Cleveland, delegates to the Temperance Oon-
ventinn, wishing to visit the Lunatic Asyhim [then on the grounds now known as East Park
Place], I took them in my carriage and set out on the perilous undertaking of reaching that
institution : and by trespassing on the gravel sidewalk of Mr. Kelley, and some others, we
contiived to net within 40 or 50 rods of the Asylum gate, when we were stuck fast in the mud,
and after breaking the carriage and harness in endeavoring to proceed, we were compelled to
wade on foot through the mire.
The same writer stated that farmers " frequently broke down or got mired in
hauling their produce to market, after getting within the limits of the corporation."
/€ . a^if-^^^"^^.
city, an, 1 'l'..w
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iveiii
ent
Streets, Seweiis and ParivS. 521
In Aun-ust, 1S5'_', S|M-ini,- Street was sewered and filled from Front to Third, and
Friend Strict was li-i-ailed west of Front. During the summer of the same year
Broad Suvel was n'laeadaiiiized from Fourth Street to the eastt^-n boundary ot'the
was newly graded, guttered and ]iaved. As a measure of
rovement, the city inirehased over seventeen acres of gravel-
ntheiii side of the Harrisburg Road, west of the Scioto, at
lid not |irove to be a profitable investment. Washington
I i-ert ( 'i)imiiissi(mer May 6.
■s were planted in front of the Deaf and Dumb Institution's
Isii eiiilosed with a new fence. Grading was begun on Rich
illiolie Chureh, " in April. The west side of Fourth Street,
ite, wasyet destitute of a pavement in 1854. In the same
e resulting from t'.o absence of numbers from the houses was
d of The amount of street improvement which had heen aeeom-
]ilished u]i to April, 1854, was thus stated:
The city can now boast of havinjr 52,300 lineal feet, or about ten miles of pavement, aver-
aging seventeen feet wide, and about 15,200 lineal feet of paveil gutters and graveled walks in
the public streets. The aili-ys, .■',:-l feet wide, have 28,000 lineal feet of paved gutters and
walks. The streets are Sl'}^ 'feet wide, with the exception of High Street, which is 100 feet
and Broadway 120 fi'ct wide. The Plank Road leading from Broadway to the Northern Kail-
road Depot is" 2,100 feet long. The city is drained by 12,600 feet of underground sewers, aver-
aging four feet in diameter, besides several tliousand feet of lateral branches connecting with
the main sewers, built by private enterprise. There are 30 public cisterns, varying in capacity
from 200 to 4t10 barrels eacth. Five plank roads lead into the city north of its centre, and five
graveled turnpikes, and the Ohio Canal, into its south part.
An additional bridge over the Scioto was vorj' much in demand. Public
pumps had been placed at several street corners ; one of them stood at the corner
of Rich and High streets, another at the corner of High and State. The waste
watei- from the latter formed a pond on State Street, between High and Third,
whieii was much complained of, and the drainage of which was long neglected.
The plank roadwaj' on High Street did not pi-ove to be satisfactory, and in 1854 a
demand began to be heard for its substitution by gravel surfacing. On November
3, 1855, we encounter this newspaper wail : " Owing to the continual wet weather
our thoroughfares are in awlul condition. The holes in the pavement are chuck
full of water, and the depth of the mud in the middle of the street is almost past
finding out."
In June, 1856, the council appropriated 8600 for planking High Sti-eet from
the Capitol to the railway station. In December, same year, the City Engineer
was directed to make accurate profile drawings and crosssections of all the streets
and alleys, showing their grades at every intersection. On June 9, 1857, this
wail was emitted 113- the Ohio Statesman: "After a rainy daj-, Columbus is a per-
fect slush — a mudhole — a sw^amp ; . . . when the sun prevails " dust super-
abundant strews its thoroughfares." In Jul.y, 1858, a very bad culvert at the cor-
ner of Spring and Fourth streets was repaired, and Long Street, between Third
and Fourth, was graded and paved. The offensive odor of the ailanthus tree,
about this time a common street ornament, was much complained of Street run-
aways, particularly on High Street, were frequent subjects of news)«iper mention
for at least forty years. Some of these runaways were of a terrific character, and
manj' of them resulted in loss of life or limb.
General ordinances regulating the construction and use of roadway and side-
walk paving were passed in 1857. An ordinance directing that the names of the
streets should be posted, and prescribing how it should be done, was passed June
14, 1858. Th(! riquirements of this ordinance were e.xeeut<'d, under contract, at a
cost of $528.87. The ordinance contained the following clause: •' The letters N.,
B., S. or W. shall be prefixed to the name of the street, so as to distinguish that
522 lIisTouY <_)K THE City of Columbus.
part of oaeli street Ij'ing either side of High or Broad streets, and intersecting
therewith." Trees were first planted on Broad Street in 1857, under the direction
of a committee the members of which were William G. Deshler, John Noble and
Alfred Kelley. Mr. Deshler has informed the author that the idea of planting
the street with these trees was suggested to his mind while visiting Havana,
Cuba, where be was impressed with the sylvan beauty of the avenues of that city.
Upon his return from Havana, Mr. Deshler suggested to the City Council the
propriety of a double line of trees on either side of Broad Street, but two years
elapsed before the necessary legislation could be obtained. The original tree-i set
in the street were planted by John L. Stelzig, Superintendent of the City Park,
Mr. Deshler giving his personal attention to selection of the positions and other
details of the work.
In October, 1859, a council committee was appointed to consider the propriety
of macadamizing High Street. In February, 1859, the council ordered the removal
of a wood niiirket on Gay Street, west of High. The Ohio Statesman of March 4,
1860, contained these distressing statements:
The streets and thoroughfares of this eity are really in an intolerably bad condition.
Between dust at one time and innd at anotlier, the public comfort and coavetiience are
sacrificed. . . . The street Commissioner h;is not done a day's work upon the streets since
sometime in December, because tlie appropriation was exhausted and the City Council
refuses to appropriate money.
The same ])aper of Septeinher 19, 1861, stated that Long Street had, prior to
that time, been almost impassable, but was (Iumi bcino- tilled up and surfaced. In
Janutiry, 1862, the City Engineer was dirertcd tn picpare a plat showing the loca-
tion of all sewers, drops and underground iniprovcnients.
In Novemlier and December, 1862, High Street was surfaced with gravel and
stone. The cost of this improvement was seventyfour cents per cubic yard. The
citj- gravel bank was lea.sed in January, 1862, and again in Ma^', 1863. The
condition of the streets from January to May, 1863, was bitterly complained of.
In 1864 these complaints were redoubled. "The streets look like huge mortar
beds," said the Ohio State Journal in April. The same paper of June 17, 1864,
said: "High Street between Broadway and State Street is at present, on account
of the dust, the greatest nuisance in the city." Same paper, A])ril 21, 1865;
"Our Street Commissioner, having wakened up from his Kip Van Winkle
slumber, was out yesterday with an overu helming force, consisting of a onelcgged
man and two assistants, actively engaged in cleaning up. Two gutters and a back
alley have already been cleansed, and still the work goes bravelj' on. Heaven
knows there is need of it." The same paper of September 20. same year, spoke
of the condition of some of the streets as " de|il(M-al>le.' The same paper of
March 17, 1866, posted this bulletin : " Latest — 4 a. .m. Coniniuniealioii aemss
High Street reestablished. The street is frozen and thei-e is now good skating the
whole length of it." A particularly bad section of the High ""Street roadway
from Spring Street north to the street railway stables was at this time called " the
ripraps." Vehicles stalled and were disabled there almost daily. " A High Street
Skiff Navigation Company" was the subject nl a Sf.ii, jonnoi! editorial of
Decembers, 1866. In March, 1867, the same paper remarked: '-The condition
of High Street is a disgrace to our city. The sti-ecl looks more like a tanal than
a roadway in the capital of Ohio." On August 21, 1865, an ordinance was pas.sed
requiring that "every owner or occupant of a house, building or vacant lot, or
persons having charge of the same" — such is the classic ]>hrascology of the
statute — should "cause the sidcwalk-s, n;ulters and :illey> on which such houses,
buildings or lots may front, to be th(jr(_)ughly cleaned "between the first day of
March and the first day of December of each year, ami tlie dirt, filth, or manure
or ether rubbish to be collected into heaps convenient to be removed." Most of
Stueets, Sewers and Pauks. 523
the citizens complied witii this ordinance within twontytbur liours after it was
passed, expecting that the piles of filth would bo removed immediately hy the
Street Commissioner, but they were disappointed. The rubbish remained until
washed by the rain back to its original position. Tlie commissioner's excuse was
that the council had not ])r<)vidod him with the flicilities necessary for performing
the service required of him.
In 18(J5 a council comniilloc rej)orted adversely to any kind of metal surfac-
ing for High Street. Tlu' street therefore remained in a very unsatisfactory
condition until .Mas' '.I, IS<)7, when a contract was signed for laying it, from
MaiChtcn Sircrt i<.'a |inii,( li'.") feet south of Friend Street, with the Nicholson
\v(.oden blo.k. 'fhc coiiii-n-lor was Jiohert ,M<'('lclhin(l. .>r Chicago. A meeting
of citizens in pioicst a-niiist the Xicln. Is.. n surfacing was hchi .March Ki. Doctor
J. B ThompsDii was cliairiiiaii of (hat meeting, I'^rancis C. Sessions its secretary.
Among its priucijial speakers, adverse to the Nicholson, were William Neil,
Lincoln Kilbdurn and William A. Piatt. This protest was ineffectual and work
in jiursuance <if the contract hegan May 23, but after a few feet of the old surfac-
ing had been torn up I lie workmen, then receiving 11.75 per day, struck for
12.00, and the work was susiicniled. This troulile was soon arranged, the first
plank for the new surfacing was hiid .lane ITi, and on October 15, 13(37, the City
Engineer re]iorted that the entire work contracted for had been completed at a
net cost of $82,955.99, or $10.88 per front foot. Thereupon the council committee
on Highways recommended settlement with the contractor and commended him
for "the very faithful manner" in which he had fulfilled his contract.'
On August 2, 1867, "Spivins," of the Ohio Stutr.^mnn, thus wrote :
Many a time, when weary with our day's labor and seeking our coueh to enjoy a healthy
sleep, has our nasal protuberance been regaled with a delicious wliifF of the fragrant dog- ^^ yy
fennel growing so luxuriantly on the street. ... As raisists of the Canadian thistle^ the tY*^ ^iCi
citizens of Columbus are without equals in the world. Not a street but you fiml it blooniing y '(, j^
in beauty. Not a vacant lot but where its wonderfully armed leaves may be seen. . . . Our <?"-<> ,/K+v
city now needs but a liberal policy in planting burdock to be perfect in floral treasures. // ^^^„j^
An ordinance changing the name of Bond Street to Goodale Street was intro- /r»«-- **^
duced in the council on March 2, 1868. On May IS, same year, an ordinance was V
passed providing for extension of the Nicholson pavement on High Street to
South Public Lane; on November 26,1868, this extension was completed. An
ordinance to provide for laynng the Nicholson wooden block on Town Street was
passed May 17, 1869 ; work in execution of the ordinance was begun the ensuing
July. Broad Street was graded and graveled from the eastern corporation
boundary' to the County Fair Grounds in 1870. During the same year the Nichol-
son pavement on High Street began to show signs of giving way. An old bridge,
three or four feet below the surface, was unearthed in August by workmen on the
Fourth Street sewer. During the same month and year the City Solicitor was
directed to institute proceedings to appropriate the necessary grounds for widen-
ing and extending Long Street. A contemporary proposition was that of extend-
ing Dennison Avenue to King Avenue. An ordinance providing for cleaning the
streets, by districts, under contract, was passed March 2it, 1S72. As to the con-
dition of l^orth High Street in January of that year the Ohm Ht'if<' Journal
remarked :
The weather at the present writing warrants a hope that navigation between the Na-
tional Hotel and the North Graveyard will be closed today. For several days it has been
impossible to get a respectable footing anywhere in the territory described above. We doubt
whether such a sea of mud ever afflicted any other city.
In Sejjtember, 1872, an ordinance was pending which according to the State
Journal, made, as revised, the following changes in street names :
52i History of the City oi' Columbus.
Depot and Kerr streets changed to Third Street; Phelan and Parsons streets to Fourth
Street ; Latham and George to Fifth ; East and Siegel to Sixth ; Medary to Sixth ; Church to
Seventh ; Cleveland Avenue to Eighth Street; Centre Street, Eighth Street extending from
Broad to Oak, and Eighth Street extending from South Public Lane southwardly, to Ninth
Street; Morrison, Pike and Gift streets and Northrup Alley to Eleventh Street; Albert and
Cedar streets to Fifteenth; Australia to Seventeenth; Grant and Corn to Nineteenth;
Windsor Lane and Mulberry Street to Twentieth Street ; East Public Lane to Parsons
Avenue ; Expansion Street and Public, Medary, Converse and Prentiss alleys to Capital Alley;
Soutli Public Lane to Livingston Avenue ; Sycamore Street to Noble Street ; South and
Franklin alleys and Armstrong Street to Stauring Alley ; Johnstown Road and John Street
to Mt. Vernon Avenue; Centre Alley to Pearl Street: Clinton and Swan Alleys to Miami
Alley; Oak Alley t^ Columbus Street; Third Alley to Court Street; Fourth Alley, Division
Street and South Lane to Beek Street; Fifth Allev to Willow Allev ; First Alley to Brewers'
Alley; Franklin Avenue to Slate Street; Second and Ball Alleys to Rhine Street; Fifth
Alley to Linden Alley; Mulberry and Sterrit Allej's to Lafayette Street; North Street to
C;hestnut Street; Wilson to Russell ; North Avenue, with the street extending westwardly,
to Fourth Avenue; State Avenue to Scioto Street; Mechanic Street to Mitchell Street;
Plumb to Lucas ; Prospect and Short streets to Kelley Alley ; Patch Street to University ;
Perry to Schiller; North and Straight Alleys to Lazelle street; Last Street to Randolph ;
Meadow Lane to Bryden Street; Elm Alley to Bismarck Alley; South Street to Fulton;
Bank Alley to Park Street; North Alley to Plymouth Alley.
Ad amended ordinance as to posting the names of streets and alleys was
pas.sed March 31, 1873. An ordinance of June 25, 1877, provided that the streets
should be .sprinkled under supervision of the Street Commissioner. The duties of
the Commissioner were defined by ordinance of June 15, 1857, and amendments
of June 11, 1860, February 26, 1866, and January 26, 1880. In 1873, Broad Street,
east of High, was surfaced with gravel and broken stone. The estimated cost of
this improvement was three dollars per front foot. In November, 1873, the con-
dition of High Street was declared by the State Journal to be ''shameful." On
June 13, 1874, the same paper stated the Nicholson surfacing was " literally worn
out " and could not be repaired, manj- of the blocks being not more than 2^
inches long. On June 9, 1874, a meeting of the owners of projierty on the street
was held to consider its condilion. John Greenle;if was chairman of this meeting,
C. J. Hardy its secretary. On motion of Mr. Parsons a committee was appointed
to investigate, and report what was needed. After making observations in Chi-
cago, New York, Philadelpiiia, Washington and other cities, this committee
reported on October IS, recommending that High Street be laid with concrete or
asphalt pavement. The members of the committee were Theodore Comstock,
T. Ewing Miller and C. C. Walcutt. Shortly alter their report a party of citizens
visited Pittsburgh for the purpose of inspecting the Filbert vulcanite pavements of
that citj-. Meanwhile what was called a " war between wood and asphalt " broke
out. A wooden block pavement was offered by a Cleveland company for §2.20
per square yai-d ; on the other hand, the Filbert pavement interest offered to take
up the old Nicholson, roll the surface, laj- it with twelve inches of broken stone
and three inches of small stone and gravel mixed with comjJosition, and jjut on
top of that a fiveiiich coating of "vulcanized asphalt,' for S2.70 per square yard,
and guarantee the work for ten years. On January 28, 1875, a committee of one
councilman from each ward, appointed to receive all papers pertaining to the pav-
ing of High Street, met, talked the matter over at great length, and adjourned.
On February 1, same year, 107 ovviers of property on the street petitioned the
council for a wooden block pavement. Mr. Bre3'fogle denounced the wooden
pavement asa fraud. After various further proceedings of the citizens and the coun-
cil, the latter adopted a resolution to pave the street with the material then known
as the Parisen asphalt.' The contractors were Juiius L aivl William H. Hastings,
W. B. Parisen and H. R. Beeson. On September :;, Is?:;, the completion of the work
was celebrated by a promenade concert on the ^^treet, in front of the Capitol.
This concert, of which A. B. Stevenson was the projector, was accompanied bj'
Streets, Sewers and Parks. 525
fireworks and a parade of the Columbus Cadets. The dancing was l<epl u]i until
after midnight. Ca]ilain W. B. Parisen, the patentee and superintendent of con-
struction of the ]iavoment, meanwhile entertained liis friends at the parlors of the
American House.
When llic ^'icliolson pavement was laid, " a healthy streak of cleanliness struck
the authorities," said a newspaper writer, "and liorsebrooms were set to work, but
the work was noi kept up." Tiie streets, not excepting tlie newly paved one,
soon relapsed into :i state of neglect, of the continuance of which, in 1874, we have
evidence in these statements of July 10, that year: "The tiiousands of ca,rt-
loads of ashes thrown on our streets during the last winter by private citizens and
city olTirials have now ddiic double duty. During the winter thej- gave us an
interniiiialiK' aliyss cit hdgwallow; all Summer long the3- have been a ])rincipal
source ot'iiarn-,1 in lln' shape ofdenseand varied, if not beautiful, clouds of dust."''
On JS'ovemlier '.I, ls74. propositions to clean the sti'cets were made by the Colum-
bus Scavenger & Garbage Companj^, and at a later date these propositions were
accejited I13' the Police Comissioners.
On J une 21, 1875, ordinances were passed providing for the pavement of Town
and Norih High streets with concrete. The Town Street contract was awarded on
August 9 to F. \V. Smith & Co , at 95 cents per square yard, tor which compensa-
tion the contractors were to surface the old Nicholson with a coating of small stone
and bitumen, and, on top of that, a 2^ inch layer of Filbert's patent vulcanite.
As the work was about to begin. Captain N. B. Abbott, then of Brooklyn, New
York, gave notice that he would enjoin the execution of this contract as an
inlringemcnt of his jjatent on the process for surliacing Nicholson pavements,
whereupon all further proceedings were suspended. On August 23 a new ordi-
nance tor the paving of Town Street was passed, and on October 4 a contract with
F. W. Smith & Co. to pave the street from High .Street to Parsons Avenue, at $1.25
per square yard, was ordered. This contract provided for a central roadway of
concrete, leaving a strip of the Nicholson on each side, between the concrete and
the curb. The completion of the High Sti-eet pavement, between Bi-oad and Long
streets, was celebrated by a street dancing party at the corner of High and Gay
streets September 29. State Street, from High" Street to the City Hall, was laid
with the Abbott concrete in the autumn of 1877. This was an experimental piece of
work, and was the first use made of concrete composed of Trinidad asphalt. (Patent
was for Trinidad asphalt and petroleum wax, with some sand and gravel.) Alreadj'
in 1877 the condition of the Parisen eoaltar pavement on High Street had become
ver^- bad, and extensive repairs were urgently needed. An ordinance for the repair of
the street was therefore passed on August 21, and the Columbus Paving Com-
pany — H. M. Claflen President and N. B. Abbott Manager— was employed to
execute the work. An ordinance of April 16, 1S8U, authorized the property own-
ers on High Street to pave it by blocks or squares and be relieved of a.ssessment.
A sweepingmachine for High Street was purchased in the autumn of 1875. On
September 5, 1877, N. B. Abbott began cleaning the street six nights of the week
with a onehorse sweeper, and otfered to continue this service regularly at $400 per
month. An ordinance for the improvement of South High Street was passed Jan-
uary 22, 1877.
Of the North High Street improvement, authorized by ordinance of June 21,
1875, the author has been favored with the following sketch by DeWitt C. Jones,
Esquire :
During the year 1876 Nortli High Street, from Naghten Street to the north corporation
line, a distance of 3%' miles, was improved under an act of the General A.sseMibly of Ohio,
passed March oO, is, .5, commonly called the I'enn Act. At that time more tlian three miles
of the roadway to be paved was a mere country turnpike, known as the AVortbington Toll
Road, comprising a track thirteen feet wide flanked on each side by a ditch without curbing.
The act authorized the improvement of this street, but required, as preliminary to action ni
520 IIlSTORT OF THE GiTY OP COLUJIBrS.
that behalf by the City Council, that twothirds of the owners of the abutting property
should unite in a petition for the improvement to be made under the act. Such a petition
was signed by the property owners in the spring of 1875. There were likewise numerous
remonstrances against the proposed improvement ; nevertheless it was authorized by an
ordinance of June 21, 1875, which also provided for the election of five commissioners to
superintend the work. At an eleclion held at the schoolhouse, High Street and WoodrufT
Avenue, John G. Mitchell, Frederick Michel, John R. Hughes, Henry M. Neil and G. A.
Frambes were ch"sen to serve on the board. The power of these commissioners was exten-
sive. They determined the kind of improvement to be made, let ail the contracts and made
the assessment upon the abutting property. The contract for the whole of the work and
materials was let to the Columbus Paving Company, which completed the work in the fall
of 1S76.'' The total cost was ^226,253. As the work progressed bonds aggreg.iting this
amount were signed by the Mayor and City Clerk, and delivered to the commissioners who
negotiated them and paid the cost of the iniprovement with the proceeds
After the work was completed, the commissioners caused a plat to be made showing
each abutting lot or parcel of ground, together with the name of its owner. At this point
a disagreement arose nmong the commissioners as to the meaning of the words "abutting
property." Some of them thought that the cost of the improvement at the crossings of
streets and alleys, amounting to |2.5,828. or more than onetenth of the entire cost, shouhl be
paid for by the city at large and not assessed upon the property owners on Hii;Ii Street^ In
order to settle this dispute mandamus proceedings were brought in the Supreme Couit nf the
State, which held' the Penn Act to be unconstitutional on the ground that it uas a s|ic(ial
act applying to Columbus alone. At the same time the court held that inasmucli as the
work had been done at the request of a large number of property owners, and the bonds of
the city had been issued anit were unpaid, the commissioners should make an assessment
embracing the entire cost of the improvement to be charged on the abutting property other
than streets and alleys. The court further held that, as there was no power to sell" streets
and alleys to enforce the collection of any assessment made on them, such assessment was
futile, and that such was not the design of the act.
After the assessment was made upon the abutting lands a very large number of suits '
was brought to enjoin collection of the assessments, on the ground that tlie law had been
held to be unconstitutional ; charging fraud in procuring signatures of property owners to the
original petition to the council asking for the privileges of the act of March 30, 1875 ; and
alleging that twothirds of the frontage were not represented on the petition. After long,
tedious and expensive litigation through all the courts, those who in any manner particioateii
in or in any wise encouraged the making of the improvement were hold to pay the assess-
ment on their properties ; while those who oppo.std the iujprovement, or took no part in
favor of it, escaped, and their lands were not held to pay the assessment. The original assess-
ment was $7.15 per front foot, upon all the property on both sides of the street. The bonds
drew seven per cent, interest, and when the litigation was at an end the original assessment
and interest amounted to about twelve dollars per front foot. That portion of the assessment
which was enjoined was paid by the city at large.
A statement of the develojiment of the public inconvenieacu caused by
obstructing railway trains at the High Street crossing will be found in Chapter
XVIII of this volume. When railway lines first began to touch Colurabtis, the
council, in its zeal to promote their con.struction, and hasten the advantages to be
derived from them, practically voted them the Ireedom of the city. The extent of
the inconvenience which has since resulted from the passage of steam cars throug)i
the streets was not then foreseen. Complaints of this inconvenience, which began to
be serious in the sixties, and have covered a period of not less than tliirty years,
culminated in the construction of a tunnel under the railway tracks in 1875." An
ordinance granting the street railway company a right of waj^ through this tunnel
was passed on December 5 of that year. So far as the iiedestrian and vehicular
travel were concerned, the tunnel afforded no adequate relief It was therefore
necessary that some other expedient should be found for the relief of the street
from railway obstruction, and, on August 1, 1881, the matter was referred in the
cotincil to a special committee. That committee rei)orted December 19, 1881, pre-
senting a communication from prominent citizens containing tiie following state-
ments :
The daily experience of the public shows it [the railway obstruction of High Street! to
have become almost insupportable. That the main business artery of a city of GO.OUO inhab-
Streets, Sewers and Parks. 527
itants slioulil be cut in two and all movement thereon should he blockaded duiin" a large
portion of each day, is probably without a parallel in this country. . . . With a view to
obtaining some basis on which action may be initiated, tlie undersigned, have, at their own
cost, employed an engineer of the inghest qualifications . . . who has made an examin-
ation of the premises, and whose report, with an accompanying plat, we herewith submit.
The matter was further agitated in the council, tlic Board of Trade and the
press until an arrangement was made, between the city and the railwaj's, for the
viaduct now in course of construction. The Cilj' Engineer's report for 18S4 con-
tained the following passages :
The improvement of High Street from Livingston Avenue to Naghten Street has period-
ically engaged the attention of property owners along the line of the street for eighteen
years. . . . Prior to 1867 the street was a graveled roadway ; during the year 1867
the wooden block pavement was put down. This pavement proved to be a miserable abor-
tion and cost the property owners along the line of the street, from a point 125 feet south of
Main Street, 35100,170.93, and the Street Railroad Company $5,757 ; total cost, 1105,927.93.
This pavement remained in tolerably good condition for about four years, when it began to
fail, and from that time to the end of its existence in 1876 it was a udserable roadway. In
1876 the Hastings asphalt was put down from 125 feet south of Main Street to Naghten Street,
and the Filbert asphalt from 125 feet south of Main to Livingston Avenue. The Hastings
asphalt cost $84,012.81 and the Filbert pavement put down the following year cost $l(i,-16.').!i4.
Total cost of wooden block and asphalt pavements, |206,406.76. This is not all, for the cost of
repairs of the wooden blockandasphalt was $45,150, makingagrandtotal of the cost of wooden
block and asphalt ijavements of $251,556.76, in round numbers a quarter of a million dol-
lars— more than would have been sufficient to put down a granite block pavement which
would have worn for thirty or forty years, with but little cost for repairs.
In 1885 the paving of High Street began under an ordinance permitting the
work to be done by private contract by the property owners. About onethird of
the street was let to Booth & Piynn, of Pittsburgh, whose surface metal consisted
of Idotdvs of Ligonier stone packed with sand. Another onethird of the work was
done by N. B. Abbott, whose surfacing was composed of Medina stone blocks with
pitch filling. In 1886 contracts for the remaining onethird were advertised for bv
the council and let to George W. Foster and W. H. Venable, of Atlanta, Georgia,
the surfacing to be done with Georgia granite blocks and pitch tilling. These con-
tracts were sublet by the Georgia company to N. B. Abbott, who executed the
work. Part of it comprises that portion of the street which lies contiguous to the
Capitol Square. A long controversy as to the application of pitch filling resulted
in permission to use it in laying the Georgia and Medina blocks.
An ordinance providing for the renumbering of bouses, and prescribing a sys-
tem therefor, was passed in March, 1887. In the course of that year a general
improvement of the thoroughlares of the city was begun under the Taylor Law,
an account of which has been elsewhere given. The o|ici-ations of thi.s Imv are
described in Chapter XXXII of Vcdurae 1, to which chapter is ajjpciidod a tabu-
lation showing the cost ot the street improvements of the city from 1875 to 1892
inclusive. A more particular account ol recent street paving in the city is
appended to the present chapter.
From want of system in surveying and looseness in approving building lot
additions to the city, much crookedness, irregularity and other disfigurement of
the streets and alloys have resulted. Efforts to correct these mistakes by opening,
widening or straightening the thoroughfares spoiled by them have caused a great
amount of controver,sy, litigation and expense. Some of the finest streets are per-
manently disfigured — a fact the more noticeable in a city unusually favored in
the general regularity and amplitude of its tlioi'ouglif.ires. Efforts to clear the
streets and alloys of the unsightly poles and wires used for electric service have at
various times been made, but thui far without success. An obvious and practica-
ble escape from this nuisance is found in placing all electric wires underground,
and this expedient will doubtless in course of time be reached.
52S History of the City op Columbus.
The duly of the State and the United States governments to pay thi3ir pi-opor-
lionate share of the expense of grading, paving and cleaning the streets and allej-s
contiguous to their grounds and buildings has been the subject of intermittent dis-
cussion for at least a quarter of a century past. In January, 1879, the mutter was
bi-ought to the attention of the General Assembly by a petition from the City
Council, in which many prominent citizens united. In this ])etition it was stated
that extensive improvements had been made on the streets and pavements adjacent
to the pro])erty of the State; that the grounds on which the public buildings had
been located were donated by the people of the citj- ; that the people of Franklin
County had voluntarily levied upon themselves a tax of S300,000 to establish and
locate the Agricultural College; that more than half the sum thus levied had been
paid by the people of Columbus; that no claim had made on account of the sew-
ers built by the cit}^ and used by the State ; that 3,000 feet of paving touching the
Agricultural College grounds on .North High Street had been jiaid for from the
proceeds of bonds issued by the city; that no part of the cost of this impnivement
had been assessed upon the college farm ; and that the finances of the cily had
been crippled by such exemptions of State property. The petitinners therefore
asked that an appropriation of $50,000 be made from the State Treasury as an
equitable indemnity to the city for its street improvement obligations and expen
ditures directly beneficial to the State buildings and institutions.
This petition failed to move the General Assembly to take the action desired,
nor has the State made any payments for street improvements contiguous to its
property, excepting portions of the paving around the Capitol Square and the
asphalt on Town Street fronting the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. The
State now stands charged with the following assessments, all made under the
Taylor Law excepting that for paving touching the Capitol Square on Broad
Street :
Capitol, Third Street $ 9,6-12 50
Capitol State Street, .... 1,596 97
Capitol, State Street, .... 1,509 78
Capitol, ■ . . Broad Street, . . . 14,570 35
Capitol, High Street 7,329 63
Penitentiary, Spring Street, . . . 11,410 03
Penitentiary, Dennison Street, . . . 10,868 34
Penitentiary, Maple Street 3,000 00
Asylum for the Blind, .... Main Street, .... 3,934 88
Asylum for the Blind, .... Parsons Avenue, ... 3,491 09
Asylum for the Insane, . . . Broad Street, .... 11,907 lo
Asylum for the Feebleminded, . . Broad Street, . . . 18,628 41
Total, $97,889 11
No payments whatever have been made for street improvements touching the
property of the United States.
At present the city possesses no general system of street cleaning. No thorough
sweeping had been done prior to 1886, in which year N. B. Abbott began running
a fourhorse sweeper on High Street six nights per week. After a years strvice of
this kind Mr. Abbott sold his large sweeper and the work was Id tur inachines
drawn by two horses. The streets are now swept under contracts made by commis-
sioners— two for each street to be swept — nominated by the property owners
desiring the service and appointed by the Board of Public Works. The work is
paid for by assessments on the abutting property according to its frontage. These
assessments may be placed upon the tax duplicate if not liquidated within a cer-
tain period.
Am^/^U-^
Streets, Sewers and Parks
Down to tlie year 1S4S tlic dminafro of Cciliiinbiis was limildl cntii-ely to that y
i-face. In 1S49, a ?.h foot brick sowci'^was carricl from tlic river uj:
rdnnd now
Br
oail Street to (he As\
innr for the li,s;in... ll,V
kn
own as Kast Park" Phi".
■e. This work was e\-e,i
Uk
. Statehouse Cniiniissi,
iiiers, liie insi ilntions f.ii
St:
irlino- Medieal('oll.--e.
Til.' eonlractnr, William
till
inelin,t,^ tiu-oiicrl, sand a
nd -ravel at a depth of,
Til
e sni-|dns ,.;,i-th throwi
1 out of the treneh was i
tin
. niarketlK.use on Foil
irth Street. The pioneer
3^^ ^
Jointly liy the e(.r|joration, i/^' ^i^**^*^
I' insane and mutes, ami the
rpliy, passed High Street by
temi fieet behiw the sui-f'aee.
used in filling up swales around
pioneer sewer thus built is still in use,
and in fair condition. It lies under the outer course of trees, on the north side of
Broail Street.
Spring Street was sewered and filled from Front Street to Third in 1852.
This was regarded as " an excellent thing for the north part of tiie city," which
was at that time veiy marshy. The early continuation of the Spring Street
sewer to the river was much desired in order that a pond which lay " between
the Tool Factory and Pudgway's Foundry" might be drained. In 1853 the
council was petitioned for numerous sewers, one of which was desired for the
drainage of a stagnant pond in Locust Alley. The total length of the under-
ground sewers possessed by the city in April, 1854, was 12,500 feet. lu 1855 the
cellars on Spring Street were flooded in consequence of the defective construction
of the sewer on that street. Four judgments against the city, for damages, were
therefore obtained before Justice Miller. The cost of the sewers possessed by the
city in April, 1858, was 840,800. In Juue of the same year a general system of
sewerage was asked for. In January, 1859, the " Centre Alley Sewer" was spoken
of as an "expensive piece of brick masonry but lately completed," which was
"already giving out." In May, 1863, the council appointed George Gere, L.
Hoster and Daniel Worley to divide the citj- into sewerage districts. A " horrid
accumulation of sewage and other trash from sluices" discharging into the river
from the Penitentiary, the Soap Factory and other sources, was co'inplained of in
May, 1864. In 1865 a sewerage committee appointed by the council recommended
the construction of gates or sluiceways in the Scioto River dam in order that the
dam might be suddenly drained of all its water and its bottom cleansed of sewage.
The committee was directed to confer with the Board of Public Works and the
lessees of the Ohio Canal relative to the construction of these sluiceways.
In December, 1865, a sewerage commission of which John H. Klippart was
chairman, reported through Mr. Klippart recommending that all of the city east
of High Street be divided into two districts; that all the municipal territory west
of High Street should constitute a third di.strict ; that in each of these districts a
main sewer should be built, and that the three sewers so constructed should dis-
charge into- an intercepting one to be conducted along the river bank, east of the
canal, to a point below Moler's dam. Mr. Klippart further suggested the utiliza-
tion of the sewage for agricultural purposes, and said the day would come when
this method of its disposal would be appreciated. In September, 1866, extension
of the Spring Street sewer to the river and of the Peters Eun sewer to the " aque-
duct crossing the canal," was ordered. In March, 1867, the council passed a reso
lution asking the General Assembly to authorize a tax which would produce
$100,000 for the construction of a general system of sewers. In April, of the
same year, an ordinance for extension of the Peters Run sewer was passed, fol-
lowed a month later by instructions to the engineer to survey a route for a main
sewer through Fourth Street to a point below Moler's dam. The estimated cost
of this sewer, including its proposed extension on Broad Street to Seventh and
34*
i^f.
530 History of the Citt of Columbus.
thence on Seventh to a pond then existing near St Patrick's Church, was §300,000.
A sevenfoot brick sewer from State Avenue east on Elm Alley to Sprinij Street
and thence on Spring to Front, was built in 1867. This sewer, biiilt by Hull,
Fornoff & Co., and the Peters Eun sewer built by Staib & Co., were accepted
August 20. A resolution directing the engineer to prepare plats and estimates for
a large number of sewers was passed March 23, 1868. On May 30, 1870, construc-
tion of the Collowing lines was ordered : On Broad Street from Fifth to a point
one hundred feet east of Douglas Street ; branch of Spring Street sewer from
Medary to Seventh; in Noble Street from the Peters Run sewer to East Public
Lane, thence to Friend Street and thence to the summit of that Street; in Rich
Street from the Scioto to East Public Lane, with a branch in Fourth Street to
Oak and in Oak to Bast Public Lane; from the Peters Run sewer in Strawljerry
Alley to East Public Lane. Additional lines were ordered in the ensiiini,' Octo-
ber. In June, 1870, appeared the following statements:
The I)ig sewer at the South End, it is said, has had a most astonishinor effect on the
wells along the route. Water has disappeared from all except those sunk below the sewer
line, which is some thirty fnet below the surface. . . . The Fourth Street sewer near the
City Park, recently constructed, has fallen in for a distance of about four hundred feet. It
will cost about |500 to repair damages.-
The Fourth Street sewer, four feet in diameter and extending from Spring
Street to Linn Alley, 1,168 feet, was completed in August, 1870; contractor,
Frederick Erfurt. Murphy & McCabe built a sewer in Kerr Street, 1,475 feet,
during the same season. Construction of the great sewer along Peters Run was
begun in September, 1868, under direction of the City's agents. Much of it was
badly done, and had to be reconstructed. Directly after the Fourth Street sewer
had been completed and paid for, a committee of the council reported that it had
been very improperly built, and was beginning to cave in. The cost of main
sewers was thus stated in the City Engineer's report for the year ended April
8,1872: ^ » I } 1
Fourth Street 12,69.3 74
South Public Lane 7,387 62
Centre Alley 11,876 6-1
Oak Street 13,187 75
Cherry Street 7,14.5 76
Broad Street 14,365 00
Mound Street 13,970 79
West Street 13,838 67
Drops, Inlets, etc 4,409 18
Salary of two Superintendents 2,742 00
Total |101,617 15
The Peters Run sewer, as originally projected, was intended to furnish
drainage to the greater part of the city. It connected with the Oak and
Fourth Street sewers, was designed to connect with an intercepting lateral on
Front Street, and was to be conducted to a point where it would disgorge into the
Scioto, below the city. AiJiH'ehension of legal difficulties to be encountered
should the sewer seek its outlet outside the corporation boundaries caused the
stoppage of its construction at a point about one square west of Front Street
where it discharged its contents into Peters Run, thus causing a great nuisance to
the southern part of the city, while at the same time the discharge of many other
sewers into the river where its current was checked by the State dam, was rapidly
creating a general nuisance for the entire city. Such was the situation in 1872.
Streets, Sewers and Parks. 531
In 1873-4 the Peters Run Sower was extended to the river by crossing the canal
throu,£;h a conduit called an aqueduct.
Up to this time the construction of sewers in the city had been entirely
destitute of system.' The controlling motive had been to discharge the sewage
into the river by the shortest jjo-ssible route. Many of the conduits were so
defectively constructed as to lodge the filtii at their turning points, and discharge
both fluids and gases througii numerous leaks into the streets. A plentiful harvest
of disease and death was the inevitable result of this heedless scheme of infection.
An outbreak of the cholera which claimed many victims in 1873 was directly
traced to a frightfully vile sewer near the Penitentiary. This nest of pestilence
disseminated its germs of death through various openings. As soon as these were
closed and the sewer cleansed the epidemic was stayed. How much typhoid,
"malaria" and other forms of disease have resulted from the leakages of
"shoddy" sewers built at the expense of their victims can never be known;
undoubtedly a great deal. It is one of the least aggravating circumstances of the
case that many of these deathbreeders which have contaminated the atmosphere
both in the streets and in the homes of the people have cost far more than honest
work was really worth. Had the sewers been built scientifically and systemati-
cally from the beginning, and their discharges been rationally_ disposed of, not
only would the money cost of the work have been far less, but the hygienic bene-
fits conferred would have been far greater.
The northeast and northwest trunk sewer ordinances were passed Augu.st 11,
1879; estimated total cost $155,000. In July, 1880, the route of the northwest
sewer was so changed as to make it discharge into the Scioto instead of the Whet-
stone. For the information which here follows as to these and other main sewer
lines the writer is indebted to the City Engineer, Mr. Josiah Kinnear, and Mr.
Fisher, and others, among his corps of assistants.
The Northeast Trunk Sewer discharges into Alum Creek at a point just south
of the Main Street Bridge whence it extends on Main Street westwardly to Ohio
Avenue, on that avenue to Oak Street, on Oak Street to Hoffman Avenue, on that
avenue to Broad Street, on Broad Street to Miami Avenue, on that avenue to Long
Street, on Long to Eighteenth, on Eighteenth to Mount Vernon Avenue, on that
avenue to Galloway Avenue, on Galloway to Leonard Avenue, on Leonard to
Denmead Avenue and on that avenue to the northerji boundary of the corpora-
tion ; total length, including extension, 17,114 feet ; diameter from six feet six inches
to nine feet. The construction of this sewer began at its eastward terminus and
was finished in the year 1883.
The Southeast Trunk Sewer discharges into the Scioto near the junction of the
Canal and the Moler Road, whence it takes its course by Thurman and Fourth
streets to Blackberry Alley and thence by Schiller and Ebner streets, Section Alley
and Parsons Avenue to Forrest Street ; total length, 11,378 feet; diameter, from
three to five feet.
Franklin Park Sewer, a branch of the northeastern line, forms its junction
with the main trunk at Fairwood Avenue, about 2,800 feet from Alum Creek. Its
length is 4,844 feet ; diameter, from seven to seven and one half feet.
The Northwestern Trunk Sewer discharges into the Scioto at the foot of Coz-
zens Street, whence it extends on that street to Dublin Avenue, thence to Maple
Street, thence across the railway grounds to Spruce Street, on Spruce to Henry,
on Henry Street to Poplar Avenue, on that avenue to Delaware Avenue, on Del-
aware to First Avenue, on that avenue to Hunter Street, on that street to Second
Avenue, on Second to Dennison Avenue, thence across lots to Greenwood Avenue,
thence to High Street, thence across lots to Summit Street and thence by a curved
line to Fifth Avenue. An extension of this sewer begins at Fifth Avenue whence
it extends north to Sixth Avenue, on which it takes an eastward course to the Bee
532 History of the City of Columbu?.
Line iJaiUva)- where it ends. The total len.e;th of the original sewer is 11,354 feet;
of the extension, 2,100 feet. The diameter of the original line varies fi-om six and
onehalf to seven feet; that of the extension from four and onehalf to five feet.
In 1881 Engineer Graham reported a plan for draining the lowlands west of
the river, which, he stated, were, of all portions of the city, most in need of drain-
age and most difficult to supply with it.
The extension of the Peters Run sewer in 1873-4 only changed the location of
the nuisance caused by tliat troublesome sluicewa}-, and during a period of scanty
rainfall and low water in the summer of 1881, loud complaints were made of the
stench caused by its discharge into the channel of the Scioto. ' In reporting a
])lan for obviating this trouble the City Engineer, John Graham, said :
• As iar back as 1872, when I came into office for the first time as City Engineer, amony
the first problems presented to me to solve, was to find an outlet to the Peters Run sewer.
This was a question that had perplexed the minds of the city engineers and the City Council
for many years prior to 1872. The sewer, as originally constructed, discharged its contents
at the level of the surface of the ground, at the foot of the bluff, a few hundred feet west of
Born's brewery, from which point'it became an open drain, was carrie 1 over the canal by a
dilapidated aqueduct, and meandered along the west hank of the canal to the river near the
present outlet of the sewer. This open drain had become an elongated cesspool, emitting its
disagreeable and pestilential odors along its entire line for a distance of nearly a mile. . . .
1 recommended a plan which fixed the outlet in very much deeper water, and where there
was a more rapid flow in the river, and at a much less cost, than the plan adopted.
In pursuance of instructions the engineer then proceeded to suggest plans for
" abatement of the nuisance at the mouth of the sewer b}^ obviating the pool formed
at the outlet, and by giving the contents of the sewer a straight and unobstructed
channel into the body of the river." To prolong the sewer down the river, the
engineer suggested, would only once more shift the locality of the nuisance, which,
in any event, he thought Nature would soon abate by flushing the channel of the
Scioto.
In December, 1881, Engineer Graham reported as to the cost of an intercept-
ing sewer, commencing at the point where the northwest sewer then constructing
would cross Spring Street, and extending on Scioto Street to the canal feeder and
thence to a point of discharge into the river about eight hundred feet below the
southern boundary of the corporation. The cost of this work, including necessary
readjustments and extensions of other sewers, was estimated at $404,524. Con-
temj)oraneously with this discussion a scheme, often previously broached, for
using the canal jointly for sewer and railway purposes, was renewed, and an
ettbrt to obtain the legislation necessary for this purpo.se was unsuccessfully made.
ISlo less than five or six main sewers at this time discharged into the Scioto
between the Penitentiary and the State dam, thus converting the river, which
just then happened to have a very slender current, into a receptacle for all the
filth of the city. It will be observed that the only plans seriously discussed for
otherwise disposing of this filth were such as would carry it, in current phrase-
ology, " to a safe distance outside of the corporate limits." Another report invited
attention about this time to the contamination of the river by an asylum sewer
which, descending from the Sullivant heights, discharged into it from the we.st,
at the foot of Mound Street. Thousands of fish, poisoned by the sewage, were
also, it was said, adding their decaying bodies to the putrescent discharges which
were accumulating in the river channel along the city front. As a result of this
condition, it was believed, there had been from 400 to 900 cases of typhoid and
"malarial" fever in the city during several preceding months. Far the remedy
of these evils the usual and threadbare suggestions were made — an intercepting
sewer and abandonment of that conventional scapegoat of municipal sins — the
Ohio Canal.
Streets, Sewers and Parks. 533
The origiiml estimate of the cost of the northeast and northwest sewers
proved to be far short of the mark; consequently, in February, 1883, the council
asked the General Assemblj- for permission to issue bonds to an additional amount
of $200,000 — making $355,000 in ail — to carry the work to completion. In
explanation of the misapprehension which had taken place as to what the sewers
would cost, the following statements were made :
The council and officers, it seems, did not know that lumber would be! required in mak-
ing the excavation. They did not know that a superintendent would be necessary. They
did not know that the quality of the water supplied to the city would be affected by dis-
charging a main sewer into tie river above and near the waterworks. They did not know
that the di.scharge of a main sewer into Alum Creeic, just west of the Lui^heran College,
would render its buildings uninhabitable-.
All of which suggests the importance of choosing municipal officials on the
basis of qualifieation rather than that of political belief.
Although the State dam had long been complained of as a source of miasmatic
]ioison, in March, 1884, a proposition came before the council to construct a dam
across the Scioto below the mouth of the Peters Run sewer in order that the dis-
cliarges from that conduit might be "emptied into deep water." In April, 1885,
a bill authorizing conversion of the " Columbus feeder'' into a trunk sewer was for
the second or third time introduced into the General Assembly. In opposition to
this measure a strong arraj- of facts was presented showing that the commercial
usefulness of the canal, which the proposed use of the '■ feeder " would ruin, had
by no means ceased. The discussion was carried into the Board of Trade where,
and in the press, the project continued to be agitated during the next two or three
years, but the General Assembly steadfastly refused to relinquish the canal prop-
erty of the State for the purpose proposed.
During the dry summer of 1887, the discharges of the Peters Run sewer into
the attenuated waters of the Scioto again became intolerably offensive. In a cur-
rent newspaper reference to this trouble these statements were made :
Numerous citizens of the South End have recently made complaint of the fact that the
mouth of the sewer is entirely exposed and that this and the other surroundings produce a
stench which permeates the atmosphere of the whole locality. . . . The low water has
suffered an accumulation of dead animals which would have gone over the dam it that faulty
structure had not leaked to such an extent that the water is four or five feet below the top.
This same dam was built a short time ago for the alleged purpose of backing up the water until
the mouth of the sewer is [should be] submerged, but as the leak is so large as to make the
escape almost a torrent, the entire deathbreeding opening is exposed to full view. . . .
There seems to be as great danger from the stagnant water in the dam as from the exposed
mouth of the sewer, as the very face of the basin suggests typhoid malaria.
The dam here spoken of was built in ])ursuance of an act of the General
Assembly authorizing a special tax for the purpose. Its estimated cost was $3,000 ;
its actual cost much greater. It proved to be in every sense a worse nuisance
than tliat which it was intended to cure. After producing a large harvest of dam-
ago suits, many of which are yet pending, and after having cost the citj- for its
construction and the damage claims paid on account of it an aggregate sum of n e^Lnj
about $30,000, it was blown out with dynamite by the City Engineer. -^ j^
In 1887 discussion of the sewerage problem became more active than ever. A i'*''^*^ V<^
Citizens' Sanitary Association was organized and gave special attention to the ^juil^--*'
Peters Run sewer and dam nuisance, the abatement of which was then a burning i^^^ t
question in the council. Experts in municipal sanitation were invited to contribute P""^
views and suggestions, much useful information was obtained and many schemes
were proposed. In October, 1887, Mayor P. H. Briick, acting in behalf of the
Sanitary Association, laid before the council a communication in which he stated
534 History of the City of Columbus.
that unless immediate steps should be taken to abate the poisonous effects of the
sewage then pouring into the Scioto and already causing much sickness, an epi-
demic might be expected. Moved by this appeal the council ap])ointed P. H.
Brack, Edward Orton, R. T. King, Philip Fisher and Jo.siah Kinnear as mem-
bers of a committee to rejiort some plan by which the discharge of sewage
into the river might be avoided. On Junuai-y 30, 1888, the council passed a reso-
lution offered by Mr. Fleck:
That the City Civil Engineer be ami is hereby authorized to secure the services of some
e.vpert sanitary engineer to prepare a plan for a complete system of sewerage for the city of
Columbus, and to report as to the advisability of disposing of the sewage of the city, or of
certain districts thereof, by infiltration or sewage farming.
This, and many other efforts and schemes for solution of the sewerage problem,
culminated finally in adoption of the plan for building a groat intercepting sewer,
to provide lor the construction of which an act authorizing the issue of bonds to
the amount of $500,000 was passed March 23, 1888. Bids for the construction were
opened January 21, 1889, and the contract was awarded to L. C. Newsom, of
Columbus. The estimated cost of the work was $718,000; Mr. Newsom took it at
8460,838.61. The bids were as ibliows: Wolf & Truax, Duluth. 8780,.347.00 ;
Kanamacher & Fornofi', Columbus, §742,394.10; JN. B. Abbott, Columbus, $725.-
963.89; James E. Sullivant, Denver, $715,674.71; Evcrson & Eilev, Cleveland,
$576,264.50; D. F. Minahan, Springfield, $523,890.47; L. C. Newsom, Columbus,
$460,838.61. The excavation began on February 1, 1889, and proceeded steadily
except wlien stopped by injunctions or other legal proceedings, resulting from
claims for right of way ami questions r:iised by the city engineer and the council,
some of which partook of a partisan character. The following statements con-
cerning the nature and proijress of the work are taken from the Evening Post of
October 6, 1890:
The excavation necessary to its [the sewer's] completion is ponderous in its proportions.
The trenching varies from nominal to thirty feet at the deepest point, while no less than six-
teen tunnels are found along the line, . . . one at the C. H. V. & T. tracks; one at the
Peters Run st wer ; one at Jlound Street ; one at Friend Street ; one along past the City
Prison nearly half a mile in length ; . . . one at the Little Miami tracks, under Spring
Street and Dennison Avenue; one under the network of railroads near the new steel works ;
one under Third and King avenues and the Dodridge Street bridge abutments. . . . Under
the canal is a long distance where the entire sewer is built of stone, a fine piece of masonry.
For its construction was necessitated a switch in the canal of five hundred feet. The terminal
of the sewer is for a loi'g distance half exposed, the slope of the valley being so much greater
than that of the sewer as to run the latter out of the ground, where it will be built up with a
bank of earth.
The route of this great work may be traced in general terms as follows :
Beginning near the dam in the Whetstone at North Street it courses southerly to
King Avenue and through the Dennison Addition to Fifth Avenue, whence it
proceeds to the left bank of the Whetstone, the meanderings of which it follows
to Goodale Street, whence it takes an irregular course to Dublin Avenue, on that
avenue to Cozzens Street and thence across a corner of the Penitentiary grounds
to the corner of Dennison Avenue and Spring Street, whence it crosses to Scioto
Street, follows that street to Canal Street and Canal Street to Livingston Avenue,
whence it pursues the line of the canal to Greenlawn Avenue, from which it
accompanies the track of the Hocking Valley Railway to Moler Street, from
which it turns westerly under the railway and canal to a point on the east bank
of the Scioto 1,602 feet beyond the canal tunnel, the masonry of which is one
hundred and seventy feet in length. The entire work thus described has, at the
present writing (August 27, 1892), been completed and accepted. Its total length
Streets, Sewers and Parks. 535
from end to oiul on tlio line above traced is 35,946 feet, ineliidiny 5,7(10 feet of tun-
neling at an average depth of about forty feet beneath the surface of the ground.
Where the necessary depth below the surface was not over thirty feet, the excava-
tion was made by trenching. The longest tunnel is that between Eich and Broad
streets, which measures 2,100 feet. The next largest tunnel, the longitudinal
centre of wiiich lies under Greenlawn Avenue, measures from end to end 1,700
feet. The interior diameter of the sewer varies from two and onehalf to six feet.
If present plans are carried out the line will be extended under and 420 feet
beyond the river, where it will connect with a proposed additional extension of
5,615 feet, descending the west bank of the Scioto to the proposed sewage farm.
The entire work thus far constructed is built of brick.
This sketch of the sewer system of Columbus cannot be more appropriatel,y
closed than by inviting the reader's attention to Professor Orton's discussion of
the same subject in Chapter XXXIII, of Volume I. A tabulation showing the
cost of the main and lateral sewers of the city from 1875 to 1892, inclusive, will
be found appended to Chapter XXXIl. of the same volume.
On July 14, 1851, a proposition from Doctor Lincoln Coodale to donate to the
city about forty acres of land to be used as a public park was presented to the
City Council and therein referred to Messrs. Armstrong, Riordan, Blake, Miner
and Stauring. Four days later (July 18) Doctor Goodale's deed for the proposed
park was presented by Mr. Armstrong to the council, which body, on motion of
Mr. Baldwin, thereupon adopted the following expressions of appreciation :
Whereas, our esteemed fellow citizen, Lincoln Goodale, Esq., has generonslv and
munificently donated to the citizens of Columbus a large and beautiful tract of land
lying adjacent to the northern boundary of said city, to be held by said citizens as a park
anil'pleasure ground for the public use and enjoyment of said citizens forever; and whereas
he has this day deposited with the President of the Council an unconditional conveyance
of the same for the uses and purposes solely as above stated, now therefore
Resolved, by the Cily Council of Columbus, That we receive the gift of said park with
emotions of profound gratitude, and in behalf of our fellow citizens tender unto L. Goodale,
Esq., our deep and heartfelt thanks for his noble and princely donation.
That we, the members of this council, esteem ourselves most highly honored in being
the recipients in behalf of our constituents of so valuable and grateful a gift to our city, an<l
that we will endeavor to carry out the generous design of the donor in beautifying and
adorning said park for the use and benefit of our citizens.
That we will ever cherish an abiding memory of the liberal spirit which has prompted
this deed on the part of the giver of said park, and gladly pledge our fellow citizens never
by ungenerous action on their part to cause him momentary regret for this action.
That a committee of four, of which said L. Goodale shall be one, be appointed to take
charge of said grounds and to ri.»port immediately for the consideration of the council suit-
able plans for the protection, speedy improvement and ornamentation of the same.
That a copy of these resolutions, signed by the President of the Council and attested by
the City Clerk, be presented to L. Goodale, Esq., and that the same be published in each of
the papers of this city.
The members of the committee appointed pursuant to this resolution were
Lincoln Goodale, William Armstrong, John Miller and William Miner.
The land thus donated and accepted was spoken of at the time as a tract of
beautiful woodland on the northwestern boundary of the city, " well worth
$40,000." On October 23, 1851, the City Council, accompanied by Doctor Goodale,
536 History of the City of Columbus.
visited and inspected the grounds, up to that time, apparently, untouched by ax or
plow. During the summer of 1852 the park was enclosed with a fence and the
underbrush growing among its primitive forest trees was cut away. No further
improvements of much importance seem to have been made for several yeai-s,
although doubtless some walks were laid out and some sod grown and cared for.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861 the park was provisionally used as a mili-
tary rendezvous under the name of Camp Jackson. This ruined its turf, strewed
its pleasant places with debris, and disfigured it, for the time being, with unsightly
buildings. After the removal of the rendezvous and its appurtenances to Camp
Chase, its grounds were cleaned, its sod restored and its original quiet resumed.
Doctor Goodale died on April 30, 1868; he therefore lived bej'ond the time when
the ground which ho had so generously donated to the city had become one of the
historic spots of Ohio, but he was, unfortunately, not permitted to see that ground
beautified in a manner appropri.-ite to the purpose to whii-li he had dovnted it. In
1872 new drives were laid out in the park, a lake was excaviii-d n\ it- ii.irtlioasterii
corner, and a fountain was added to its then meagre ciulu'lli-li ukmiLs. In 18S8 a
bronze bust of Doctor Go )daK'., e.^ecnted by J. Q.' A Ward, was place 1 upon an
appropriate pedestal, facing the .south gate." This work cost five thousand dollars,
onehalf of wliich was paid by the city, the remainder from the Goodale estate,
represented, in this matter, by Hon. Henry C. Taylor. This is the only work of
art which thus far adorns the" grounds.
On April 22, 1867, the City Council appointed a .select committee of five of its
members to contract with .Messrs. Deshler & Thurman for twentyfive acres of land
in what was then known as Stewart's Grove, for the purposes of a park. Accord-
ingly, on April 29, 1867, a contract was made with Messrs. D. W. & W. G. Deshler
and Allen G. Thurman for the purchase of 23.59 acres of the Stewart's Grove
land, to be known and used thenceforward as the City Park." The price paid (or
the ground was $15,000. In 1868 this park was laid "out pursuant to plans drawn
by R. T. Brookes. An ornamental fountain was placed in the park in 1871. In
1872 it received as one of its attractions a live eagle caught in Madison County.
This bird measured eight leet six inches from tip to tip of its outstretched wings.
In 1873 a lake was excavated. In 1891 the beautiful bronze statute of the ]3oet
Schiller which now adorns the park was completed and donated to the city by its
Gerraanborn citizens. A description of this work, and its dedication, is given in
another chapter. The faithful keeper of the City Park from its opening until
recently has been John L. Slelzig.
A proposition to convert the fairgrounds of the Franklin County Agricultural
Societ}', on East Broad Street, into a park was broached b}' Francis C. Sessions in
an address before the Columbus Horticultural Society i'n 1884. In accordance
with this suggestion a bill was introduced in the General Assembly by Hon. Henry
C. Taylor, and, on May 17, 1886, became a law, vesting the title to the grounds in
Franklin County for use as a public park for all the people of the county. This
act further provided that the park thus established should be placed under the
supervision of a commission of five members, two of whom .should be appointed
from the county by the County Commissioners and two from the city by the
xMuyor. The present area of the park is about 112 acres, all of which, e.\ce]il a
few fragmentaiy strips of ground, is owned by the county. At the su>,rgcsti()n
of Mr. Sessions it was named Franklin Park. In 1887 plans for its improve-
ment were prep.ired, but as yet it remains destitute of systematic embellish-
ment.
Among other free spaces iji the city which, to a greater or less extent, serve
as public pleasure grounds, are those fronting the Slate institutions foi- mutes and
the blind, the Capitol Square, and the enclosures of the United .Stales .\isenal, the
State Agricultural Society and the Ohio State University. The old graveyard, a
Streets, Sewers and Parks. 537
tr.ut of eleven acres, iu the southeastern jiart of the cit^-, is resoi-ved for ]nirpose8 of
recreation under the name of South Pai'k. Elliptical spaces of about one acre
each, now planted with shrubbery and susceptible of very attractive additional
embellishment, beautify the East Park Place avenues bearing the names of Hamil-
ton, licxinirton and Jefferson.
1. The Ohio State Juunml of July 18. 18G7, stated editorially :
"There is a great deal of inquiry as to whether the contractor is doing liis work in the
most durable manner on High Street. It is claimed that the boards should be saturated with
hot tar instead of being simply smeared with a mop ; that the blocks should be thoroughly
saturated with boiling tar instead of receiving a hurried plunge in a vessel cold or lukewarm;
and that the blocks should be firmly fastened in their place, instead of being placed so
loosely that they may be lifted out without difficulty."
2. On February 15, a proposition to put down a wood pavement was tabled by one
majority
3. Ohio State Journal.
4. The roadway was paved with the Abbott concrete, consisting of ninety per cent, of
distilled coal tar and ten per cent, of Trinidad asphalt. The completion of the street was
celebrated by an entertainment given to the contractors and other guests at Stevenson «&
Kuhl's, December 1.
5. The decision was rendered tSTovember 20, 1S77. The State ex rel. the City of Col-
umbus V. John G. Mitchell et al., Commissioners ; 31 O. S. Reports, 592.
6. Further particulars in regard to this tunnel will be found in the chapter on rail-
ways.
7. The condition of the street prior to this improvement had again become most
deplorable, compelling a large part of its ordinary traffic to seek other thoroughfares.
8. Ohio State Juurnal.
9. To this day not even a map showing theextentand location of the sewers has been
made. ,5%*/ ^ yt^ ^^t-i^ , ^ :rn^a^ ^,57 y*L».(j^ f^y-r. ^M^eji^ ^^^H-'^ «♦ /;W-<'^"-^««<:
10. Ohio Slate Jiiurnal. yJ-^r-Cu/^ ii-ytct. tiUuj^ H -^la, -^n^dc. ^ ^
11. At a celebration of the Fourth of July, held on the grounds in 18(37, the following
resolutions ofiered by Colonel George W. Manypenny were adopted by the multitude there
present :
" Whereas, The grounds upon which we now assemble have been purchased by the city
authorities for a public park, therefore
'•Resolved, That this meeting, in the name of the people of the City of Columbus, do
accept and adopt the same as the City Park, and shall be gratified at the early improvement
thereof; and hereby return our thanks to the members of the City Council for their united
action in securing the grounds."
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XXXIII.
RECENT STREET PAVING.
BY CAPTAIN N. B. ABBOTT.
The extent of street improvements in Columbus has been one of the surprises of the
last decade. In ISSO the city resembled a country village in its unpaved and muddy streets.
Up to the year 1SS6 no systematic plan of street improvements had been attempted" on a lib-
eral scale. The business part of High Street had been paved with wood, which had rotted
and been replaced with concrete or soealled asphalt This, in turn, had worn out and just
been replaced with .stone blocks of various kinds in a very unsystematic manner. Every
property owuer was allowed to tiiake bis own contract so long as he used some kind of stone.
The result was a patchwork, about onehalf of which was first clasa Medina stone and granite
block paving, both of which are in good condition now. The balance was an inferior Ligon-
ier stone block, rough in shape, poorly laid and has always been in a bad condition. The
result is, our finest business street presents in some parts the most shabby specimen of pave-
ments of any street in the city. Town .'^treet from High Street east one mile went through
about the same experience as High Street, being paved first with wood, then with concrete,
which failed and was resurfaced with Trinidad asphalt, which is in fair condition at the
present time. In 1876 North High Street from Naghten Street to the city line, a distance of
three and onehalf miles,, was paved with coaltar concrete, which at that time was being
extensively used in the East. This being the only paved street leading out of the city on
the north, received immense wear, as the entire country travel came over it. It was kept in
good condition for about ten years, when the roadway was widened from 36 to 42 feet, a
double track replaced the single street railway track, and the concrete was surfaced with
Trinidad asphalt.
The foregoing, a total of about five miles of street, comprised all that had been done up
to 1886, in paving the streets of a city of 75.000 population. About this time the great need
of street improvements was agitated "in the Board of Trade, the final result of which was the
passage in the State legislature of a law known as the Taylor Law. This act provided for
the improvement of streets under a systematic plan, the city issuing its bonds to raise money
with which to meet the cost. The total cost is assessed under this law on the property front-
ing the improvement, the property owners having the option of paying annual instalments
for eight or more years, or to pay the whole the first year. This law has been in operation
until the present time and under its provisions about $4,000,000 have been expended. The
total amount of paved streets in Columbus at the present time is about 1,600.000 square
yards, or, counting all streets as thirty feet wide between curb lines, about eightyeight miles
of roadway.
These eightyeight miles of paved streets are laid with a variety of paving material, about
as follows: Hallwood paving block twentynine miles; Hayden paving block fifteen miles ;
red clay brick thirteen miles ; fireclay brick eleven miles; Trinidad asphalt eleven miles ;
Medina stone and granitfe eight miles ;" Kentucky rock asphalt one mile.
A brief description of the several paving materials used and the maunerin which they
are laid may be of interest. At the beginning of work under the Taylor Law, a general
specification was adopte I as f^dlovvs: Grade to the reijuired depth, foundation to be of
broken stone eight inches deep, and rolled with a teuton steam roller ; on this foundation
the stone block, Hallwood or Hayden block, or paving brick are set on edge in two inches of
[538]
Recent Street Paving. 539
sand and thoroughly rammed by hand. A light sprinkling of fine sand is swept into the
joints, and washed to the bottom. The joints are then filled with hot coaltar pitch, and the
surface covered with sand. Asphalt pavements are laid with six inches of cement concrete,
and surfaced with a two and onehalf inch coat of asphalt pavement. The entire eishtyeight
miles of pavements in the city have been laid practically according to these specifications,
varied only in a tew cases by substituting cement grout for coaltar cement flUine in the brick
or block pavements. There has been such a variety of material used here, and in such large
quantities, within so short a space of time, that numerous inquiries from abroad are made as
to what material has proved on the whole the best for city use. Without undertaking to
answer that query it may not be out of place, in giving a correct history of street paving in
the citv, to state certain facts shown by experience.
The stone block pavements laid as described have been the most costly at the outset but
it is admitted by all that so far as durability is concerned they are the cheapest in the end.
A good stone pavement properly laid will be better when five vears old than when newly
laid. This cannot be truthfully said of 'anv other pavement. The great objection to^ stone
pavements is the rouLdmess of surface, and noise produced bv their use. In five years' wear
the roughness largely disapjiears by reason of the wear. This is especially true with the
Medina sandstone, which becomes even and true by wear, and thereby becomes^ less_ noisy.
The high cost of a firstclass stone pavement, however, prevents its general use in this city.
and it is confined to a few of the most heavily traveled business streets. The noise would
also make it objectionable on residence streets. The average cost of our best stone pavements
has been about I?..?.") per square yard.
Asphalt comes next to stone in cost, the average price being about $2.75 per square yard.
Of asphalt in this city there have been two kinds, the Trinidad and the Kentucky rock. Of
the latter little need be said, as only one mile has been laid, and so far it is not generally con-
sidered a success. Trinidad asphalt pavements, constructed in the best manner, furnish,
under favorable conditions, the most perfect pavement for travel that can be made. All such
pavements laid in Columbus during the last six years have done good service. There are
conditions under which they are objectionable, namely, when covered with a thin coating of
ice or snow, they become dangerouslv slippery. They also require especial care in cleaning
and being kept free from a pasty mud caused by too mu^h sprinkling and too little sweening.
Considering the advantages and disadvantages of asphalt as a whole, there is no doubt that a
reasonable proportion of city streets can safely be paved with this material.
The Hayden block comes next in order as to cost, the price having averaged here about
$2.20 persquare yard. This block, named after its inventor, William B. Hayden, of this city,
is peculiar in its formation, being made hollow on the und >r side, requiring a filling of sand
before it is laid. When filled, the block is turned hollow side down and the process of ram-
ming compresses the sand so as to make a solid filling. The block is made of fine ground
plastic fireclay of a quality that will require extreme heat to burn sufficiently to vitrify. It
has stood the test of use in this city well and is now considered as one of the standard pave-
ments.
The Hallwood paving block is another manufactured block which takes its name from
its inventor, H. S. Hallwood, of Columbus. The material used in this block is practically the
same as that used in the Hayden block. In some localities .shale clay is used, in others plas-
tic clay. The best results appear in a mixture of the two. Unlike the Hayden, this block is
made solid, which somewhat modifies the cost of both manufacture and laying, accounting for
the lower average cost, which has been in this city about $2 10 per square yard. The large
amount of Hallwood block laid in the city, twentynine miles in all, indicates the esteem in
which it is held.
Brick pavements mean in Columbus any of the various socalled street paving brick
offered in the market and so largely used throughout the country. Of the twentythree miles
of fireclay brick and red brick pavements in this city, at least onethird show extreme wear,
quite disproportionate to the expense of their construction. This is doubtless due to the
difficulty in producing a large quantity of brick by ordinary methods, of a uniform durable
quality." There has been sufficient defectiveness apparent in the brick pavements laid here
to warrant the present discontinuance of their use The average cost of these pavements has
been about $1.90 per square yard. It has proved to be money well invested to pay the addi-
tional twenty cents or thirty cents per square yard required to construct a Hallwood or Hay-
den block pavement.
These improved blocks are made of carefully selected, finely ground clays, pressed with
heavy presses and repressed into uniform shape and compactness. Clays are selected that
require an extreme heat for burning, and kilns are so constructed as to burn the blocks to
extraordinary liardness, vitrifying them thoroughly. Economy lies in making sure of a
thoroughly good paving material, as it costs no more to lay than a poor material. These con-
540 History of the City of Columbus.
sideratiuns have resulted in substituting a better and more expensive block for the inferior
ordinary paving brick.
As street assessments are made by the foot front of property on streets improved, the
following table is given of cost per foot" front of the several pavements described This cost
includes the entire improvement, comprising grading, curbing, paving and catchbasins for a
thirty foot roadway, adding ten per cent, as estimated additional cost of street intersections :
Stone block pavement, . . $3 75 per square yard, $7 37 per foot front.
Asphalt pavement, . . . 2 75 per square yard. 5 53 per foot front.
Haydcn block pavement, . 2 20 per square yard. 4 53 per foot front.
•Hallwood block pavement, . . 2 10 per square yard. 4 35 per foot front.
Brick pavement, ... 1 90 per square yard. 4 00 per foot front.
A liberal sized city lot in Columbus has a frontage of fifty feet. It will be seen from the
foregoing table that the assessment on a fiftyfoot lot for the highestpriced pavement named
would be ^3'iS.50, and that on the lowestpriced pavement $200. As the assessments under
the Taylor Law are divided into from eight to twenty annual payments, it is readily seen
that the burden on property owners is not heavy compared with the benefits gained.
The curb used in Columbus is the bluish' gray sandstone known as Berea grit, from
quarries at Fulton and Berea, Ohio. The size commonly used is five inches thick by eigh-
teen inches deep, dressed to a bevel on top, corners rounded, and set in six in dies of gravel.
The curb lines in this city are good, and the general efifect of our finely paved streets bordered
by straight curb lines, with easy circle corners at all street intersections, is neat and har-
monious.
The new era of street improvement has brought with it many other things that have
added to the attractiveness of Columbus. No sooner is a street paved than a general
improvement follows in other respects. Houses are remodeled, lawns are beautified, trees are
planted and pride in general appearance stimulated. The entire character of the architec-
ture of our buildings has changed since street improvement began. Formerly the houses
were distinguished for their plainness and sameness. Now every variety of style can bo seen
on our streets and the improvement in architectural beauty is constantly increasing. With
good pavements have also come fine horses and carriages. Formerly there was no comfort
in driving over the mud-burdened streets and pleasure driving was rare. Now every family
that can afford it keeps its turnout, and the city is gay with equipages of all kinds. All of
these things have had an exhilarating effect on'the general business of the city. Some of
the more conservative citizens complain that street improvements are overdone, and that the
expense will cause financial distress and strain the credit of the city. The facts do not war-
rant any croaking of this nature. In round numbers the street improvements have cost four
million dollars and bonds have been sold to that amount. Over onequarter of these bonds
have already been paid off, which is considerably faster than bond purchasers had supposed
would be the ease. This proves that the people are promptly and cheerfully paying their
street assessments, which would not be the case if financial distress was to be the result. As
to straining the credit of the city, the truth is our bonds are in sireat demand, and on some
late sales three per cent, premium has been paid on six per cent improvement bonds, with a
maximum of only eight years to run. The bonds issued for improvements under the Taylor
Law are a loan of the credit of the city to the property owners, enabling them easily to pay
for street improvements by distributing the payment over a term of years. This results in
great increase in the value of the property, without immediate strain on the property hold-
er's ability to pay large assessments. The street improvement makes houses rent more read-
ily and at better prices, and thousands of vacant lots have found a market by reason of the
streets being paved, while otherwise the lots would have been in no demand. The rapidity
with which the property owners are repaying these loans shows that the plan is a wise one.
In conclusion, it can be confidently stated that the Capital City of Ohio leads the cities
of this country in the beauty, uniformity and utility of its paved streets, as well as in the
mileage of the same in proportion to its population. Some other cities have more miles of
some special kind of pavement, but Columbus is ahead of all other cities in giving a variety
of paved streets to suit the varied character of neighborhoods and in the general perfection
of all the street work that has been done. One of the sures' signs of a high state of civiliza-
tion and general intelligence of a community is a liberal expenditure in a variety of public
improvements. Chief of these should always be wellpaved streets, and the citizens of
Columbus may well be proud of what they have accomplished in this direction in the last six
vears.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
WATER SUPPLY, FIRE PROTECTION AND STREET LIGHTING.
The inhabitants of the borough and earlier city of Columbns derived their
water for domestic use entirely from wells and natural springs. Of the latter, as
has been described elsewhere, there were many, and in some instances the discliarge
ofthe.se natural fountains was copions and constant. An abundant supply was
also reached by shafting to a moderate depth, and it is fair to presume that much
of the water earliest in use was of a surface character, exposed in greater or less
degree to vegetable contamination. The frequent prevalence of febrile and diarrhoeal
disorders corroborates this theory. As the town grew in years and in population,
the water veins and deposits in the earth beneath it became more and more liable
to the infiltration of poison from animal as well as vegetable decay, until the purity
of no ordinary well could be implicitly trusted. To this sanitary nece.'^sity for new
and safer sources of supply was coupled that. for a readier and more copious one
for protection against fire.
Directly alter the meridian of the century was passed, these united demands
for cleaner and more plentiful water gained sufiicient force to compel action.
Accordingly, on April 18, 1853, Hon. William Dennison, then a member of the
City Council, offered a resolution, which was adopted, instructing the committee
on General Improvements to report on the practicability of establishing water-
works for the cit}-. Relative to this action we find the following contemporary
comment :'
About a year ago we discussed the subject [of water supply] at some length, and urged
the propriety of a survey of the Whetstone branch of the Scioto for the purpose of ascertain-
ing how far up it was necessary to go to get head enough to bring the water to all parts of the
city. We are satisfied that that point would be reached somewhere this side of Worthington.
An artesian well for Statehouse supply was about the same time suggested by
a newspaper cardwriter. In Swan's Elevator of April 24, 1854, this suggestion was
renewed, with the added remark: "The writer has long entertained the belief
that our city may be supplied, and abundantly supplied, with pure and whole.some
water by means of one or more of these wells." On June 9, 1856, Joseph Sullivant
addressed the council, by request, and illustrated his remarks by diagrams and
profiles. Mr. Sullivant's remarks were printed in pamphlet form, and an ordinance
was introduced providing for taking a vote of the people on the question of bor-
rowing money for the construction of waterworks, but further than this no action
was then taken. Thus matters rested until July, 1859, when a document appeared
in the Columbus Gazette memorializing the council to provide waterworks for the
city. The facts on which this memorial was based, it was stated, had been fur-
nished by M. J. Ball, of Jersey City, an expert in building " similar works." Mr,
[541]
54"2 History of the City of Columbus.
Ball's ]il!iM was to pipe water sufficient for 00,000 people ''from the ftills of the
Whetstone, a few miles north of the citj-." The estimated cost of this contrivance
was $275,000. The scheme contemplated the construction of a reservoir with an
area of eight acres, to be filled by a pump driven by the current of the river.
Besides supplj-ing the city, it was proposed to run a fountain, eighty feet in
diameter, on the Capitol Square. The work was to be guaranteed for two 3'ears.
In the council the memorial was referred to a committee, which subsequently, we
are told, made a vigorous investigation of the whole subject and presented plans
for consideration, " togetlier with specimens of the pipe used in various cities."
On November G, 1860, the original Neil House took fire and failed to bo
saved, it was said, because of scant water in the public cisterns and insufficiency
of hose to reach the river. This event revived, for a time, popular interest in the
subject of water supply, and various new waterworks schemes were broached.
One of these scliemes, suggested in the council, proposed to place a five-thousand-
gallon tank on top of a stone tower to be erected on the city lot on State Street,
between High and Front, this tank to be filled by pumping, and the water to be
piped thence to different parts of the city.
On Majr 18, 18G3, Mr. B. B. Armstrong moved in the council the appoint-
ment of a committee to '-inquire into the practicability of supplying the city of
Columbus with water." The motion was agreed to, and Messrs. B. B. Armstrong,
John Graham, G. Douty and John G. Thompson were appointed to execute its
instructions. In March, 1865, these gentlemen reported that they had, partly at
their own expense, inspected the methods of water supply in many prominent
cities, and had learned by surveys and analyses that the resources of the city
were ample for an abundant supply of good water. The surveys for the com-
mittee had been conducted by Philip D. Fisher, City Engineer. The analyses
were executed by Professor T. G. Wormley. Much valuable information was
acquired by these efforts, but in consequence of the Civil War then pending, and
tlie uncertain condition of the iron market, definite action was postponed.
In November, 1867, the City Council, accompanied by various I'epresentatives
of the local press, set out for an extended tour through the Bast for the alleged
purpose of obtaining information on the waterworks question. Eeturning from
this expedition, the council, on December 23, directed the City Engineer to make
fresh surveys, plats and reports of cost. On the same date an ordinance was
introduced by B. B. Armstrong providing for taking a vote of the people as to
the issue of waterworks bonds to the amount of $500,000. On February 10,
1868, this ordinatice, so amended as to postpone the time of the election until the first
Monday in May, was passed. About the same time a communication froni
Professor Wormley was j^ublished stating that numerous wells in the city were
dangerously impregnateil with organic matter. The professor recommended that
the cit}- take its water from the Whetstone River, which he deemed sufficiently
pure for domestic use. Another writer stated that the steam boilers then in use
looked " like honey combs," so encrusted were they by the " limestone water."
During the night of November 18, 1868, the Central Asylum for the Insane
took fire and was completely destroyed. The progress of the flames was not par-
ticularly rapid, \ et so insufficient was the water supply that the great building-
could not be saved, and several lives were lost. By this impressive disaster the
waterworks movement was given an imjjetus which finally resulted in something
decisive. On November 23, 1868, the council appointed a new committee, with
instructions to visit Lockport and Auburn, New York, and there inspect the
Holly Manufacturing Company's system of water supply. In December this
committee, the members of which were L. Donaldson, J. Reinhard, William
Naghten, B. B. Armstrong, James Patterson, H. W. Jaeger and C. P. L. Butler,
reported recommending that the Holly system be adopted for Columbus.
Water Supply. 548
On September 20, 1869; a committee of the council I'cpoi-ted a ]ii'oposition
from the Holly Manufacturing Company to furnish two elliptic rotary iiuin])s to
throw simultaneously six oneinch streams 150 feet without interrujjtiny a su])ply
to the city of 4,000,000 gallons daily; also one gang pump with capacity' to throw
2,000,000 gallons daily; the whole to be delivered, with necessary steam engines,
for $55,000.'' On February 14, 1870, an eifort was made to enjoin performance of a
contract made by the council with the Holly Company, but without success.
Finally, on February 15, 1870, an ordinance was passed which provided :
That a supply of water shall be provided for the city by the construction of waterworks
upon the system known as the Holly Waterworks, in accordance with the contract entered
into by the city and the Holly Manufacturing Company, as approved by the City Council on
the seventh day of February, A. D. 1870, which contract is hereby ratified and" confirmed.^
This ordinance further provided that buildings and machinery appropriate
for the purpose named should be erected on ground to be purchased near the
mouth of the Whetstone Eiver, and established a board of " trustees of water-
works," comprising three members, one of whom should be elected annuallj' for
the term of three years; salary |100 per annum. Eight acres of land located as
indicated in the ordinance were purchased of W. A. Neil for $8,000 ; plans and
specifications for buildings thereon were submitted to the trustees by N. B. Kelley,
and accepted; Mr. Kelley was appointed architect and superintendent; engage-
ments were made for piping and trenching, and on July 22, 1870, a contract for
the buildings was awarded to P. A. Schlapp.
The laj'ing of waterpipe began September 12 ; a cavity called '■ a huge well "
was sunk into the gravel beds forming the basin of the Whetstone, and on Novem-
ber 12 it was announced that the gauge at the waterworks showed a supply of
two million gallons per day. In February, 1871, a schedule of rates for domestic
consumption was arranged and, on March 6, same year, the water was let into the
pipes and the first water rent was paid into the County Treasury by E. B. Arm-
strong, Secretary of the Board of Trustees. Up to this time five miles of piping
had been laid; about seventy miles more were put down daring the ensuing
season. The amount expended on the works up to November, 1871, was stated
at $449,700. The number of permits taken out the first year was 736. In 1873
filtering galleries were excavated from the well ; in 1874 the piping was extended
to the State Fair grounds, more land was purchased and the equipment was rein-
forced with additional machinery. The two engines first put in had ajoint capac-
ity to pump 7,000,000 gallons per day. In February, 1884, another engine was
purchased, with a daily capacity of about 9,000,000 gallons. The cost of the
entire water plant of the city as it existed in 1885 was $1,700,000. Up to that
time about 7,000 feet of filtering galleries had been driven. These galleries were
excavated over twenty feet below the surface of the ground, and extended under
the Whetstone and Scioto. Main pipes carrying the water to the new State Fair
grounds were laid in 1886.
In 1887 the pumping machinery of the works comprised two Holly qiiadru-
plex condensing engines having a daily capacity of four million gallons each, and
one Gaskell horizontal compound condensing engine with a daily capacity often mil-
lion gallons. In January, 1888, a contract was awarded to the Holly Company for an
additional duplex condensing engine costing $73,000, and having a daily capacity
of fifteen million gallons. Meanwhile a serious doubt had arisen as to the capac-
ity of the waterworks to supply the whole city, and particularly the eastern part
of it, in time of drought or any special emergency. Two plans for removing
this doubt were considered; first, that of multiplying the filtering galleries;
second, that of establishing a new pumping station near Alum Creek. The
latter plan prevailed, and on February 1, 1889, the waterworks trustees, by author-
544 History of the City of Columbus.
ily of the City Council, purchased of William B. Hayden, for a pumpinc; station,
seven acres of ground situated on tiie west bank of Alum Creek, near the Balti-
more & Ohio Railway. The price paiil for the land was $4,000. This action was
taken in accordance with a special rejjort by Professor Edward Orton as to the
waterbearing qualities of the geological formations in the Alum Creek valley, and
also in accordance witii the recommendations of Thomas 11. Johnson, a civil
engineer who had been employed to investigate the subterranean currents of the
valley by borings.
On the grounds thus tested and purchased a well was sunk, a brick building
erected and two large Holly engines placed in po.sition. These engines wore first
put in motion on May 6, 1891. Their capacity is 7,500,000 gallons per day.
Water is furnished from this station to the eastern portion of the city as far west
as Grant Avenue. Its summer temperature is about fiftytwo degrees; its quality,
as shown b}- analysis, excellent. Additional particulars as to the quality and
geological conditions of the water supply of the citj- will be found in Chaiiter
XXXIII of Volume I.
FIRE PROTECTION.
The need of apparatus for quenching fire in the borough of Columbus was felt
as earlj- as 1819, and the legislature was requested to provide it. As the forest
trees were cut away, the little village on the " high bank opposite Franklinton "'
became more and more exposed to the winds which, should a fire break out, might
make swift work with the State buildings, to saj' nothing of the wooden cabins of
the settlers. Nevertheless the people of the borough seem to have gotten along
without any serious disasters of this kind until 1822, in which year the writer'' of
a private letter which has come under the author's inspectionstated, under date
ot March 15 : " The first fire of any consequence that ever took place in this town
happened a few weeks since. Eight buildings were consumed. They were all
small shops, except one dwelling house."" Probably it was this event which
impelled the council to pass, on Februarj^ 21, 1822, "an ordinance to prevent
destruction by fire in the borough of Columbus," the first section of w-hich
enacted :
That there shall be formed, by enrollment at the Mayor's office in said borough, the fol-
lowing companies, to wit: One Hook and Axe Company consisting of fifteen men; one Lad-
der Company consisting of twelve men, and one company consi.stiiig of twelve men, as a
guard to property.
The ordinance proceeded to state how these companies should be organized ;
authorized the maj-or and council to fill them up by drafting, if necessary; pro-
vided that a residue of citizens, between 15 and 50 years of age, should serve as
" bucket men ; " required the appointment of " one Supreme Director at all fires,"
with authority to command all present; and made it the duty of the town mar-
shal, "upon the first alarm of fire" to "ring or cause to be rung the bell." The
ordinance further directed that the borough should be inspected with reference to
protection against fire four times a year; commanded the mayor to procure, at
public expense, " two long ladders, four axes, four short ladders, [and] two hooks,"
for the use of the fire companies; and required each owner or occupant of a
dwelling, store or shop to " furnish as many water buckets of good jacked lealher,
each to contain ten quarts," as the "committee of safetj' " shouhl direct. On
#
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Fire Protection. 545
March 7 the ninrshal was directed to notify the occupants of tenements as to the
number of bucliets they would be obliged to keep. On December 22, 1822, the
General Assembly was again asked to make "an appropriation for the purpose of
procuring a fire engine," and at the next meeting of the council the Mayor and
Recorder were appointed a committee on that suiiject. On July 14, 1823, the Gov-
ernor reported that an engine was engaged in Philadelphia.
On January 29, 1824, permission was sought, from the General Assembly, to
erect an enginehouse on the Public Square, east of the Statehouse, and on March
12, 1825, a list of householders (112) and the number of firebuckets required (247)
was reported. In November of the same year the committee of safety was
renewed An ordinance of 1826 makes the owners and possessors of firebuckets
responsible for their preservation in a state of readiness for use, under penalty of
a fine. An old citizen informs the writer that a fire in the Penitentiary, in 1830,
was quenched by ibrming two rows of men, one of which passed buckets of water
up from the river while the other passed the buckets back again. The water was
poured from the buckets into a hand engine consisting of a forcepnmp worked bj'
levers moving up and down, and called " The Tub."" An ordinance of December
14, 1831, provided :
That there shall be paid out of tlie Treasury of tlie Corporation, to any member of the
Fire company who sliall be first at the engine house in case of alarm, when any building in
sail! Borough may be found on lire, the sum of five dollars; and there shall be paid to the
member which shall be second at the engine liouse as aforesaid, four dollars ; and to the
member who shall be third as aforesaid, three dollars; when more than one arrive at the
same time, they shall decide who is first by lot ; the money shall be paid on certificate of the
Captain to the Mayor, who shall draw an or.ler on the Treasurer for the amount ; Provided
always that nothing sliall be paid in cases of false alarm.
This ordinance made it the duty of " the Committee of Safety to go round
and see that all chimneys, stovepipes, smith shops and other places where fire is
issued are secure and safe," and imposed upon all users of chimneys and flues the
duty of keeping them clean and making their fireplaces safe under penally of a
fine. In May, 1833, the first volunteer fire company — William A. Gill, engineer
— met at the office of W. A. Gill & Co. to elect ofl[icers. A letter by Joseph Eidg-
way. Junior, road at a firemen's supper in 1849, m;ide the following statements:
By reference to the proceedings of the City Council on the eighth of December, 1834,
[it appears that] a petition was presented on behalf of the Fire Companies by iVIatthew J.
Gilbert, a gentleman long associated with the Department, . . . intended to call the atten-
tion of the Council to the importance of a more thorough organization of the Department,
and a committee consisting of iMessrs. McCoy, Heyl, Stewart and Kidgway, was appointed
to consider its expediency, which committee, tlirough Mr. McCoy, their chairman, reported
favorably on the twentyninth of December, 1834. At a subsequent meeting, on the twenty-
eighth of February, 1835, the committee was instructed to procure two good engines, with
the necessary hose, and on the eleventh of May following William Heyl, from that com-
mittee, reported a contract with Messrs. Chase & t-'eymour of Cincinnati.
The ordinance which, with slight modifications, still continues in force, was reported on
the eighth and passed by the Council on the eleventh of June. On the thirteenth of July a
committee was appointed to furnish a plan for the Engine House, which house was completed
so that the engines were received from Cincinnati and placed in it on the thirtieth day of
No\«ember, 1835. Since that time the fire companies have been constantly organized, and
although, during the former part of the time, not under the most perfect discipline, yet,
when duty called, they were ever ready, so far as lay in them, to protect the property of
their neighbors. During the latter part of the time which has intervened since the first
formation of this department it is due to the companies to say that their discipline, in gen-
eral, has been very complete.
546 History of the City op Columbus.
On July 25, 1835, a contract was made for the erection of an engineliousc at
a cost of $1,000,. and on the 8ame date it was ordered that four new wells be diiy
near the points designated for public cisterns, " to be supplied with a good pump
in each ... in order to supply the public cisterns with water instead of bringing
the water from a spring in pipes, as formerly contemplated." On August 10,
same year, fire cisterns, each costing $130 and having a capacity of 6,000 gallons,
were contracted for, and a fire warden for each ward was appointed. The cisterns
were to be situated at the intersections of High Street with Broad, State, Town,
Jiich and Friend.
The ordinance of June 11, 1835, referred to in Mr. Eidgway's letter, established
a eompanj^ of fire wardens, one of fire guards, a protection society, a hook and
ladder company and an engine and hose company, each of these oi'ganizations to
be composed of volunteer members, exempt Irom military duty, and holding their
ajipointments at the pleasure of the council. To the protection society, numbering
not over tiftj' members, was assigned the duty of removal and protection of prop-
erty during fires. The fire guards were expected, on the outbreak of a fire, to
form a line of sentinels surrounding the same, and permit none to pass except
members of the protection society and fire companies. Each fire engine was to be
manned by not over fifty men ; the hook and ladder company numbered fort_\ men.
Participation in the organizations provided for by this ordinance was quite
active at first, but after a time lost its novelty and became languid. In 1837 the
fire engine companies had become so indifferent to their meetings and practice that
their dissolution was seriously proposed. When a fire broke out scarcely men
enough appeared to " man the brakes." During the latter part of 1837 efi"ort8
were made to revive interest in the fire service, but without success. Fire inspec-
tion, however, was continued, the apparatus was said to be in good condition, and
in 1838 we read of meetings of the hook and ladder company, the protection
societj' and the fire guards.
On August 29, 1839, William Neil's steam sawmill, near the Penitentiary, was
burned, togetlier with 40,000 feet of lumber. This fire was supposed to be of
incendiary origin. On April 17, 1841, a fire broke out " in the frame buildings
between the National Hotel and the Eagle Coifeehouse." The buildings were
destroyed, and the inmates, many of whom were needy, were assisted b}' private
donations. These mishaps seem to have imparted a fresh stimulus to the organ-
ization of fire service, for in the Ohio Statesman of November 29, 1842, we read :
We are pleased to see that our City Council has resolved to encourage our Fire com-
panies.' They are now most efficiently organized, and exceedingly prompt. . . . Our fire
companies deserve the praise and gratitude of every citizen for the energy and perseverance
they have shown in perfecting tlieir organization and discipline.
The Statesman of later date makes the following references to the earlier
fire organizations :
TheNiagaraand Constitution were the pioneers, afterwards contemporary with the Frank-
lin and Scioto and followed by the Fame. At the same time the Neptune Hose Company
flourished under command of Billy Flintham, an old sailor and a character too conspfcuous
in fire annals to be left unnoticed. . . . The " boys, " as they were familiarly called, were
divided into two brigades, the Northern and Southern. The engines belonging to the former
■were located in the Statehouse square, and those of the latter near the corner of High and
Mound. There was the most energetic rivalry between the brigades, which always took
active shape at the election of Chief Engineer. Messrs. John Miller, Alexander McCoy,
William McCoy, William Westwater, G. M. Swan, John Weaver and other prominent citizens
served at different times in this capacity, and had command of as efficient a force of volunteer
firemen as ever operated on the continent.
Fire Protection. 547
The Statesman proceeds to narrate the particulars of a drenching given to a
notorious nest on West State Street, between Clinton Baiii< and the Tontine Coffee-
house under pretense of putting out a fire, and continues:
About the year 1842 [actually 1843] there was a startling succession of fires, generally
trifling in their results, for several months, evidently the work of incendiaries. Citizens
were detailed secretly to patrol the streets, but still the fires continued in the destruction of
Taylor's tannery on Gay street, one very cold night, ^o cold was it that the water in the
hose and suction pipes froze up, and the work of thawing them out was a heavy one. . . .
It was pubsequf ntly ascertained that the succession of fires was the work of a party of boys
belonging to respectable families, who took this method of amusing themselves.
Of two new engines manufactured for Columbus b}' John Agnew, of Philadel-
phia in 1842, one was named the Franklin, the other the Scioto. New public cis-
terns, ordered in 1841, were dug at the following street intersections : Third with
State, Town and Friend ; High and Gaj' ; Mound and High ; and Front Street
with Broad, State and Rich. Apro])08 of the burning of Taylor's tannery, above
referred to, the following card, characteristic of the fire service of the period, was
published :
The members of the Neptune Hose No. 1 tender their thanks for refreshments so liber-
ally furnished by Mrs. Backus, Col. Samuel Medary, Messrs. Taylors, and all others who con-
tributed to their comfort on the night of the fifteenth instant. 8. B. Fay, Secretary.
Thanks for like courtesies received during the tannery fire were tendered by
the Niagara Company Number One, the Franklin Engine Company, and the Con-
stitution Fire Association. During the evening of March 12, 1844, the members of
the Columbus Fire Department, 400 strong, held a torchlight parade, after which
they sat down to supper, the Niagara Engine Company and ('aptain Sheffield's
Hook and Ladder Company at the American House, the Spartan Hook and Lad-
der Company at the Franklin House, and the Franklin Engine Company at the
Neil House. At the Franklin Company's festivities the following song was sung
with great glee :
Hark, comrades, hark, that tolling bell !
And see yon smoky colunm swell!
A fire! a fire! list how they shout;
And we must haste to put it out.
O get along f;ist, ye Franklin boys
Nor own your strength declining ;
O get along fast, ye ITranklin boys
To where yon light is shining.
The Constitution, bold and strong,
With rushing speed now comes along,
But all in vain their strength and will
The Franklin will be foremost still.
O get along fast, etc.
And hark, those sounds of " clear the way,"
And give the swift Scioto play ;
Yes, give her room, and puUeach man
The Franklin still will lead the van.
O get along fast, etc.
And hark ! what shouts are those we hear,
Of distant and of feeble cheer ?
It is Niagara's friendly crew
548 History of the City of Columbus.
With will, but not the might to do.
0 get along fast, etc.
And here we are, first of the throng ;
Come, hosemen, string the hose along,
And soon the water we will throw
And make those swelling flames look low.
Then work away, ye Franklin boys.
Though others are returning;
We'll work away, my Franklin boys,
W^hile a spark of fire is burning.
And see, the flre has ceased to burn ;
Comrades, we will now return ;
And as we course our way along,
We'll blithely chant our tav'rite song.
O get along home, ye Franklin boys.
Nor own your strength declining;
0 get along home, ye Franklin boys,
For the light no more is shining.
A tire occurred in the Hoster brewery September 28, and one in Finney's dry-
house in the Penitentiary December 16, 1845. On December 28, same year, a
building belonging to Bela Latham was destroyed ; owing to scarcity of water, the
firemen could only save the neighboring property. Some frame buildings
between the City and Exchange banks, on High Street, were partially burned
November 15, 1846. A fire in William Neil's block, a short distance south of the
Neil House, on February 10, 1847, destroyed the two upper stories, and obliged
various business establishments on the ground floor to vacate. A long ordinance,
of twentysix sections, to provide for the prevention and extinction of fires and the
regulation of fire companies, was passed February 25, 1848. It was substantially
a reeuactment, with amendments and supplements, of the previous ordinances on
the same subjects. Firemen were exempted by it from militarj^ and jury service,
and were entitled to certificates of membership from the City Recorder ; each
company was authorized to enact its own rules, and each was permitted to enroll
voluDteers, but subject to the acceptance and control of the council, which might
displace individuals or whole companies tor misconduct. All fire company oflScers
were vested with police powers during the fire; the protection society, fire war-
dens and fire guards were retained. The Old Zack Engine Company, the
Salamander Hook and Ladder Company and the Relief and Phenix Hose Com-
panies flourished in 1848. All through the forties and fifties various social festivi-
ties and holiday celebrations by the fire compaoies of the city are spoken of. On
April 18, 1849, the Columbus Engine Company was organized, and its advent was
made the occasion for a general afternoon parade of the department, followed, in
the evening, by a banquet at the Odeon. The organizations which took part in
the parade were the Old Zack, Scioto, Columbus and Franklin Engine, the
Spartan and Salamander Hook and Ladder and the Phenix, Relief and Neptune
Hose. These seem to have been all the fire organizations then existing in the
city, though we hear of the Eagle Engine Company during the following year.
The frequency of incendiary fires was again complained of in 1849. During
a period of drought in the autumn of 1850 the public cisterns were filled by
pumping water tiirough the fire hose from the river. The purchase of a stationary
engine for this purpose, as a permanent service, was about the same time talked
of. On August 2, 1850, a new hand engine, costing $1,800, was ordered. On
January 7 and 8, 1851, the Fame Engine and Hornet Hose companies held a bene-
Fire Protection. 549
fit fair and ball at the Odeoii. These etforts to raise money were so meagorly
responded to by the citizens that the companies resolved to disband and signed a
rather petulant pledge never to join another fire organization "until better
arrangements for the protection and benefit of the firemen " should be made.
The residue of funds belonging to the disbanding companies were donated to tlie
Female Benevolent Society. On the thirteenth of the ensuing October new com-
panies bearing the names of Fame Engine, aTid Hornet Hose, were accepted by
the Cit}- Council. On August 11, 1851, three lots were purchased as sites for
enginehouses. One of these lots was situated on Third Street, between Sugar
Alley and Town; one on Gaj', near High; an<l one on State between High and
Front. The Old Statehouse fell a prey to the flames on February 1, 1852. A
firemen's parade on July 4 of that year is thus spoken of by the Ohio Statesman:
The tasteful and becomina; uniform and dress and reyalia of the men, the beautiful flags
and banners, and the elaborate decorations of the engines as the cortege marched through
the streets, presented one of the finest spectacles our eyes ever looked upon.
The same paper of August 10, 1852, said ;
When we get the alarm bell in operation, our firemen will be saved a great deal of
trouble. Heretofore they have been often compelled to run three quarters of a mile before
they could by any means discover the location of the fire.
An ordinance of 1853 forbidding the fire companies to run their machines on
the sidewalks gave tiiem great offense. On July 13 the South I-Srigade. compris-
ing the Scioto Fire, the PhenixHose and Spartan Hook and Ladder, ad(i]ited reso-
lutions declaring they would no longer serve as firemen, and imiting the North
Brigade to take similar action. On July 15 the Eagle Fire Com))any resolved to
disband unless the ordinance should be repealed. The North Brigade took simi-
lar action July 16. The Fame Engine Company did not disband. At the sugges-
tion of the Chief Engineer new companies under the names of the disbanded ones
were organized. An ordinance of August 15, 1853, fixed the salary of the Chief
Engineer at $100. After this we hear of numerous balls and festivals by the
different companies, and everything seems to have gone along smoothly. In June,
1854, the new enginehouse on Gay Street, then nearing completion, was ecstati-
cally described.
The troubles with the volunteer firemen probably hastened measures for pro-
viding a permanent and paid fire service. At any rate, on May 21, 1855, a con-
tract for a steam fire engine was closed with A. B. & E. Latta. The new engine
arrived on November 2 next following, was named Columbus, and was placed in
the engine house then recently erected" on Third Street. Its cost was S6,000; its
advent was celebrated bj' a " congratulatory supper" at the Neil House. It was
described as a " ponderous affair, drawn by three horses and attended by an army
of firemen." The volunteer companies regarded it with extreme jealousy, and
derisively named it " Bull of the Woods." So intense was the feeling on this
subject that the Fame Engine and Niagara Hose companies disbanded, and the
handmachines were mutilated and abandoned. A fire in Hyde & Sehlapp's sash
factory on August 6, 1855, developed the fact that these mac+iines were so poorly
manned, and had been purposely so disabled as to be of little use. One of them, the
Franklin, was taken back to the engine house while the fire was raging. In
short, the anticipation of supersedure by the steam machine threw the volunteer
dejiartmeut into a state of complete demoralization.
Meanwhile the council had passed an ordinance designed to reorganize the
fire service, but which, by confused investiture of the control of the service as
between the chairman of its Fire Department Committee and the Fire Engineer,
seems to have jjroduced a great deal of dissension. After a prolonged contest,
550 History of the City of Columbus.
Charles M. Eidgway was elected Chief Engineer on the one hundred seventieth
ballot. The new ordinance provided :
That the Fire Department of this city shall consist of one Chief Engineer and one
assistant fur the entire department ; one captain, one lientenant and forty men for each hand
company; one operator and machinist; one assistant operator and fireman; three drivers
and horsemen and pipemen for a steam fire engine ; and as many hook and ladder men, not
exceeding twentyflve, as the number and quality of the fire apparatus belonging to the city
shall from time to time require.
Unable to agree with the Fire Committee the operators of the steam engine
threw up their positions in disgust. Worse still, the engine failed to do what was
expected of it. The four story furniture factory of Brotherlin & Halm took fire
one very cold night in Februarj-, 1856, and burned to the ground in thirtyfive
minutes. " The steam fire engine was on the ground,'" said the State Journal,
" but owing to the extreme cold of the weather, the thermometer being at lti°
below zei-o, was unable to throw a drop of water owing to ilio freezing of the
water in the suction pipes." The same paper, referring to a fire in Hall, Brown
& Company's dryhouse in the Penitentiary on February 6, same 3'ear, said : " The
steam engine was sent for and immediately put into service, but the machine was
in operation onlj- a i'ew minutes when it was rendered entirely useless bj- the
water freezing in the hose. " Under dale of March 7, 185(i, we have these state-
ments :
The Columbus Fire Department is composed of two unequal parts — the ornamental
and the useful The ornamental but by no manner of means useful partis called the com-
mittee of the council on the Fire Department. Tlie useful, but not at all ornamental, is com-
posed of one Chief Engineer, one operator, five men, five horses, three wheels and a great
squirt.
In this state of affairs a handengine company was organized on March 15,
1856, and asked for the Franklin engine and the Niagara hosecarriage. The Cap-
tain of this company was James Westwater. On May 3, 1856, Eidgway & Kim-
ball's car factory, on the west bank of the Scioto, fell a prey to the flames. The
Franklin Engine Company was jjrompflj' on hand, and saved the adjoining build-
ings. The steam fire engine could not render any service because its chimney was
too high to let it go through the bridge, and for the additional reason that if it
could have got through it might have set the bridge on fire.
On May 11, 1856, a new ordinance for reorganization of the Fire Department
was passed. This measure repealed all antecedent legislation for the department,
and vested its control entirely in the Fire Committee. Charles Ridgway resigned
as Chief Engineer and Mr. Trowbridge was chosen his successor. A new engine
house was provided for, to be erected on a High Street lot owned by the city,
opposite the Montgomery House. In June, 1856, it was announced that the steam
fire engine had been put in complete order, having been entirely "overhauled by
the new engineer, Mr. Trowbridge, under the direction of Mr. Latta, the builder."
St. Paul's Lutheran Church took fire October 10, 1856, and was destroyed, except-
ing its walls. A seri«us partof the loss was that of the organ, which had cost 82,300.
The steamer and one handengine were present, "but from the situation of the
buildings they were unable to throw water directly on the fire." C. F. L. But-
ler's baker3' was burned March 29, 1857. The Ohio Statesma7i of April 1, that
year, contained the following :
On the door of the Steam Fire Engine house is posted the motto semper paratiLs. A
countryman, on seeing it, walked into the house, and addressing the engineer, said he would
like to'look at some of his " sample purtators."
Fire Protection. 551
Od March 12, 1857, u state Firemen's Convention was held in Colunibus.
About tifiy delegates were present. On June 8, same year, the sale of a part or
uU of the handengines was ordered by the council. The steam engine acquitted
itself with credit during a fire in the Penitentiary shops October 23. Its services
on that occasion more than paid, it was said, for its cost. In April, 1858, a hose
company was organized. The city was at that time provided with forlyfive pub-
lic cisterns and as many wells. A new independent fire company called the
Columbian Independent Hook and Lailder Cniniiany was organized in August,
and a new hand engine, named the Cd/iitiil, arrived in September. The Lafayette
Hose and Engine Companj' and the Aiucrican Hook and Ladder Company were
contemporarj- organizations The Fame Fire Company was reorganized and revived
in 1859; the old Franklin engine was about the same time fitted up and put into
service. The Lafa^-ette company was disbanded in May for want of pecuniary
encouragement. On September 5, 1859, the council passed a resolution to sell the
steam fire engine, with its entire equipment, and " organize good and efficient hand
companies ill each ward in the city," which, the resolution added, " are all suffi-
cient for the protection of the city and a greater protection to the pockets of the
taxpayers. "
Uui'ing the night of October 18, 1859, the Columbus Machine Manufacturing
Company's works were in part destroyed. The steamer was run down to the
river on the oast side and its hose extended to the fire through the bridge. On
November 21, 1859, the council passed an ordinance reducing the paid force of the
Steam Fire Department to two members — the engineer and a helper — and pro-
viding for the organization of a volunteer hose company.
The burning of the Neil House on November 6, 1860, may be considered a
turning point in the history of the Columbus service. By that event the service
and its equipment, as they then existed, were shown to bo far from commensurate
with the growth and magnitude of the city. Insufficiency of water and inade-
quacy of means to apply it were alike demonstrated. The council was there-
fore impelled to take action and appointed a special committee to investigate and
report upon the condition and needs of the Fire Department. That committee
reported on November 19, as follows : The steamer, not in service, requires exten-
sive repairs ; the Capital and Fame hand engines in service ; hose and hose reels
in good order. On receiving this report, the council authorized the purchase of
three hand engines — including two small ones — and such additional hose and
other apparatus as were needed. A resolution was adopted on the same occasion
providing for the appointment of a committee to investigate as to the merits of
the rotary steam fire engine constructed by H. C. Silsby, of Seneca Falls, New
York. On December 6, 1860, one of these engines was put on trial in Columbus,
bj' its manufacturers, and produced such satisfactory results that its purchase,
together with that of an additional steamer of same kind and capacity, was
recommended and ordered.* The order for the purchase of handengines was
rescinded. An ordinance of November ' 26, 1860, created the office of chief
engineer, the incumbent of which was vested with control and supervision of the
entire Fire Department, with police authority to arrest disobedient members;
salar}', $600 ; term, one year. John Miller was appointed to this position by the
council. The Capital City Fire Company, a new organization accepted by the
council December 10, asked to be put in charge of the Capital engine and hose
carriage. The first Silsby steamer ordered by the council was received in Febru-
ary, 1861 ; cost $3,250.' A companion machine followed a few weeks later. The
machine assigned to the Gay Street enginehouse was named Joseph Bidgway,
Junior ; that at the Third Street house, Benjamin Blake. The old steamer, at this
time known as the Fire Fly, was sold in October, 1862, at public auction. In
March, 1863, numerous fires occured in rapid succession, and were believed to be
552 History (if the City cif Colijibus.
the work of incendiaries. A new Silsby steamer was tested and accepted on July
24, 1863. Uuriug the ensuinij November John Miller resigned as Chief Engineer
and was succeeded hy Isaac H. Marrow. When Mr Miller first entered upon his
duties he found the Fire Department in a most deplorable condition ; without
head, organization or confidence. He left it in an excellent state of efEciencj-.
His successor, soon after entering upon his duties, organized a system of fire
alarm by church bells to be rung by policemen. For this purpose the city
was divided into five districts. The number of strokes given upon ti.e bell
denoted the number of the district where the fire was located. In his report for
the year ended April 1, 1865, the Fire Chief, Colonel Marrow, recommended that
a system of telegraphic signals be provided. This recommendation was repeated
in the report of the same officer for 1866. T. B. AsJltbury's carriage manufixctory,
corner ot Third and Eich streets, was burned April 23, 1865 ; on June 22, same year,
John A. Shannon's factory of the same character, on Scioto Street, met the same
f:ite. The burning of the Shannon establishment was said to have been the largest
fire which up to that time had taken place in the city, except the burning of the
Neil House.
In his report for the year ended April 1, 1867, Chief Engineer Marrow
reported that the fire losses for that year had amounled to 817,962 23, and that
the city at that time possessed sixtytwo cisterns and fortvfive wells, with an
aggregate capacity of 697,064 gaUoi.s. The construeti.m of fifty additional cis-
terns was recommended. The Scioto Rive)-, it was state I, was n(jt available as a
source of water supply owing to the bad condition of its front on Canal Street.
Under an ordinance of Februarj' 12, 1866, the F'ire Engineer had been charged u ith
the duty of inspecting and certifying as to the safety of all new buildings. The
construction of an electric fire alarm telegraph was again urged. In pursuance of
the recommendations of this report the council appropriated §5,000 for the con-
struction of ten new cisterns.
On October 21, 1867, the City Council accepted a proposition from 11. C.
Silsl)y to build a steam fire engine for the city and repair the Third Street engine,
for 8(3,000. Five barns in Noble Alley were burne.i October 29. On November 2
a fire in the Penitentiary shops caused a loss of 870,000. The new steam fire
engine arrived in December, and was named L. Donaldson. A contract with
Gamcwell & Company for a fire alarm telegraph was ratified by the council in
February, 1868; contract price, 84,500. In a message of this year the Mayor spoke
of the Fire Depai'tment of Columbus as the best organization of the kind in the
West. The entire working force of the department had been newly uniformed;
blue pantaloons, coat, cap and vest, and blue shirt. The badges consisted of the
legend "C. F. D ," in a silver wreath, worn on the cap, and a si'ver shield bearing
the same letters, the engine number and the image oi' an eagle, worn on the
breast. Exceptins: the badges and caps, the uniforms were paid for by the men
On August 10, 1868, William S. Huffman was appointed Fire Engineer, vice Isaac
H. Marrow, resigned. On September 15, same year, a firemen's State convention
was held at the (^ity Hall. An appropriation of 83,000 to connect the State insti-
tutions with the enginehouse by telegraph was inserted in the appropriation bill
by the House of Representatives April 22, 1868. The appropriation had previ-
ously been stricken from the bill. On April 27, same year, the work of putting
the fireahirm telegraph in position was begun.'"
The force and equipment of the department on April 1, 1869, were thus stated :
One chief engineer, one superintendent of fire alarm telegraph, three steamer
engines, three foremen, three enginedrivers. three horsemen, two truckmen, four
steamers, four carriai^cs, one hook and ladder apparatus, ten horses and a supply
of hose. The city possessed fiflyfour wells and seventytwo cisterns. On April
12,1869 Henry Heinmiller succeeded William S. Huffman as Chief Engineer."
Fire Protection. 553
The steamer T^u/f/fCrty, which had become almost useless, was recoDstiucted, this
3ear, at the Franklin Maciiine Works.
The Columbus Woolen Factory, erected in 1851, was destroyed by fire August
4, 1870; estimated loss, $75,000. In December, 1871, the fire alarm telegraph
system was comjilcted. The works of the Columbus Cabinet Company were
burned October 30, 1872. In November of that year a volunteer tire company
was organized by Chief Heinmillerto work the steamers during disabiliiy of the
iiorses of the department from e])izootic. Tlie Iron Buggy Company's building
was destroyed bv fire ilay 27, and a part of the Gill carworks on June 26, 1874.
The Fhnvers eng'inehouse,' on North High Street, neared its completion in July of
that j'ear. The purchase of a Babcock truckwagon, with chemical fire extin-
guishers, was authorized June 29. Anderson's pnpermill was burned April 15,
1875.
After the Holly system of water su]>ply had been introduced and fairly tested
the belief was entertained by many that the steamers, then four in number, were
no longer necessary-. Chief Ileinmiller maintained the opposite view, which
experience has since fully justified. The cisterns were maintained for several
years as a reserve to be resorted to in ease of bursting of the waterpii)es. On
July 12, 1875, the council accepted the following proposition from the insurance
companies represented in Columbus :
That ihey will purchase, for the use of the city, at their own expense, one chemical
engine and salvage wagon combined [and equipped, the entire outfit to cost not less than
$2,500, and] . . . will forthwith organize and equip a competent salvage corps consisting of
at least twelve men [to be under the control of the Fire Marshal, to act as a special fire
police, and to be paid by the insurance companies ; provided the city would] furnish suita-
ble room for storing said" apparatus and also furnish one span of horses and the keeping of
the same [and employ and p ly one pipeman and one driver].
The new South High Street enginehouse was formallj- opened with feasting
and speeches February 8, 1877. The warehouse of Keyes & Company, near the
Broad Street bridge, was burned May 22, and that of McAlister & Sons, corner of
Naghten and Fourth, on October 27, same year. On June 27, 1878, the Franklin
County Infirmary buildings, and on August 13, same year, Anderson's paper mill
were partially burned. Monj'peny's warehouse, on the west side of the river,
was burned during the night of March 2, 1879; estimated loss, 170,000. Doney &
Dent's elevator, on West Friend Street, was destroyed during the night of March
5, same year. This was one of several fires believed to be incendiary, and prolia-
bly the work of dischai-ged convicts. So numerous were the fires in March, 1879,
that much excitement prevailed, ])ublic meetings were held, and the city was, dur-
ing several nights, ]ilaecd under military patrol and guard. Thomas Bergin's
warehouse and (i. \V. Weinman's machine shop were burned September 7. The
snm of S5,0UU was ajipropriated in 1879 for enginehouses on Oak and West Broad
streets.
The purchase of a chemical engine, at a cost of 82,250, and of a fourwheeled
hose carriage costing $700, was authorized February 16, 1880, a condemned
steamer to be turned in as jjart pay at $500. The chemical engine was placed in
service at the Gay Street enginehouse February 21, next ensuing. An association
of survivors of the Fame Engine and the Hornet and Niagara Hose companies was
organized August 13, 1880. On September 6, same year, D. D. Tresenridei- was
appointed Fire Engineer vice Homy Heinmiller, who had served eleven j'cars.
A testimoni:il in silverware was presented to the retiring engineer by the men of
the department. On charges m";ide by foi-mcr employes Engineer Ti-esenrider
was suspended from office on March 2, 1882, by the m.-.'yor. The council r.dnsed
to concur in this action, and directed Mr. Tresenrider to resume the duties of
Chief Engineer. The controversy was terininated April 25, by a decision of the
554 History of the City op Columbus.
Supreme Court sustaining the City Council. The planing mill of Slade & Kolton
was burned June 26, 1882; that of W. A. Hershiser on May 10, 1883. Wesley
Chapel, on High Street, was burned May 13, 1883. On November 18 of that year
a fire broke out in the Asylum for the Feeble Minded, which destroyed the central
or main building of that institution. The resources of the institution for its own
protection against fire proved to be far from adequate. The Columbus fire depart-
ment turned out prom])tly and rendered all possible assistance. A steamer at
London, Ohio, was telegraphed for, arrived within two hours after being sum-
moned, and aided materially in preventing the entire asylum from being destroyed.
The water thrown by the steamers was derived from cisterns, the institution not
being then connected with the city watei'works. Among the other fires of 1883
were the burning of Blasch & Sons' warehouse, July 19 ; that of McCord & Decker's
elevator September C, and that of the Columlnis Basket Factory September 24.
The Ca.«e Manufacturing Company's works were visited with an extensive fire
October 23, 1884. The Huston Spring Wagon Works were burned January 16,
1885, in which year T. Ewing Miller's business block, southwest corner of Long
and High streets, was burned on .January 22, Joseph Gardiner's slaughterhouse on
May 19, and the Ohio Pipe Company's works December 16. The Central Chris-
tian Church was partially burned on January 10, 1886. Other fires of that year
took place in the Penitentiary shops of Brcfwn, Hinman & Company and the Ohio
Tool Company February 18 ; Lovejoy's ])laningmill April 27,Hershiser& Snyder's
planingmill August 8, and the Wheel and Bending Company's shops October 20.
On June 7, 1886, Charles Bryson w.is nominated by the mayor for appoint-
ment as Fire Engineer vire D. D. Trcsenrider, but the council refused to confirm
the nomination. Bryson was reappointed by the mayor and both he and Trcsen-
rider undertook to act, causing much confusion in the department. The matter
was carried to the Su])reme Court, which gave a decision October 11 adverse to
the tenure of Bryson. Jo.seph Grovenbery was then appointed and installed by
the mayor, but resigned soon afterwards on account of an injury received at afire,
whereujion the mayor appointed W. P. Callahan, but on November 8 Callahan's
nomination was rejected by the council, and on November 29 a committee of that
body rei^orted that the charges on which Tresenrider had been suspended were
not sustained Nevertheless, on NovoiTtber 30, tlie mayor again suspended Tresen-
rider and reappointed Callahan. The case was taken before Judi;e Bingham, of
the Common Pleas, on application for an injunction, which was granted, restrain-
ing the mayor, Callahan and all others from interfering with the department.
Tresenrider therefore again took charge of it December 1.
The following important fires took place in 1887: Grand Opera House, Feb-
ruary 21 ; Frederick Jaeger's icehouse June 22 ; Robert Wood's planing mill Decem-
ber 19. During the night of January 12, 1888, the large rink building on West
Spring Street, then known and used as the Fourteenth Eegiment Armory, took
fire and, being of a very combustible nature, was speedily destroyed. The build-
ing was at tlie time being used for the purposes of an extensive and very interest-
ing bench show then in progress, and contained many hundreds of pet dogs, birds
and choice specimens of poultry, most of which were destoyed. This was one of the
most distressing and deeply lamented fires which ever took place in tlie cit^'. The
loss was of such a nature that it could scarcely be measured in money, and could
not be replaced. On March 18, same j'ear, the Buckeye Bugg}' Company's works
were burned ; estimated loss, $150,000. Other fires in"'l88S:' "B. S. Brown's block
on North High Street March 22 ; Fitch's warehouse Maj' 3 ; tileworks of A. O.
Jones & Company September 2 ; the street railway stables on East Main Street
September 24; and the Columbus.Bridgo Company's works November 1. In 1889
the Ca.'^e Manufacturing Company's works wore burned Maj- 10; the Fish Manu-
facturing Company's establishment May 23; the store rooms of Wells & Tracy on
Street Liuhting. 555
North High Street March 10: the Breyfogle block on North High Street July 17 ;
and the Chittenden, Hoster and McCiine buildings (in part) AuguBt 25. Ou
December 16, 1889, the council authorized a contract with the Ahrcns Manufac-
turing Conipan_y, of Cincinnati, for six new steamers, at a cost of $27,000, the
Silsby engine known as Ben. Blake to be taken at $1,500 in exeliango. During
the same month and yeiir Chief Engineer Tresenrider recommended a reconstru(;-
tion of the enginehouses, the erection of several new ones and extensive additions
to tiie equipments of the department, incurring an aggregate expenditure, in all,
of about $200,000. According to the report of Engineer Heinmiller for the year
ended April 1, 1891, the department then possessed, fully manned and equipped,
six- steam fire engine companies, seven hose companies, two hook and ladder com-
panies, one engine sujiply wagon and one telegraph wairon. The following ajjpa-
ratus, not manned, was held in reserve: Two second class Ahrens steam fire
engines, tiiree chemical engines and one fourwheeled hose eai'riago. Arrange-
ments had been made for reL'onstruction of six of tlie existing engine houses and
the erection of four new ones.
STREET LIGHTING.
The use of gas for street illumination had its inception in England in 1813.
When the Ca])ital of Ohio began its existence in 1812, the use of such an agent for
lighting either streets or houses was yet a matler of the future.- Matches were
unknown,'-' fires were started by the use of flint, or steel, and tinder, and the
resources for nighttime light were the lard lamp, the tallow dip and the blaze and
sparkle of the woodburning fireplace. The streets of the borough, when the
borough began to have streets, were not lighted at all except by planetary agency
and such cheerful rays as reached them from the windows of the cabins. When
starlight and moonlight failed, nightly strectgoers and travelers resorted to the
use of lanterns. The Statehouse and other public buildings were lighted with
candles and spermoil lamps. During the last half of the thirties a socalled dmible
reflecting lamp was brought into nse in the theatre and a few of the churches."
Meetings of all kinds continued to be announced for " early candlelighting " doivn
to the fifties. On February 18, 1840, a local chronicler wrote:
Arrangements are niakiiij; to illuminate a part of the city on the eve of the birthday of
Washingtou (Friday, 21st. inst.) We understand tliat High Street, from the south pirle of
Friend Street to the north side of Broad Street, and Broad Street from the east side of Iligb
Street to the river will be generally illunnnated ; and other parts of the city partially so.
We are requested to state that 7 o'clock is the hour designated for lighting up; and that the
lights should all be extinguished by 9 o'clock. We hope all things will be done in order,
and with due regard to safety. i^
This illumination was made with candles. The special occasion for it was the
great Harrison convention described in another chapter. Under date of Decem-
ber 8, 1842, we find the following in the Ohio Statesman :
The Messrs. Lennox, of this city, have fitted up experimental gas works at the store ff
Mr. George, in tlie Buckeye Buildings, on Broadway. We examineil them laf.t night, and,
when we take into consideration that tlie exjieriment i< on a small scale, hastily got up. we
must admit that the burners make a very beautiful light. This is the first e.vperiment of gas
lights in Ohio, we believe.
The same paper of June 13, 1843, contained the following card, signed bv
J. Vaile :
556 History op the City of Columbus.
The subscriber has purchased the right for the State of Ohio of "Walker's pateut for mak-
ing Gas for lights from stone coal, etc., with the same stove that is used to warm the home,
and offers to sell rights, either by towns or counties. The apparatus and process are so sim-
plified that they can be successfully used in dwelling houses, stores, all public buildings and
for lighting streets.
On July 30, 1844, an ordinance was passed intended, as declared in its title;
" to authorize Richard Page and others to light the city of Columbus with gas."
This ordinance vested in said Page and his associates, assigns and successors "the
full and exclusive j)rivilege of using the streets, lanes, alleys and commons of Col-
umbus for the purpose of conveying gas to the said city and citizens thereof for
the term of twentyfive years," except that the council should have the option to
purchase the works after fifteen years. In reference to the compensation of the
contractors the ordinance provided that for such quantity of gas as the council
might require for public lamps they should receive " twenty dollars per annum for
each lamp using not less than five cubic feet of gas per hour and being lighted the
average number of hours which public lamps are lighted in the cities of Cincin-
nati, Louisville and Pittsburgh, and giving light equal to the lamps in said cities."
The lamp posts and their connecting pipes, lamps and meters were to be furnished
bj- the cit}'. Page was required to begin laying his pipes within six months from
the date of his contract but does not seem to have laid them. In 1848, John
Lockwood & Company, of Cincinnati, in pursuance of a resolution of the General
Assemblj', introduced a process for gas illumination in the Ohio Penitentiary.
This event received the following newspaper mention under date of September 9,
year last named :
The eastern .wing of the prison, in which are 2.j0 cells, and in every cell a tenant, is fur-
nished with 98 aas burners ; which enables the convict, after the labor of the day is com-
pleted to spend the day in useful and entertaining reading, the facilities of which have been
furnished by the assiduous care of Father Finley, the Chaplain of the Institution. ... To
light the whole establishment -both wings, hospital, guardroom, office, dining room, &c.,
will require about 190 burners, and will consuiue about 400 lbs. of grease per week. This
grease is saved from meats cooked for the food of the convicts, and converted into gas.
Lockwood it Company desired to undertake the lighting of the city and accord-
ingly, on September 15, 1848, an ordinance was jjassed conferring upon them that
privilege under a charter granted by an act of the General Assemblj- passed Feb-
ruary 21, 1846, to the Columbus Gas Light and Coke Company, the original cor-
porate members of which were named as Joel Buttles, Samuel Medary, Charles
Scott, James S. Abbott. Dwight Stone, John Miller, James D. Osborn, James West-
water, S. D. Preston, William Armstrong " and associates." In the ordinance
authorizing Lockwood & Company to avail themselves of this eomjiany's charter,
the rights conferred and restrictions laid upon them were much the same as those
embodied in the ordinance of July 30, 1844, above mentioned. The contractors
were given exclusive use of the streets and allej-s for the distribution of gas for a
period of twentj' years and were required to supply the street lamps at a price
not greater than that charged in Cincinnati provided that price should not exceed
twenty dollars per post. Further requirement was made that the contractors
should, on or before November 1, 1849, "complete their apparatus for generating
gas, and lay down in connection with the same at least 3,500 feet of leading or
main pipe for its distribution."
On December 6, 1848, the Columbus Gas & Coke Company met and elected
John Miller president, Joseph Ridgway, Junior, secretary, and D. W. Deshler
treasurer." After this the |nirposes of the company seem to have langui.slud, for,
under date of September 11, 1849, we read ;
Street Lighting. 557
Cleveland and Dayton will be added to tlie list of cities lighted with gas before tlie com
ing winter sets in. . . . What is the Columbus (ias Light Company about ?'"
Bnt, on March 11, 1850, this:
We are happy to learn that an effort is being made to revive the Gas Company of this
city. . . . Mr. Lockwood, the energetic contractor, is now here, and is ready to put the
thing through, and have our streets and houses lighted with gas in six months. . . . Zanes-
ville h;is just finished and put in operation her gas works. They were built by Mr. Lock-
wood.' •
This seems to have been a harbinger of practical results. An ordinance vest-
inir in the Columbus Gas Light and Coke Company exclu.sive use of the streets
and alleys for gas distribution until February 21, 1866, was passed May 14, 1850,
and a few days later a statement was published that Mr. Loekwood's workmen
were engaged in laj'ing the foundations of the company's buildings. These build-
ings, it was stated, were located "in the northwest part of the city." Their erec-
tion and equipment, once begun, must have been pushed with considerable energy,
for, under date of October 18, 1850, we read :
The main pipes are laid as far as the Statehouse, and it is designed to " light up " as soon
as the first of December. It is now determined, we learn, to light the old Statehouse with
gas for the few remaining years of its existence. 18
Nevertheless, the council reserved its decision as to adoption of the company's
facilities for public use until November 16, 1850, on which date a resolution was
passed declaring: -'That we deem it indispensably necessary to light High
Street, market space, market house and the engine houses with gas." For the use
of private consumers gas was first let into the pipes on December 7. On the fol-
lowing Monday (December 9, 1850) the event was thus chronicled :
k portion of the gas burners were supplied with that article on Saturday evening and
the agi'uts of the company are extending their connections so as to supply all who have fix-
tures tor that purpose forthwith. Stores, business houses, &c., will be supplied, but the lamps
on the streets will be few and far between this winter. We have seen arrangements tor but
two of that kind.
However, the use of gas by private consumers stimulated the council suffi-
ciently to impel it to adopt a resolution, December 9, providing for the appointment
of a committee to contract for lamp posts and appurtenances, and directing that
"the fund arising from wharf rents, after keeping the same [the wharves?] in
repair," and the income from the markethouse, should be annually appropriated
to defray the expenses of street lighting. On December 12 proposals for
furnishing thirtyone sti'cet lamjjs, together with posts and equipments, were
invited, the lamps to be of the same size and material as those then in use in Cin-
cinnati; and on January 29, 1855, after a long controver.sy, a contract with the
Gas Company was agreed to. In this contract the company agreed to supply the
public lamps at a price not exceeding twothirds of that paid by private consumers,
and that these should not be charged more than the average price paid in Cincin-
nati, Cleveland and Zanesville. The lamps, posts and meters used in street light-
ing were to be furnished by the city.
On May 26, 1852, the observation was made that the company was extending
its pipes " to all parts of the city," and that illuminating gas was being used in
" a large number of private residences." In August, 1852, the pipes were being laid
southward " along High Street, over the Mound," and eastward on Town Street.
On April 15, 1854, the company's plant and equipment were thus described:
558 History of the City op Columbus.
The buililings occupy the whole space between Water Street and Bank Alley, fronting
on Long Street. They compose a retort honse, purifying house, meter house, coke house,
coai shed an<l fitting shop and office. [The] retort liouse, 80x29, contains eight benches or
furnaces with twentyfour retorts. . . . Fifteen retorts are kept in constant operation. . . .
The gas holder weighing fourteen tons, made of sheet iron, is eighteen feet in height, fifty in
diameter and will hold 30,000 cubic feet of gas. Fortysix thousand bushels of coal are con-
sumed annually. Last year y,.500.000 cubic feet of gas were consumed. The city govern-
ment owns 114 lamps and posts. The cost to the city is for each lamp about $20 annually.
The citizens pay at the rate of three dollars per thousand feet. There are at present about
three thousand burners in the city. In manufacturing the gas the best Youghiogheny coal-
is used; cost per bushel, seventeen cents, delivered. The coke is extensively used by our
foundries and factories and highly prized. The coal tar is used for composition roofing, and
is sold at two dollars per barrel. The employes, fourteen in number, are paid $1.50 per day.
. . . About seven miles of street pipes have been laid.
No lamps had up to this time been placed on Broad Street. In 1854 illumi-
nating gas was first supplied to the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. In 1858
the city possessed 150 lamps, the cost of which had been $25 each. On March 11,
1861, the gas committee of the council reported upon tlie prices paid for gas as
follows: In Cincinnati, down to November 1. 1860, $17.50 per annum for street
lamps (not lighted on moonlight nights), and S2.50 per 1,000 feet to private con-
sumers, a discount ol' five per cent, being allowed for payment within five days
from the end of each month ; in Zanesville, $15 for public lamps and $3.50 per
1,000 for private consumption ; in Cleveland, after 1855, $17.50 for each public
lamp and $2.50 per 1,000 for private constimption. Averaging these rates, as pro-
vided fur in the ordinance of JSlay 14, 1850, the council reduced the Columbus
price from $3.00 to $2.83.
The capacity of a new tank which the company placed in position in 1861 was
60,000 <;ubic feet. In 1862 a revenue tax often cents per thousand was levied on
gas, and was paid, it was maintained, by the consumers. About eleven miles of
pipe had up to that time been laid in the streets and alleys of the city. The pro-
duction of the works averaged about 90,000 cubic feet in twentyfour hours. In
1868 the company added a new gasholder to its equipment, which was also in
other respects considerably imjiroved and enlarged It began with twelve retorts ;
in this year it had 151. Gas works at the Penitentiarj^ for the sujiply of the
State buildinjzs and institutions were completed in 1873. In May, 1878, the price
of gas was reduced by the company from $2.25 to $2.00 per 1 000 feet. The city
had by this time become so largelj- in arrears in its bills for streetlighting that the
council ordered the useof onethird of the lamps to be discontinued. Some hundreds
of consumers petitioned for an additional reduction of price, but the company
declined to accede to the request. On December 1, 1878, the council authorized a
contract with the Mt Vernon Lantern Company for 1,000 naphtha lamps for the
streets. About 1,000 of these lamps were brought into use in January, 1879.
The contract price for this service, for the term of one year, was $13.95, the Lan-
tern Company to clean and fill the lamps, and keep them in serviceable condition.
On May 7, 1883, an ordinance was passed so amending that of May 14, 1850 (as
amended February 22, 1864), as to extend the G-as Compan3''s grant of street
privileges until February 21, 1893, and requiring, in consideration tliereof, that
the company should furnish the gas required for city lamps at 81.15, and that for
private use at $1.25 per thousand cubic feet. At the present time (Sejitember,
1892) the comp)any is supplying private consumers at the rate of $1.00 per thou-
sand cubic feet, less a discount for jjayment before the fifteenth of each month.
The company's supply is limited mostly to private consumption.
On September 17, 1884, the Ohio Gas Light Association was organized by
representatives of prominent gas companies, at a meeting held at the Park Hotel,
Street Lighting. 559
In Mai-cb, 1881, a company was incorporated having for its object the intro-
duction of the Brush system of electric lighting in Columbus. The capital stock
of this company was |lOO,000 in $100 shares. On the twentieth of June, next
ensuing, the council passed a resolution authorizing a contract with this company
ibr the lighting of certain streets, as an experiment, but owing to conditions
imposed by the patentees of the Brush light, forming the principal company, at
Cleveland, the Columbus company was unable to place its stock. On February 9,
1882, the Edison system of electric light was placed on exhibition at the office of
the Ohio State Joiirnnl. On February 9, next ensuing, that establishment put
the light to a practical test in its offices and composing rooms, and declared the
result to be satisfactory. This was the first useful application of an electric sj-s-
tem of lighting made in the city. The system, after some delay, conquered its
way to additional favor. On May 14, 1887, the present Columbus Electric Light
Company was incorporated by Will C. Turner, W. D. Brickell, H. Lindenberg,
J. W. Collins, \V. S. Ide and Luke G. Byrne. The company organized by elect-
ing C. H. Lindenberg as president, J. P. Martin vice president, W. 0. Turner
secretary and E. liieswetter as treasurer. The company's plant, at the corner of
Third and Gay streets, was erected and equipped in 1887-8. It now sup])lies
power for private and business use and incandescent light for the Capitol, the
National Government building and the theatres. Present officers and directors :
Adolf Theobald, president; John Siebert, vice president; Emil Kieswetter, trciis-
urer; Charles H. Lindenberg. Louis Siebert, Jacob Bleile, C T PfaiT, Joseph F.
Martin, F. E. Drake. The secretary and manager is A. W. Fields; capital stock
$200,000 The privilege of laying "pipes, mains, conductors, and service pipes"
in the streets, avenues and alleys of the city was conferred upon this company by
ordinance of March 28, 1887.
On February 18, 1884, the Columbus Electric Light and Power Company
was authorized by the council to erect and maintain its poles and wires in the
streets and alloys. This company was incorporated on August 1, 1883. Its plant
is situated at the west end of the Broad Street bridge. Its present officers are :
President, William Monypeny; vice president, A. D. Rodgers; its secretarj' and
manager is J. G. McGuier ; capital stock, $500, OuO. This comjiany has a fivej'ears
contract to light the streets of the city. It now supplies about 800 street lamps,
for which it receives $75 each per annum. It also supplies about 450 lamps in
commercial use. It produces the arc light, and furnishes power for elevators and
all other purposes. The Penitentiary and the Central Asylum for the Insane
have, at the present time, small electric light plants of their own.
A company having for its object to provide the city with natural fuel gas was
organized in January, 1886, tind in March of that year began boring for gas near
the Sewer Pipe Company's works, on the east bank of the Whetstone. This
experiment was not successful. A little oil was found, but no gas. The well was
sunk to the depth of about 2,000 feet, at an expense of about $4,000. The Trenton
limestone was struck at a depth of 1,910 feet. On April 11, 1887, the council
passed an ordinance granting to the Columbus Natural Gas Com))any the priv-
ilege of laying its pipes in the streets, alleys and public grounds of the city, In
May, 1888, natural gas in considerable quantity was discovered in the Clinton
limestone at Thurston, Fairfield County, twentyfive miles southeast of Columbus.
The supply of this well was stated at 250,000 cubic feet per day. To work this
560 History of the City or Columbus.
field, a compau}- was organized under the name of Clinton Natural Gas and Fuel
Companj-. On December 17, ISSS, the council enacted a schedule of ])rices of
natural gas for a term of ten years, the rate for manufacturing purposes to be
seventytive per cent, of the cost of coal. An ordinance of February 4, 1889,
granted street privileges to the Columbus Natural Gas and Fuel Company,
which had acquired options on a large amount of gas territory lying between
Newark and Lancaster, and had begun sinking a well near Hadley Junction,
twenlyfour miles east of Columbus. In March this boring emitted gas at an esti-
mated rate of ten million cubic feet per day.
The Columbus Natural Gas and Fuel Company, which had been organized
chiefly for prospecting purposes, transferred all its rights and franchises to the
Central Ohio Natural Gas and Fuel Company, which was incorpnrati'd .Inly 24,
1889. This company made additional borings, conducted its pipes tiom iis wells
to and through the city, and on December 31, 1889, turned on the first iiulurul gas
burned in Columbus." The company now has fifteen wells, and is continually
drilling new ones in its field. During the fiscal year ended May 1, 1892, its sup-
ply to the city amounted to 600,000,000 cubic feet ; its supply for the current fiscal
year is estimated at one billion cubic feet. Its authorized capital stock is S3, 000,
000, of which sum shares to the amount of §1,787,000 have been issued. The pres-
ent officers and directors of the company are: John G. Deshler president, H. D.
Turney vice president, J. H. Hibbard secretary, George "VY Sinks treasurer; C. D.
Firestone, M. H. Neil, Walter W. Brown and G. C. Hoover. J, O. Johnston is the
company's superintendent.
1. Ohio State Journal.
2. The committee's report was accoiupanied by the following detailed estimate : Cost of
Machinery, |55,00U; Pumping well, $3,046: buildings, §0,40.5; iron piping, delivered,
$167,030; hydrants and stopvalves, 110,022; trenching, joints and back-filling, $34,266; total,
1275,769.
3. The contract, as approved, was in substantial accord with the Holly Company's
proposals.
4. Mrs. Betsy Green Deshler.
•5. On February 10 Messrs. Goodalc, McCoy and Osborn were appointed a committee to
distribute the donations made by the citizens for the use of " the sufferers by tiie late fire."
6. The leather bucket used hy .lohn Otstot is still preserved.
7. The encouragement here referred to consisted in the passage by the council of rhe
following resolutions:
" That there be paid out of moneys appropriated by the Columbus Insurance Company
for the benefit of the Fire Department, the following premium to wit: To the Brigade which
shall first throw water on any fire occurring in this city, the sum of nine dollars if the fire
occurs within one square of their Engine House ; the sum of twelve dollars, if the fire occurs
within two squares ; the sum of fifteen dollars if the fire ocoers within three squares ; the sum
of eighteen dollars if the fire occurs within four .squares ; the sum of twentyone dollars if
within five squares; and one dollar in addition for each additional square that the fire may
be from the Engine House ; the square to reckon from street to street, the money thusappro-
priated to be equally divided between the three companies forming the brigade which shall
be entitled to the premium.
" That if the Hook and Ladder Company shall arrive on the ground at any fire with their
apparatus before the arrival of any Engine or Hose Company, they shall be paid out of the
above named fund three dollars."
8. The members of the committee to which was entrusted the test of the machine, and
which recommended its purchase, were John Miller, John S. Hall, Charles Ambos, William
A. Gill and J. W. Osgood.
Street Lighting. 561
9 The first test of a steam fire engine in Cleveland was made in November, 1862.
Coluuibus was said to have been the fourth city in the Union to adopt steam service
10 The destruction of the Central Asylum for the Insane by fire in November, 1868,
will he described in the history of that institution. . , , . . , , i
will '^e'lescnbea.m t^^ ^^ ^^y ^^ ^^^^^ amended June 8, 1874, provided for appointment of
the Fire Engineer by the mayor, with the approval of the council.
12 The invention of matches took place in 1829. • o ■ c u nv,-
]?,: This lamp was patented and manufactured by Fletcher, in Springfield, Ohio.
1 4 . Ohio Slate Jou mal.
15. Martin's History.
16. Ohio Statu Journal.
17. Ibid.
19.' The'company's gas was fir.st burned in the honse of its president, Mr. John G.
Deshler.
State Capitol and Institutions.
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE CAPITOL.
The accommodations for the State government, although ample when first
provided by the proprietors of the capital, were speedily outgrown. Early in the
thirties the need of larger and better buildings began to be seriously felt. A
proposition to erect a new Statehouse was discussed in the General Assembly in
1836, and elicited the remark by one of its sanguine advocates that he expected to
see Columbus develop within a few more years into a flourishing city of not less
than ten thousand people. During the following year a committee, of which Hon.
James Hughes was chairman, reported that the existing State buildings were
altogether inadequate to the safe keeping of public papers or the increased
requirements of the General Assembly, and recommended the immediate erection
of a new capitol on the Public Square in Columbus. Referring to this report the
Chillicothe Gazette spoke contemptuously of the superannuated structures which
then occupied the Square, and declared them unworthy of a State like Ohio.
Impelled by such expressions of public opinion, and the report of its com-
mittee, the General Assembly, on January 26, 1838, passed an act providing :
That there shall be appointed by joint resolution of both houses of the present General
Assembly three commissioners under whose direction, or a majority of them, a new
State House shall be erected on the Public Square in the city of Columbus, and said com-
missioners shall severally take an oath or affirmation faithfully to discharge the duties
assigned them, and should any vacancy in the office of either of the commissioners occur by
death, removal or otherwise, the Governor shall fill the same by appointment until the next
meeting of the General Assembly when an appointment shall be made to fill such vacancy
by joint resolution as before herein provided.
The statute further directed that the board of commissioners thus to bo
appointed should, by advertisement in the newspapers of Ohio and of the cities of
New York, Philadelphia and Washington, offer a premium of ^500 for the first,
$300 for the second and $200 for the third best plan for the proposed Statehouse
to be accompanied by estimates and approved by the General Assembly. Innue-
diate supervision of the construction was entrusted to a superintendent, with
authority to contract for and procure labor and materials, his salary to be not
over one thousand dollars, and his term of service to rest with the discretion of
the commissioners. The superintendent might also contract for as much of the
convict labor of the Penitentiary as it might be judicious to employ. The sum of
$10,000 was appropriated for expenditure in such work as might be appropriated
to any plan which might be adopted. The necessary expenditures of the com-
missioners were to be paid from the State treasury.
L565]
566 History of the City op Columbus.
In token of the general gratification of tbie people of Columbus at the pas-
sage of this act, Colonel John Noble, who then kept the National Hotel, on the
present site of the Neil House, " had tlie candies in his front windows so
arranged," says Martin, " as to form letters and spell NEW STATE HOUSE."
The commissioners appointed by Joint resolution, pursuant to the act, were Joseph
Eidgway, Junior, of Columbus, William A. Adams, of Muskingum County, and
William B. Van Hook, of Butler. These commissioners met during the ensuing
April and contracted with William S. Sullivant for the privilege of taking from
his quarrj- on the Scioto, three miles above the city, all the limestone necessarj' to
erect the proposed building.' The price to be paid for the stone was fifty cents
per perch of twentyfive cubic feet. Of the prizes offered for the best three of
about sixty plans submitted, the first was awarded to Henry Walter, of Cincin-
nati, the second to Martin E. Thompson, of New York City, and the third to
Thomas Cole, of Catskill, New York. The commissioners explained that in mak-
ing these selections they were governed bj' the following considerations which
they supposed to have promoted the pa.ssage of the act under which the}- wei-e
appointed :
First, to construct an edifice which should combine in its interior arrangement perfect
security to the archives of the several departments of the public service, and convenience to
the several bodies and officers to be accommodated ; and secondly, that in its exterior form
and interior dispcsition of apartments there should be united that beauty and grandeur
which the rules of art require, and which comport with the wealth and dignity of the State.
The plan, ultimately adopted was a modification of the three obtaining pre-
miums, and was intended to provide ajjartments not only for the General Assem-
bly, but for all the State officers and for "the invaluable library."
Judging by the estimates which accompanied the plans, rating labor at the
prices then prevailing, and making allowance for that of convicts, the employ-
ment of about two hundred of whom was recommended, the commissioners con-
cluded that the building could not be erected for less than $450,000. The deliv-
ery of stone for the walls began at once, and before the end of 1838 amounted
to 2,062 perches, of which a part were hauled to the Penitentiarj- to be dressed by
convicts. Pursuant to recommendation of the commissioners the General
Assembly at its next session appropriated $50,000 for the work, which, with opening
of the spring of 1839, began actively. Excavation was made for the foundation, the
laying of which proceeded steadily under the supervision of the commissioners
and of Mr. Henry Walter, the architect.^ A frame building for use as an office
and the safekeeping of tools and machinery was erected on the Capitol Square
which was surrounded by a very high board fence to prevent escape of the con-
victs employed. The water required bj- the builders was obtained from the
grounds. For the ceremony of laj'ing the cornerstone, which was appointed
for July 4, 1839, and which the existing legislature and its immediate predecessor
were invited to attend, the following " officers of the day," were appointed :
President, Colonel James Kilbourn ; vice presidents, Eobert W. McCoy, Alfred
Kelle}^ John A. Bryan, Joseph Eidgway, Junior, Noah H. Swayne, Jacob Medary,
James Allen, Philo H. Olrastead, John Noble, Christian Heyl, John McElvain,
and James Dalzell ; marshals, Joseph Sullivant, James C. Reynolds, Wray Thomas
and Nehemiah Gregory. The order of the procession, which was directed to
form on the east side of High Street with its right on Broad, was arranged as fol-
lows: 1. Marshals on horseback; 2, martial music; 3, band; 4, military on
foot; 5, military on horseback ; 6, revolutionary soldiers ; 7, orator of the day and
reader of the declaration ; 8, president and vice presidents of the day ; 9, clergy ;
10, committee of arrangements ; 11, invited guests; 12, United States and State
officers; 13, societies ; 14, band ; 15, handicrafts; 16, city band ; 17, mayor and
The Capitol. 567
council ; 18, citizens. The route of the procession was thus prescribed ; North
on High to Long, by countermarch south on High to Town, west on Town to
Front, south on Front to Mound, east on Mound to Third, north on Third to
State, west on State to High, thence on High to tlie Public Square. " Order of
exercises at the bower :"' 1, Prayer ; 2, original ode; 3, Declaration of Independ-
ence ; 4, ode ; 5, oration ; 6, ode; 7, benediction. After these exercises the Square
was to be vacated in order that the public dinner might be served.
The day of the ceremony was ushered in with an artillery salute and a burst
of martial music. The weather was propitious. Three military companies had
arrived the evening before from Lancaster. They were the Black Hawk Braves,
Captain Burnett; the Lancaster Guards, Captain Myers, and the German Guards,
Captain Witt/. After passing over the route mapped out for it, the procession,
which was very large for those days, entered the Capitol Square. Here, as its
head of column approached the northeast corner of the foundations, where the
huge stone to be laid was hanging by many ropes over the companion piece on
which it was to rest, one of the bands struck up Hail Columhia. In the presence
of a crowd of five or six thousand people the exercises were here conducted accord-
ing to programme. The ceremony of depositing the cornerstone was performed
by ex-Governor .leremiah Morrow", whose brief and appropriate address concluded
with the Ibllowing sentences:
I pronounce that Ohio, a member of this great republic, by her assembled people this
day lays the cornerstone of her future capitol. Let the foundations be deep and strong ; let
the materials be of nature's most lasting gifts — durable, imperishable ; let the edifice rise in
solemn, simple grandeur, a monument of chaste and classic beauty. And may the light-
nings of heaven, which scathe, and the whirlwind and storm which prostrate the worlca of
man, pass by and spare this home erected by a mighty people and consecrated to social and
constitutional government. And may the councils of truth and justice and public virtue
preside in its halls; may discord and faction be put far from them; and may a free and
united people, who reared it, and whose temple it is, watch over and cherish within its walls
the form and spirit of their republican institutions. And may the blessings of a benign
Providence, now and through all coming time, rest upon this people, and upon this house,
the work of their hands. 1 now lay the cornerstone of the Capitol of Ohio!
The stone was then lowered to its place, covering a cavity in the centre of its
pedestal in which were deposited, sealed up in strong glass jars, the following
articles; Copy of the Declaration of Independence, constitution of the United
States and of each of the twentysix States then composing the Union, ordinance
of 1787, Statutes of Ohio, copy of the Bible, copy of Transactrons of the Histori
cal and Philosophical Society of Ohio, specimen United States gold and silver
coins, 150 newspapers, various statistical works and periodicals, specimen agricul-
tural and manufacturing products, reports of the State institutions, and a glass
tube, hermetically sealed, containing a scroll bearing the following inscription :
The cornerstone of the Capitol of Ohio, in the United States of America, was laid under
the direction of the Commissioners by Jeremiah Morrow, ex-Governor of the State, and
one of its earliest Pioneers, in the presence of the officers of State and a large concourse of
citizens, on the 4th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1839, at Meridian, being the sixty-
third anniversary of our National Independence. The State of Ohio, being the sixteenth
State admitted into the Union, was organized into an independent State in the vear of our
Lord 1802.
The ceremonies being completed, Reverend Mr. Cressy pronounced a benedic-
tion, after which the procession was again formed and moved to the corner of
Broad and Fourth streets, where " a soulstirring ode " by William D. Gallagher
was sung by " an excellent choir," and a Fourth of July oration was delivered by
John G. Miller. After this oration the procession returned to the Capitol Square
568 History of the City op Columbus.
where " a superb dinner" prepared by Mr. George, " was served up under a very
tasefully arranged bovver." At this dinner numerous toasts were proposed and
responded to.
After these ceremonies and festivities work upon the foundations was resumed
and continued until the end of the season of 1839. The commissioners planned to
erect a basement story, and collect materials for the interior walls, during the
ensuing year, but the repeal of the act for the erection of the Capitol, which took
place on March 10, 1840, set all these calculations at naught. The events which
led to and attended this repeal and the efforts which followed it to remove the
seat of government from Columbus, have been narrated in the first chapter of this
volume. Owing to these proceedings all work upon the Capitol was suspended
for six years. Meanwhile the foundations of the building, not yet raised to the
surface level, were covei'ed with earth, and the high board fence which surrounded
its grounds became dilapidated and weatherbeaten. The expenditure in the work
up to the time of its cessation amounted to nearly $50,000.
Nothing was done toward resuming the erection of the building until March
13, 1844, when the General Assembly adopted a i-esolution appointing W. A.
Adams, Samuel Medary and Joseph Hidgway, Junior, iis commissioners " to report
a modification of the plan for a new Statehouse." This eommis.iion submitted a
rejjort recommending certain changes in the plan originally adopted, and accom-
panied its recommendations with specifications and drawings showing "in detail
the whole design and arrangement of the proposed erection." Here the matter
again rested until, on February 21, 1846, a second act " to provide for the erection
of a new Statehouse " was passed/* This act, like its predecessor of 1838, pro-
vided for the appointment of three commissioners to supervise the work, and gave
them authority to appoint a superintendent, an architect, and other agents to act
in their behalf The plan submitted by the commission of 1844 was adopted,
with such modifications in details as might seem, durinjj the progress of the work,
to be expedient. To the construction all the surplus labor and net profits of the
Ohio Penitentiary were appropriated with a reservation that the debt which the
prison officers had incurred in purchasing the stonequarrj' and in building a rail-
way thereto, together with a previous appropriation of prison labor to the asylum
for the insane,^ should first be paid. The commissioners appointed were W. A.
Adams, Samuel Medary and Joseph Ridgway, Junior. In the report at the close
of 1846, these gentlemen express regret that owing to poverty of resources but
little progress had been made during that year. Only seventeen convicts per day,
on the average, had been furnished from the prison, and the time of these had
been mostly consumed in laying the foundations of the inner walls and excavat-
ing for the foundations of the west front. In 1847 still less was accomplished,
and the jsatience of the people of Columbus with the chaotic and hideous condi-
tion of the Capitol Square began to show signs of exhaustion. The Ohio State
Journal of August 10, 1847, gave expression to a popular feeling by no means con-
fined to Columbus in the following words :
No citizen of Ohio visits the seat of government without experiencing a feeling of
mortification at the appearance of the dilapidated old concern dignified by the name Stale
House. Standing in a conspicuous part of the city, and exposed as it is to a very unfavorable
contrast with the private edifices which surround it on every hand it is a disparagement to
the State. The visitor turns impatiently from the spectacle, and for relief looks for the new
Capitol which was commenced some ten years ago to supplant the present uncomfortable
warehouse of the State's wisdom and unsafe depository of the State's archives, treasure and
literature. He looks — but his view is intercepted by an unsightly and rickety old hoard
fence enclosing the public square in the very heart of the city, constructed some ten years
since to secure convicts while emploj'ed upon the work of the new building. Should he
persevere and get within this uncouth enclosure he would find it occupied with shapen and
shapeless materials —rough ashlers, and perfect ashlers — strewn with i^romiscuous con-
fusion, and overgrown in many places with rank weeds and thistles.
The Capitol. 569
Similar sentiments were thus poeticalh' expressed :
All hearts were light, and faces bright,
Some eleven years ago,
When that new fence was put around
The State House Yard, you know ;
For all expected soon to see
In grandeur and in style,
Arise above that pine board fence
A vast and noble pile.
But then we felt some little pride,
Alas ! that it has Hown ;
Or, that we buried it beneath
Yon massive corner stone.
And now that fence has grown quite old
And bears marks of decay ;
And many a post has rotted ofl'
As time has passed away.
And many a board has fallen down.
To show to passers by
The base of that stupendous work
Which was to pierce the sky.
Buttlien,etc.
The children all rejoice to see
It tumbling to the ground ;
And even some of riper years.
Smile as they pass around ;
They smile to think on bygone hours .,
When free from every care
They used to play upon the green
In that old public square
But then, etc.
At length, in the spring of 1848, the work began to bo pusiied with some
energy. William Russell West and J. O. Sawyer were appointed architects and
general superintendents; Jacob Strickler was named as special superintendent;
stone from the State quarrj- was arranged for; labor, both free and convict, was
engaged, and on May 5 a local chronicler wrote : "Operations are resumed in
the construction of the new State House, under the provisions of the act of the
last session." To this announcement one of the commissioners added these state-
ments :
The architects at present employed are Messrs. West and Sawyer, of Cincinnati, tlie
former a pupil of Mr. U. Walter, the architect of the Girard College, and the latter a superin-
tendent of construction of the same building. Mr. Henry Walter, the gentleman to whom
was awarded the first premium for a plan for the liew State House, and who has measurably
retired from business, was, in connection with his son, architect of the Catholic Cathedral in
Cincinnati. The plan of the interior of the new State House has been somewhat modified,
and in the opinion of the Commissioners considerably improved, while the exterior remains
with but little alteration. The foundation for the interior, with exception of that for the
rotunda, has not been laid ; and the preparations now in progress are not for new and addi-
tional foundations. The elevation of the building will be no greater than was originally
designed, the level of the first floor being fourteen feet eight inches above the top of the
present foundations, and about twelve feet above the level of High Street, opposite the
centre of the Public Square. It is the intention of the Commissioners to have the basement
walls put uji this season so as to be in readiness for the commencement of the ground arches
early next spring.
570 History of the City of Columbus.
The expenditures upon the building in 1848 amounted to about $20,000 cash
and $4,220 in convict labor at forty cents per daj'. At the close of the year the
basement walls were still incomplete. lu 1849 a railway track was laid to the
bottom of the stone quarry, and machinery was provided (or hoisting and trans-
porting the stone with diminished trouble and expense. The basement walls were
completed, and by the close of the year the building had risen fourteen feet above
the surface of the ground.
In 1850, the work, stimulated by a generous appropriation, and facilitated by
improved steam machinery, made commendable progress, notwithstanding the
cholera e]iid('mic then prevailing. In addition to about eighty convicts, a force of
free stonrciiKris was employed, and by the close of the year the building had risen
nearly thirty lid aljove the original surface. The expenditure for the year
amounted to .'i;(i8,3S.j.45. Joseph Hidgway, Junior, of the Commissioners, died of
cholera at Mt. Vernon, in August. His successor, ajjpointed in the following
March, was William S.Sullivant.
Early in the spring of 1851, the winter coverings were removed from the walls,
and the work resumed. The quarry railway had meanwhile been extended on
Third Street to the Capitol Square for the transportation of stone thither by loco-
motive traction. To the force of convicts emploj^ed, numbering this year about
one hundred, were added about thirty hired stonecutters. The increase in the
height of the exterior walls during the year was about twenty feet ; the aggregate
height reached was about fortyeight feet. The total expenditure was $99,883.95 ;
the architect asked for the next year an appropriation of $250,000.
Before the season of 1852 opened an unexpected motive for hastening work
on the new Statehouse was given by the destruction of the old one by fire. This
event occurred on Sunday morning, February 1. The Ohio State Journal thus
described it :
Yesterday morning, about four o'clock, the cry of fire rang through our streets. It was
soon ascertained that the Old State House was on fire. The watch first discovered it in the
centre of the Senate Chamber, and on the floor. This was nearly extinguished when it was
discovered that the timbers overhead and near the belfry were on fire. Soon it burst out
through the roof, and the entire belfry was quickly in fiames. The engines could not reach
the fire, and it was then evident that the venerable old edifice in which the legislature of
Ohio has met for the last thirtyfive years was doomed to destruction. The belfry, after
burning brilliantly for a few minutes, "came down with a crash upon the floor of the Senate
Chamber. The roof then gradually fell in and the upper story of the building was a mass of
flames. An effort was made to confine the fire to the Senate Chamber and upper rooms, but
there was too heavy a mass of burning matter on the floor to be extinguished and soon the
flames reached the Hall of Representatives. The origin of the fire has not been ascertained.
The desks, chairs and furniture had been removed, and the entire building was then resigned
to its fate. In the Senate Chamber very little was saved. We learn that the clerk's papers
were all secured, but that a large mass of documents, journals, constitutional debates, &c.,
were consumed. The loss of the State is not groat, as it is hoped that by 1853-4 the State
House will be so far completed as to permit the session of both houses in the new halls.
The Ohio Statesman s account said :
The fire originated near the bell, in the cupola, and by dropping through to the Senate
Chamber floor communicated rapidly with other parts of the building. The Sergeant-at-
Arms of the Senate rushed in as soon as they discovered the fire in that Chamber, and with
much trouble and by the assistance of others succeeded in saving the official records of the
Senate, and most of the valuable books, papers and a part of the furniture. The furniture,
carpets, books, records and papers of the house were all saved by the timely and energetic
efforts of the House officers, inembers and citizens.
An investigation as to the origin of the tire was made, under joint resolution,
but came to no satisfactoiy conclusion. Circumstances strongly indicate that the
origin was incendiary. The use of the old United States Courthouse was immedi-
(ylCOyOOrU^
LAM^^n^
The Capitol. 571
ately tendered for the sittings of the Senate, and was accepted. The House was
accommodated in Mr. Meil's Odoon Hall. At the beginning of the ensuing session
— December 6 — the Senate transferred its sittings to the Ambos Hall, which had
been handsomely titled u]) for its acciimmodation. The House continued to meet
in the Odcon. Thus the two branches of the General Assembly were again brought
near IdhciIh'I', albeit obliged to communicate with one another by way of the street.
This arrangement was resumed during the sessions of 1S53-4 and 1855-6. In
1854-5 no legislative session was held. In the winter of 1856-7 the General
Assembly convened for the first time in the new Capitoh
On March IS, 185:3, an act was passed "to provide for the more efficient and
expeditious completion of the new State House." This seems to have been a case
of partisan '■ I'edrgani/.ation." Pursuant to this act an entirely new board of
coinniissidiici-s was ajiiiointed. Its members were Edwin Smith, S. H. Webb and
E. F. SticUney. These commissioners appointed one of their own number — S. II.
Webb — to be general superintendent of the construction in all its depart mciits.
They retained William R. West as architect, made J. Iv. Linnel clerk, ami a|ip(iiiited
the following foremen: J. R. Edwards of masonwork, James Pasro of slimecnt-
ting, Gideon "Walton of carpenterwork and Martin Maguiro of the stonequarry.
Eighty convicts and 135 other workmen were em]iloyed in the Ca]iitol Square;
the force at the quariy numbered about one hundred. An a])propriation of S200,-
000 for the ensuing year was asked for. In July, 1853, iVmbos & Lennox, of Col-
umbus, contracted to furnish the iron framework for the roof at a cost of $37,837.
Owing to ditficultj' in procuring iron, the contractors did not make as rapid pro-
gress as they expected to ; nevertheless, by the end of the season, they had a con-
siderable part of the framework in position. Copper for the roof, at 33^ cents per
pound, was contracted for, and about eighty cases of this material were delivered.
Before 1853 closed, the columns and pilasters foi' the legislative chambers, all of
Pennsylvania white marble, were in position ; cost, $17,750. On June 15, a repor-
ter of the Ohio Statesman wrote :
The stonecutters make the yard ring with the clink of their chisels. The hewn stones
move upward to their places. The oxen and locomotives are busy at work. The boys in
stripes move pretty briskly for the warm weather. The central columns are rising upward.
Same paper, October 18 :
We see that the whole row of the front columns have been put in. The front begins to
present a fine appearance. Within a week the frieze and cornice will be put on. ... A
great many visitors are moving over the building.
Same, October 24 :
Five large derricks, we believe they are called, adorn the summit of the State House.
Their long arms are continually reaching out, picking up with tlieir big clamps, big stones,
and flinging them into their proper places with great rapidity, considering tlieir size. The
giant Demigods when they fought against Heaven did not pluck up the trees and hurl the
mountains with more facility.
The massive columns of the eastern fagade were placed in position during the
winter of 1853-4. On April 18, 1854, the architect, William R. West, resigned ;
his successor was N. B. Kclley, appointed May 11. In his letter of resignation
Mr. West said :
The present Commissioners, on coming into office, in addition to the architect " tliought
it indispensably necessary to have one general superintendent over all the departments." It
was next thought necessary to remove, with one exception, every master mechanic on the
building, as well as the superintendent of the stone quarry — one whose energy, intelligence
572 History of the Citt of CoLUMBtrs.
and knowledge of the courses of stone from which I wished to have all the important blocks
quarried, rendered invaluable. These men, familiar with the work under their charge, have
suddenly to give place to new hands, some unqualified and some unwilling to perform their
duties. Order, system and subordination soon came to an end. Workmen sometimes
received directions from the President of the Board, and sometimes from the architect. Of
those given by me, some were obeyed, some were disregarded, and some were counter-
manded by the clerk ; and I found that I no longer had that control and supervision of the
work without which no architect can have his plans properly carried out. The result of this
change of system has been to produce delay, to cause useless expense, and seriously to aflect
the proper construction of the house ; in all of which is involved the reputation of the
architect. Of the work which, two years ago, I estimated would be completed at this time,
the eastern portico and pediment are not yet completed, the third floor is not yet arched,
the cupola is not begun.
The new architect, Mr. Kelley, was invested with general supervisory author-
ity, and was allowed a salary of $1,500 per annum. Charles Rule, of Cincinnati,
contracted to furnish and put down all the flooring tiles, which were to consist of
Italian wliite and American black, white and blue marble, the tiles varying, accord-
ing to quality, from one to one and onehalf inches in thickness. James Lennox
contracted to furnish the wroughtiron watertanks and Nelson A. Britt to put on
the co])per roof. At the end of 1854, all the stonework was completed except the
stairwaj's and the cupola. For and during the j'ear 1855 the following contracts
were made: Goodwin & Mahon, Cincinuiiti, gaspipes; James H. Johnson, Cin-
cinnati, plumbing ; Charles Rule, Cincinnati, marble balusters and rails for the
interior stairways and the marble rostra for the presiding officers of the General
Assembly ; Dale & Son, Cincinnati, plastering; H. Cummings, Cincinnati, paint-
ing and glazing; J. R. Schroder & Company, Cincinnati, locks; J. B. Piatt, New
York, glass; Corry & Webster, New York, registers and ventilators; James Len-
nox, Columbus, heating apparatus ; Columbus Machine Manufacturing Company,
wrought and cast ironwork for the ceilings. The commissioners aimed to have the
legislative chambers ready for use by the end of 1855, but were unable to do so.
Their report for that year was accompanied by an elaborate one from the archi-
tect, Mr. Kelley, who made these important statements :
Upon examining the plan and structure of the building, I found a radical defect in the
entire absence of any means for ventilation. There were no flues for this necessary purpose,
nor were there any apparent means which could have been intended to supply this serious
want * . . . There was no provision for any system of warming the corridors, rotunda and
passages of the vast building. ... In order to supply the flues for ventilation, I was com-
pelled to adopt one of two expedients. I had either to cut into the solid stone walls in every
room, and in some of them in several different places, and to construct flues within the
masonry ; or I had to case the walls inside with brick, between which and the main walls
the flues might be placed. After mature consideration I determined upon the latter plan as
the cheapest and best. In applying it, therefore, I have had to line the whole of the build-
ing, as it were, with brick inside the outer or main walls. This portion of the work has
been completed in all the rooms except those of the Senate, Library and Supreme Court.
Mr. Kelley adopted a plan for combining the heating and ventilation in one
system. The apparatus for the supply of heat comprised four large steam boilers
placed under the rotunda, and connected by pipes with eighteen air chambers sit-
uated in different parts of the basement. The cold air was admitted into these
chambers " by openings in their walls at the base,' and, on being heated and rari-
fied b}' contact with the interior steampipes from the boilers, rose by conducting
flues between the main walls and their sheathing to the different halls and apart-
ments of tlie bu'lding. Air. Kelley's plan for removing the deoxj-genatcd air is
thus described in his report:
The Capitol. 573
In the east open courts of the building two great ventilating stacljs are erected. They
are constructed of bushhammered limes'one, and their dimensions are V.i feet 5 inches at the
base, 10 feet three.inches at the top, and 100 feet liigh. They are finished at the summit
with a cornice and blocliing. Connecting with these stacks at tlie bottom, and in fact empty-
ing into them, is a vast system of underground circular brick flues — air stoves. By them the
hot air is to be received from the removing flues, which take it from the rooms, and convey
it into the stacks. ... To construct these we had to penetrate the old foundations in forty
or fifty places, and had also to cut passages through the basement walls in above thirty
places. ... In order that the air sewers might exert a sort of suction force to draw the
spent air from the spent air flues, so that it may be by them withdrawn from the rooms, a
strong current was needed from the mouths of the sewers to tlie tops of the stacks. This
has been obtained by means of the smoke and waste steam. From the vault under the floor
of the rotunda in which the boilers and furnaces are placed, capacious underground flues are
constructed by which the smoke, waste steam, gases and vapors are carried into the stacks.
These heated elements enter .the stacks above the mouths of the air sewers and causing
immediate rarification, create a partial vacuum by reason thereof. Up to this the cold air at
the bottom of the stack rushes and thus creates a strong ascending draft whicli carries off and
exhausts the flues.
Thus two of the most important requisites of the entire building — it.s warm-
ing and ventilation — were arranged for — very imperfectly, as the event has
proved — after the structure was so far advanced that a costly and in some
respects mischievous arrangement for these purposes was nece8sar3^ As to the
supply of light for the interior there had been an equal want of forethought.
Says Mr. Kelley :
At each end of the Senate Chamber I found the light totally excluded by two little
insignificant rooms, over which the galleries were to be. The walls of these have been
removed, and the windows at each end now light the Senate Chamber. The space will be
occupied by a raised platform, furnished with seats for a ladies' gallery.
Doubtless this change improved the light in the Senate Chamber very much,
but, after all the costly efforts which have since been made to relieve the interior
gloominess of the building, many portions of it, including the rotunda, are still
far from cheerful. The ambition for outside effect which predominated the origi-
nal plans seem to have been disdainful of interior comfort. In all parts of the
building which were tar advanced toward completion Mr. Kelley found altera-
tions necessary. The arrangement by which one of the columns on the west side
of each of the legislative chambers was placed directly before its entrance caused
him much regret. In genei-al he found the interior construction seriously lacking
in "beauty, convenience and adaptation to its uses. "
The quarry railway on Third Street had by this time become such a tiresome
nuisance to the people on that street that they remonstrated strongly against its
continuance for the additional term of three years asked for. Acquiescing in
this remonstrance, the City Council refused by a tie vote to grant the continuance.
Eeferring to this matter, Mr. Kelley said:
A sort of informal proposition was afterwards made to me, to the effect that if the
Statehouse Commissioners would grade Third Street from North Street to North Public Lane,
the ordinance would be passed. Regarding this as an extortionate and unfair demand, I
refused to agree to the proposition, but ofl'ered to fill up the street at any grade the City
Engineer might fix, wide enough for the railway track, and to keep the whole of the street in
repair as long as the track was used, if the Council would fill up their own street on the sides
of the railroad. ... If we were compelled to resort to wagons to haul all the stone we
shall require, and all the dirt to fill up and grade the lot, it will make a difference in the
expense of the large sum of $30,000, besides causing much delay.
On April 8, 185U, the General Assembly which came in with Governor Chase
' an act pursuant to which a new board of Statehouse Commissioners was
appointed. The members of this board were William A. Piatt, " acting," and
574 History of the City op Coiaimbus.
James T. Wortbington and L. G. Harkness, •'advisory." The commissioners
were required by tbis act to submit to at least two arcbitects of tbeir own selec-
tion the plans which bad been adopted, and obtain tbeir written opinion as to the
fitness of the plans, "the character, propriety and value" of the work and
materials, and " the best and most advisable plan for executing and completing "
the work which still remained to be done. In compliance with this requirement
the board submitted the plans to Thomas U. Walter, architect of the Capitol at
Washington, and Richard Upjohn, architect of Trinity Church, New York. In
May, 185ti, these gentlemen submitted a report in which, after commending the
general arrangement and adaptation of the building, they proceeded to recom-
mend numerous changes in its details. Some of their more important sugges-
tions were :
1. The fluting of the columns in the portico, so as to accord with the entabla-
ture finished in the Grecian Doric style. 2. Removal of the dome, then in
course of construction, and its substitution by a roof fashioned according to the
design of Mr. West. 3. A system of forced ventilation in lieu of that bj'
exhaustion. 4. Smoke-consuming steam boilers. 5. Removal of the boilers
from tbeir position beneath the rotunda. 6. Reduction in the height of the
chimneys. 7. Simpler ornamentation of the interior. 8. Skj-lights in each of
the large rooms. 9. More light for the main corridors leading to the legislative
chambers. 10. Omission of the galleries intended for the Senate Chamber. The
report makes these concluding statements:
One great error seems to have been made in working without properly matured plans
and details of drawings. In a work like this, the cost of full and complete plans of every
part of the building bears no comparison to the savins; they effect in the erection of the
work and the satisfaction of seeing the end from the beginning. ... No one can tell what
is the value of a thing until the thing estimated for is designed. We therefore think the
most important step now to be taken is to have the drawings for the whole work perfected
without delay.
In regard to these suggestions the new Commissioners remarked that tbey
regarded them as very valuable, although tbey might not be disposed to adopt
them in every particular. With such diligence was the final construction prose-
cuted that, by January 1, 1857, the legislative chambers wore ready for occupancy.
The formal opening of the new Capitol was a verj- impressive event, and
attracted the attention of the entire State. Preparations for it on the part of the
people of Columbus began with a public meeting hold at the American House
December 22, 1856. At that meeting it was resolved that the citizens of Columbus
would "give an entertainment to the citizens of Ohio on the occasion of opening
the State Capitol," and L. Buttles, Henry Wilson, W. G. Deshler, R. E. Neil and
Francis Collins were appointed to make all necessary arrangements for that pur-
pose. On the same date, and for the same purpose, Messrs. Noble, Corastock,
Decker and Reinhard were named by the City Council. The citizens' committee
chose R. E. Neil as its chairman, W. G. Deshler as its treasurer and Dwight Stone
as its secretary. Subscriptions of money to defray expenses were at once solicited,
and by December 27 amounted to $3,000. Additional funds were obtained by the
sale oJE" admission tickets to citizens of Franklin County, citizens of all other coun-
ties of the State being admitted free. The total sum raised by contribution was
$4,705, of which a residue of $317.06 remained after all exjJenses were paid.'
The day appointed for the festival was Tuesday, January 6, 1857. The vis-
itors, numbering about 10,000, included the Cleveland Grays military company,
which arrived during the afternoon of the sixth, and was received, escorted and
entertained by the State Fencibles. The city was put en fete, and the rotunda, in
which the people of the city spread a banquet for the public functionaries and
The Capitol. 575
guests, was embellished with evergreens and tricolored draperies. During the
evening the entire Capitol building was illuminated. About nine o'clock in the
evening the special ceremonies of the occasion began in the Hall of Representa-
tives, which was densely crowded. After an invocation by liev. Doctor James
Hoge, Hon. Alfred Kelley, Senator for the counties of Franklin and Pickaway,
delivered an address of welcome. In the concluding part oftiiis address, which
was brief, Mr. Kelley said :
The building in which we are now assembled combines that sublime massiveness, that
dignity of form and features, that beautiful symmetry of proportions, which together consti-
tute true architectural excellence in a high degree. True, it may have its imperfections —
what work of man has not? — still it is worthy of a great and patriotic people, by whom and
for whom it was erected. It is emblematic of the moral grandeur of the State whose counsels
are here to be assembled, whose archives are here to be kept, and I trust safely, so long as
Ohio shall be a State, or time itself shall endure. May those counsels be so wise that their
beneficent influence will be as enduring as these walls.
A response in behalf of the people, dealing chiefly in historical retrospect, was
delivered by Governor Chase, among whose closing sentences were these :
With the old State House and the old Constitution, terminated an epoch in the history
of our State to which her children will ever look back with patriotic pride. Even now there
seem to pass before me the forms of the noble men who made it illustrious. . . . Happy
shall we be if we prove ourselves worthy successors of such men.
An additional response on behalf of the General Assembly was made by Hon.
T. J. S. Smith, of Montgomery County. While the exercises in the Hall of Repre-
sentatives were having their course, merry feet were keeping time to jocund music
in the Senate Chamber. The banquet tables in the rotunda, says a newspaper
report, "were surrounded all the evening with a cordon of hungry men and
women as impenetrable as a Macedonian phalanx."
The General Assembly began its regular sittings in the new Capitol on the
day following the festival. During the year 1857 the work of finishing the
uncompleted parts of the building, inside and outside, was actively prosecuted, and
its grounds were graded. The Ohio State Journal of June 23 contained the follow-
ing jitbilant announcement :
That venerable pile of musty pigeonholes, old documents and red tape — the roost for
years of various breeds of Ohio's officials — has disappeared, all but a part of two chimneys
which are fast tottering to their fall. In a few days not one brick will be left upon another
to tell where the venerable edifice once reposed in official grandeur. Men are now at work
in removing the fence from around the Capitol Square, and the effect is magical. For nearly
twenty years that high, rough, black meanlooking fence has been an eyesore to the people of
Columbus, and now that it has been taken away they all rejoice. The State House looks a
story higher, and the whole appearance of the building, the grounds and the neighborhood
have improved.
A contract for enclosing the grounds with an iron fence at a net cost of
$17,660, was awarded to N. T. Horton, of Cincinnati. The work of placing this
fence in position began October 30, but was completed only half wa3- round. A
sufficient supply of water for the uses of the Capitol being very difficult to obtain
with the facilities then existing, the General Assembly authorized an attempt to test,
by boring, the theory entertained by many persons that an Artesian stream existed
in the strata which underlie Columbus. Accordingly a boring apparatus was
put to work on July 23, 1857, in the northeastern portion of the Capitol Square.
After numerous interruptions from lack of funds'and other causes, the well thus
begun reached a depth of 2,775 feet, when it was abandoned. The amount spent
upon it was $13,731.65.
57n History of the City or Columbus.
In the original design of the Capitol a serious diflaeultv was encountered in
determining the form and proportions to be given to its exterior dome or cupola.
A writer in the Cincinnati Gazette, discussing this subject in November, 1849, said :
The sentiment of the architect seems to have been, and we are informed that it is pro-
fessedly so, to avoid a supposed anomaly in modern architecture —the erection of a spheri-
cal dome on the Grecian Doric order. . . . The erection of a Gothic turret upon the massive
substructure of thisproposed building would strike even an untutored mind as inappropri-
ate and incongruous. The present tower [the writer is speaking of it as it then appeared in
the design] is in our -judgment no less so. . . . We propose, with deference to the consid-
eration of the architect, the substitution of an octangular tower, keeping the proportions of
the base and elevation the same as at present, with an octagonal curvilinear dome, — any-
thing but the present Chinese hat.
The question thus raised as to the fashion of the " dome " has been intermit-
tently discussed for forty years, without satisfactory conclusions. Isaiah Eogers,
who was appointed architect of the building in July, 1858, proposed to surround
the " cupola " with Corinthian columns,* but this plan of assuaging architectural
disharnion}' was never executed, and the Capitol of Ohio remains to this day sur-
mounted by an incomplete, nondescript structure, wholly out of keeping with its
general style.
On November 15, 1861, the building was pronounced complete. Up to that
date the time consumed in its construction, not including the intervals of suspen-
sion of the work, was about fifteen years, and the expenditures upon it and its
grounds amounted to Sl,.359,121.-I:5. In its greatest length the building stands
twelve degrees west of north. Its width is 104 feet, its length is 304 feet, its
height to the top of the blocking course 61 feet, its height to the pinnacle of its
cupola 158 feet, its total area a little more than two acres.
In February, 1863, serious complaints of imperfection in the ventilation of
the building were made. In searching for the causes of this. Doctor William M.
Awl, then superintendent of the Capitol and grounds, discovered that the subter-
ranean passages were clogged with debris, that fresh air was excluded from the
lower interior by doors in the passages, and that the ventilating flues were con-
stantly absorbing dust from the coal bins and whirling it thi'ough the building.
All this was promptly remedied. In 1868 the building was supplied with new
heating apparatus, at a cost of $3,000. In October, 1872, a contract for surround-
ing the grounds with an iron fence was awarded to Schafer & Son, Springfield,
for $21,796.85.
Complaints of bad ventilation and impure air in the building were chronic
down to February, 1879, when the legislative and other chambers were pervaded
with an abominable stench which was, at that time, attributed to escaping gas,
and to horsestables and moldy storage in the basement. The heating and ventila-
ting arrangements were also blamed, and an appropriation of $20,000 was made
for the introduction of fireplaces and other ventilative expedients. As no draw-
ings could be found showing the course of the flues, several months were spent in
trying to trace them. Finally, in November, 1884, the astonishing discovery was
made that in the construction of waterclosets in the building, connection had been
made with the ventilating flues instead of the sewers, the ])lan of which had been
lost, and that the entire system of air ducts was clogged with filth from these
closets. Thus, after much expenditure, and a great deal of unaccountable sick-
ness, the cause of the socalled " Statehousc malaria" was explained. The extent
of the nuisance may be judged by the fact that 150 barrels of filth were taken from
the ducts which supplementary architecture had planned for the purpose of ven-
tilation.
^-S^a^JfJ^iu^^ .
The Capitol. 577
The State Government has already outgrown the accommodations of the Cap-
itol, and various expedients for the reconstruction and enlargement of the build-
ing have been proposed. When, as sooner or later must happen, a reconstruc-
tion shall take place, or, still better, a new Capitol shall be built, doubtless care
will be taken to forecast the work in all its details, and an edifice will rise which
shall be chaste and harmonious in style, and which, bearing out the purpose of all
true art, shall unite grace, strength and majesty with cheerfulness, comfort and
convenience.
NOTES.
1. The quarry tract, containing fifty acre.s, was afterward —April 11, 1845 — purchased
by the officers of the Penitentiary from W. S. SuUivant for $15,000, which sum was finally
paid out of the Statehouse fund.
2. The exterior foundation was laid, at a depth of from six to ten feet below the natural
surface of the ground, on a bed of gravel covered with a layer of broken stone and cement.
At the angles the walls were made fifteen feet thick ; elsewhere, twelve feet.
3. Governor Hartley's annual message of December, 1845, contained the following pas-
sage : " The necessity for the construction of new Public Buildings for the transaction of the
business of the State, and the safekeeping of the public records must be apparent to every
observer. The interests of the State and public opinion alike demand that the work of the
new Statehouse should be no longer suspended."
4. This appropriation was made for an enlargement of the asylum, then urgently
needed. Convict service was appropriated to the amount of 125,000, reckoning the labor of
each prisoner at forty cents per day.
5. This railway, crossing the Scioto neai> the present Midland Railway bridge, con-
tinued thence to the Penitentiary whence it was extended on North Public Lane, now Nagh-
ten Street, to Third, and on Third to the Capitol Square. The engine used on this line is
described as a " teakettle " affair.
6. Mr. John J. Janney, whose engagements at that time were such as to cause him to
be near the Capitol and to have the opportunity to observe its daily progress, informs the
author that the flues built into the walls under Mr. West's supervision were so numerous as
to excite surprise. That they were not discovered by Mr. Kelley is scarcely explained by
the fact that Mr. Wieedook away all his working drawings, claiming them as his private prop-
erty. Possibly they were covered over by an upper course of stone without the knowledge of
either architect.
7. This residue was donated to the Female Benevolent Society.
8. Mr. Rogers also proposed " a projecting portico in front."
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE PENITENTIARY.
The first penitentiary was located and built under supervision of the
State Director. Its general dimensions, and the materials of which it should be
composed were specified by joint resolution of the General Assembly, passed
February 20, 1812.' Its "proportion " was left to the discretion of the Director,
under instructions to follow the best models he could obtain trom other States.
-On December 9, 1812, State Director Joel Wright submitted his plans for the
building to the General Assembly. They were accompanied by a report of his
investigations pursuant to the instructions given hiui, and by copies of the rules
and regulations of the State prisons of New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
The location chosen for the prison was a tenacre tract in the southwestern part of
the borough, fronting on Scioto Lane.^- A contract for the building was made
during the summer of 1812, but the necessary excavations and the collection of
materials, were the only steps taken in its execution during that yoar.^ " The
unsettled state of public afl:airs and the drafts of the military " were the reasons
assigned for the lack of further progress.
During the year 1813, the prison biiilding was erected under the supervision
of State Director William Ludlow. Benjamin Thompson was contractor for its
masonry, Michael Patton for its carpentering. Martin's History thus describes it
as completed :
. It was a brick building fronting on Scioto Street or lane, sixty by thirty feet on the
ground, and three stories high, including the basement, which was about" half above and half
below the ground. The basement was divided into cellar, kitchen and eatingroom for the
prisoners, and could be entered only from the inside of the yard. The next story above the
basement was for the keeper's residence, and was entered by high steps from the street ; and
the third or upper story was laid off into cells for the prisoners — thirteen cells in all — four
dark and nine light ones. The entrance to the upper story or cells was from the inside of
the yard. The prison yard was about one hundred feet square, including the ground the
building stood on, and was enclosed by a stone wall from fifteen to eighteen feet high.
Colonel McDonald, of Ross county, was the contractor for the building of this wall.
In 1818 an additional brick building was erected and the prison yard was
enlarged to a total area of about 160 x 400 feet. This area descended bj" terraces
to the foot of the hill near the canal, and was surrounded by a wall three feet
thick, twenty feet high, and surmounted by heavy plank flooring, with a hand-
rail at its inner edge. Within this enclosure workshops were erected. The new
building, 34 x 150 feet, and two stories in height, stood with its gable to the street.
On its lower floor were the kitchen, diningroom and fiftyfour cells, besides five
underground dungeons which were accessible only by a trapdoor in the hall. Two
rooms adjoining one another on the second floor were used for the hospital. The
[578]
The Penitentiary. 579
old building, stripped of its prison fixtures, was reconstructed as a residence for
the keeper. Pursuant to an act of January, 1815, the General Assembl}' chose
five inspectors whose duty it was to appoint the keeper and make rules for the
government of the prison. An act of January, 1819, substituted a State agent for
the inspectors and provided that both the agent and the keeper should be chosen
by direct vote of the General Assembly. The first keeper appointed was Captain
James Kooken, of Franklinton, who entered upon his duties August 1, 1815, and
appointed Colonel Griflath Thomas as clerk. The State agent was charged with
the custodj- and sale of all articles manufactured by convict labor, and was
required to make weekly returns of his cash receipts to the Treasurer of State.
The first agent was Grifiith Thomas. In 1822 tlie office was abolished, and
Barzillai Wright, of New Jersey, was chosen keeper in lieu of Kooken. The
appointment of Wright evoked much criticism on account of his nonresidence,
which, it was claimed, made him constitutionally ineligible to assume the office.
During the summer of 1823 Wright died and was succeeded by Nathaniel
McLean, appointed to the vacancy by Governor Morrow. Byron Leonard dis-
placed McLean in 1830 and was in turn displaced by W. W. Gault in 1832.
Gault continued in office until the convicts were removed to the new penitentiary
in 1834. Martin says:
During the whole term of business at the old Penitentiary, a store of the manufactured
articles was kept connected with the institution, and a general system of bartering was the
policy adopted. Blacksmithing, wagonmaking, coopering, shoemaking, gunsmithing, cah-
inetmaking, tailoring and weaving were carried on in the prison, and the work and wares of
the institution were sold or exchanged for provisions and raw materials such as sawed lum-
ber, staves, hooppoles. coal and firewood, etc., or sold for cash as cases might ofTer.
Mrs. Emily Stewart informs the writer that her mother had her carpets woven
in the prison, and that when she delivered the raw material she always took with
her a large basket filled with cakes, pies and doughnuts, which she gave to the
prisoners to insure good work. A considerable proportion of the prisonmade
goods seems to have been disposed of on credit. On February 20, 1817, " James
Kooken, Keeper O. P.," made the following appeal :*
The time has arrived when the subscriber finds himself under the necessity of calling
all those who are indebted to him for articles purchased from the Penitentiary to make
immediate payment. His indulgence to them has been at his own risk and injury, and he
now has express orders from the board of inspectors to put all notes and accounts in suit,
which shall remain unpaid on the tenth day of March, next. It is sincerely hoped that
gratitude as well as a sense of justice on the part of those who have been so repeatedly accom-
modated by the subscriber will save him the unplea,sant duty of resorting to legal measures.
An advertisement of 1826 stated that pork would be received at the prison in
exchange for manufactured articles.
Discipline in the original penitentiary was lax, its walls soon became infirm
and the escapades of its inmates were numerous.' It was also overcrowded, and as
early as 1826 suggestions of enlargement began to be heard. Occasional fires
broke out within the walls, and were suppressed with great difficulty. The annual
deficiency of its receipts below its expenditures ranged from $3,500 to $7,000. A
legislative commission appointed in 1831 reported in favor of removal of the estab-
lishment to Zanesville. This commission also recommended that but one prison
should be built rather than an additional one, as had been proposed. In December,
1831, a standing legislative committee reported exhaustively as to the condi-
tion of the old prison, and recommended that a new one be built in the
vicinity of Franklinton. This report was accompanied bv a proposition from W.
S. Sullivant offering to convey to the State eight acres of land " lying north of and
adjoining to the town of Franklinton," the gift to be conditioned upon the erection
5S0 History of the City op Columbus.
of a penitentiarj upon the ground donated witliiii two years. Pursuant to tliis
report the General Assembly, on February 8, 1832, passed an act providing for the
erection of" a new penitentiary of sufficient capacity to receive and employ five
hundred convicts, to be confined in separate cells at night," the entire cost of the
establishment exclusive of convict labor not to exceed S60,000. A board of three
directors, to be chosen by the General Assembly, was empowered to purchase for the
site, at a cost of not more than two thousand dollars, a tract of not more than twenty
acres to be situated wiihin one mile and a half of the Statehouse, the contract of
purchase to include the right to " take and conduct into the new penitentiary, for
the use thereof any spring or watercourse they," the directors, might " deem neces-
sary." A superintendent of construction was provided for and the plan of the
building was required to follow, so far as might seem best, that of the Connecticut
State Prison at Wethersfield. The act made a building appropriation of $20,000
and allowed to the directors a salary of one hundred dollars each. The appoint-
ment of the keeper, whose official title was changed to that of warden, was vested
in the board of directors, and his compensation was fixed at 81,000 per annum.
Pursuant to this act Joseph Olds, of Circleville, Samuel McCracken, of Lan-
caster, and Charles Anthony, of Springfield, were appointed directors and on
December 7, 1832, submitted a report recommending selection of the site on the
east bank of the Scioto " about half a mile north of Columbus." The tract thus
preferred contained about fifteen acres. Its title was in a complicated condition,
but this difficulty was overcome by contract with the senior and junior Joseph
Ridgway, Otis and Samuel Crosby and D. W. Deshler, citizens of Columbus, who
in consideration of a cash payment of $750, and the site subscriptions, then
amounting to $1,170, undertook to and, at an expense of about 82,000, did obtain
a good title to all the ground, and on October 17, 1832, conveyed it to the State
free of all encumbrance. An additional strip was bought of John Brickell for
fifty dollars, making a total cost to the State for the entire tract, of eight hundred
dollars.
Nathaniel Medbery was appointed superintendent, and submitted a plan for
a building with a frontage of four hundred feet,' surrounded by a wall twentyfour
feet high, and containing seven hundred cells. The gross estimated cost of the
entire work was $78,428.51 ; exclusive of convict labor $58,744.61. The stone-
work, measured in the wall, was contracted for at $1.48 per perch ; the brickwork
at $2.40 per thousand. The contractors were to be provided with the labor of as
many convicts as they could employ, not exceeding thirtysix, the guarding to be
done at their expense. During the season of 1833 the work progressed i-apidly
until the violent outbreak of the cholera in that year compelled its suspension for
the summer. From 80 to 100 convicts were employed. Nathaniel Medbery was
appointed first warden of the new prison on October 27, 1834, and during the
next two days the convicts were transferred from the old prison to the new. On
March 5, 1835, the directors appointed Isaac Cool deputy warden, H. Z. Mills
clerk. Rev. Russell Bigelow chaplain and Doctor M. B. Wright phj'sician.
The new prison was thus opened under a new law, with new officers, new
rules, and a new system of hiring out the labor to contractors instead of selling
the manufactured articles in behalf of the State. At first the system of disci-
pline in the new institution was very severe but gradually it gave way to more
humane methods. The humiliating lockstep and the cruel punishments known as
the " showerbath '' and the " cat " have all been successively abandoned. A sep-
arate department, with eleven cells, for female convicts was constructed in 1837.
By December 12 of that year the new prison was fully completed, its aggregate
cost up to that date having been $93,370. The law providing for a chaplain hav-
ing been repealed, a Young Men's Prison Society was organized in the city to pro-
vide means for supporting one. The effort was not successful, and appeal was
The Penitentiary. 581
mudo to the General Assembly to provide ;i moral instructor for the convicts. In
their report delivered in January, 1837, the directors say :
During another year the penitentiary buildings and all necessary fixtures in and about
the prison can be completed, after which, as we fully behave, no appropriation from the
treasury will be required to sustain the institution, unless the labor of the convicts shall be
applied in erecting other buildings for the State and in that case appropriations equal to the
value of the labor thus applied will be sufficient. We go still further and predict that the
institution properly managed will not only sustain itself but will annually refund to the
treasury a sum equal to the interest upon the cost of the building.
When the penitentiary was removed from its original site, a question arose
as to whether the title to the tenacres of ground which had been donated for its
use :ind occuiiancy remained in the State or reverted to the original proprietors
of the town. In the General Assembly committees reported at two different ses-
sions in i'avor of the State's title, and on March 17, 1838, the Governor was
authorized by law to have the ground ]5latted and sold. Proceedings pursuant to
this act rested with the discretion of the Governor and nothing was done until
March, 1847, when Elijah Backus brought suit to recover the ground from the
State. In June, 1851, Backus obtained judgment, by default, and was given
possession of the property. In March, 1852, the State brought suit to regain its
title, but in the en.stiing November a verdict was rendered against its claim. On
appeal taken, this judgment was reversed in September, 1854; the State again
came into possession of the ground, and in 1857 a portion of it was sold. During
the session of 1857-8 the General Assembly anthorized the payment of one
thousand dollars of the proceeds from the sales to the widow of Alexander
McLaughlin, one of the original proprietors of the city.
On Juno 9, 1841, James Clark, a convict sentenced from Scioto County for
highway robbery, atrociously murdered Cyrus Sells, a prison guard, by stealing
upon his victim from behind and beating him down with an axe. The murderer's
motive was revenge for some rebuke or punishment he had received. Sells, whose
age was twentytwo, was a resident of Columbus and a member of the Columbus
Guards. Within a few months of the time when this tragedy occurred, Esther
Foster, a negress then serving a term in the prison, beat a white female convict to
death with a fireshovel. On February 9, 1844, Clark and Esther Foster expiated
their crimes on the same gallows, erected at the southwest corner of Mound and
Scioto streets. The execution, saj's Martin, " called together an immense crowd of
people, both male and female," and the occasion was one of "much noise, con-
fusion, drunkenness and disorder." Sullivan Sweet, a wellknown citizen, was
pushed over in the crowd and fatally trampled by a horse.
The visitatidns of the piison by cholera in epidemic form on different occasions
have been dcscrilifd in Chapter XXXV of Volume I. Worse for the prison than
cholera, so far as its discipline and general usefulness are concerned, has been its
frequent subjection to partisan " reorganization." In 1839 Nathaniel Med-
bery, a valuable warden, gave place to W. B. Van Hook, who, in turn, was
sujterseded in 1842 by Richard Stadden. In the current chronicles of 1843
we read of a meeting of citizens held to protest against the removal of Mr.
Stadden, who was declared to be " a faithful officer, a respected citizen and an
upright man." Ilis successor, appointed in 1843, was John Patterson, who, in
turn, gave i)lace in 1S4G to Laurin Dewey. Such are a few of the changes, mostly
on partisan account, which, at intervals, have disturbed the management of the
institution from 1822 until the present time.' A newspaper paragraph of 1843
contained the following suggestive statements:
682 History of the City up Columbus.
If half we have heard on good authority is true, the walls of the Ohio Penitentiary,
could they speak, would disclose " prisonhouse secrets " that would make the blood curdle.
We are against flogging in the army, navy, madhouse or penitentiary, if it can be dispensed
with. . . . If the managers of that institution [the Ohio Penitentiary] could substitute such
^persuasive as cold water for the cats and other instruments of torture and bloodletting here-
tofore employed, we are certain they would elicit an expression of universal commendation
from the community.'
In the current chronicles of 1851 we read of the arrival of three or four boy
convicts sentenced to the Penitentiary from Cleveland. They were brought in
manacles and " as they hobbled from the cars to the omnibus,'' wrote an observer,
" they laughed about their awkward fix and looked hardened and indifferent to the
terrible punishment awaiting them." "The sight," adds this writer, " was sicken-
ing." One of these boys was only ten years of ago. Incidental to his incarcera-
tion among adult offenders a loud demand was raised for a " house of refuge " for
juvenile offenders.'
A law transferring the appointment of penitentiary directors from the Gen-
eral Asseml)ly to the Governor was passed in April, 1852. Additional legislation
providing for the appointment of a board of three directors and otherwise affecting
the organization of the management, was enacted in 1854. Alleged inhuman
cruelties inflicted upon Toliver Coker, a negro convict, by Deputj' Warden Watson,
was, in that year, investigated by a legislative committee which made a report
attributing to Watson almost incredible barbarities, and demanding his resigna-
tion. During the same year, J. M. King, a prison guard, was arrested on charges
of embezzlement, and assisting convicts to escape. Advertisements of convict
labor for hire appeared in the newspapers of the fifties. Attempts to classify the
prisoners according to age, crime, second convictions and other standards, were
made in 1854 but were not successful. George H. Wright and Joseph Deemer,
prison guards, were arrested in March, 1855. for an alleged attempt to aid the
escape of a prisoner named Charles Freeman. On September 10, same year, two
female convicts escaped by climbing over the prison walls. The warden's report
for the year 1855 declared that the provisions of law requiring the warden to clas-
sifj' the convicts according to their age and disposition had been carried out as far
as "practicable with existing contracts." Alleged malpractice by the pri.son phy-
sician hj which a convict named Shannon became entirely blind was investigated
in 1857 by a legislative committee which reported recommending that the charges
against the physician be subjected to a judicial examination. Shannon had been
sentenced for one year on pleading guilty to manslaughter, consisting, it was ^aid,
in dealing a death blow to the assailant of a woman who called for his assistance.
His case awakened a great deal of popular discussion and sympathy.
On May 27, 1857, Bartlett Neville, aged 27, from Athens County, was brutally
murdered by a fellow convict named Albert Myers, from Clark County, who came
up behind Neville while he was helping to carry a bucket across the yard, and
struck him down with an axe. Neville was a harmless individual, not believed
to be of sound mind or judgment. Myers was convicted of this crime before
Judge James L. Bates, who sentenced him to be hung on September 3, 1858. On
account of alleged insanity he was respited by Governor Chase until December
17, 1858, when he was hung at the Franklin County Jail. His remarks and con-
duct, both at his sentence and at his execution, were of the most brutal and revolt-
ing character. In October, 1859, onehalf of the lots ou the Old Penitentiary
tract were sold by order of Governor Chase.
On April 4, 1859, the General Assembly, by joint resolution, authorized the
Governor to appoint a commission to inquire and report as to the necessity for
enlarging the institutional capacity of the State for penitentiarj- punishment, and
to suggest whether, should such enlargement bo deemed necessary, it should be
The Penitentiauy. 583
made by adding to tlie ijrison at Columbus or by building a new one in some
otbcr locaiity. The members of the commission appointed pursuant to this reso-
lution were Thomas Spooner, of Cincinnati, Nelson Franklin, of Circleville, and
Kent Jarvis, of Massillon. In November, 1859, these commissioners met at
Columbus, received, proposals for the new penitentiary from fortyone dift'erent
towns, and started on a tour of inspection.
Two female convicts escaped from the prison during the night of November
1, ISCO. They wore retaken near Worthington. Of twentyone convicts in the
female department in April, 1S62, two were sisters who had been sentenced for
shoplifting. One of the.so was the mother of seven children; the other had left
at home a babe about three weeks old. In May, 1861, Samuel Groff, a convict in
the saddletree shop, was shot by a guard named Taylor and fatally wounded.
Groff had struck Taylor and attempted to incite a mutiny. In June, 1863, a negro
convict from Cleveland, named Stephens, concealed a hammer in his clothes and
with it struck and killed a fellow negro convict named Howard. In 1864 an
annex for insane convicts was completed at a cost of $15,000. In January, 1865,
Daniel Heavey, an old guard, was fatally stabbed with a shoeknife by a convict
named Edward A. Drew. An attempted mutiny in November, 1865, was sup-
pressed bj- use of some violence, without fatal results, by Deputy Warden Dean.
In January, 1866, James McDonald, an old prisoner who had been recently dis-
charged, returned to the prison by scaling its walls. He was suspected of an
attempt to release a former comrade in crime, and was committed to the city
prison. On recommendation of Warden Walcutt and Governor Hayes, the
General Assembly, by resolution of May 16, 1868, authorized the purchase of ten-
acres of additional ground contiguous to the northern boundary of Jhe establish-
ment. On the first of October next ensuing this land was purchased of the
Lincoln Goodale estate for $20,000 ; in 1871 it was enclosed by a wall twentyfour
feet in height.
During the Civil War the Ohio Penitentiary was used, by consent of the
General Assembly, as a United States military prison. In consequence of this it
became the receptiicle, during that period, of many prominent Confederates and
abettors of the rebellion. Most conspicuous among this class of its occupants vvas
General John Morgan and his associates, whose capture and commitment to
the prison have been described in the tenth chapter of this volume. Morgan and
the Confederate officers taken with him, numbering about seventy in all, were
confined in the ground range of cells, and the one next above it, in the interior
cellblock of the east wing. Here they were isolated from all the prisoners com-
mitted for civil crimes. In going to and from their meals they marched across
the prison \ ard ; with this exception their daily exercise was limited to prome-
nades in the galleries which coursed around the cellblock. Two military sentinels
patrolled the corridor in front of the cells, a turnkey was constantly on the watch,
and frequent tours of inspection were made by the prison officials and guards.
No newspapers were allowed to reach the captives, their correspondence was sub-
jected to rigid inspection, and between sunset and sunrise they were all locked
within their cells. Nevertheless, on the morning of November 28, 1863, the dis-
covery was made that during the preceding night Morgan and several of his com-
panions had escaped from the prison. The story of this wonderful exploit has
been frequently told, with many variations of statement, but perhaps never more
authenticallj' than by Colonel Donn Piatt as he gathered it from the lips of a
Confederate participant, and communicated it to his paper, the Washington Capital.
According to this account. General Morgan managed lo communicate with friends
outsiile the prison by means of trusted convicts who were permitted to go into
the city on errands. His original design was to organize a general convict revolt
and blow up the prison, but while he was meditating this scheme he learned that
581 History of the City of Columbus.
a lart^e sewer passed under the prison directly beneatli the cells occupied by him-
self and party. This information was communicated to him through the ventila-
tor of his cell by a convict who had been one of a .gang engaged in cleaning
obstructions from the sewer. Morgan at once adopted new plans. What they
were, and how executed let Colonel Pialt narrate, as he gathered the story from
his Confederate informant:
The cell appropriated to the General was in the second tier above, reached by a stairway
and a gallery ; so he selected the one occupied by his brother in which to make the attempt.
Their first object was to obtain tools with which to work. This they accomplished by taking
from the convicts' (iinner table as they passed —and not from their own, as this would have
excited suspicion — the short, strong, dull knives ground square ofT at the end, so as to rob
them of danger as weapons. Every daj^ added a knife to the Confederates until fourteen
were secured. Their first efl'ort was to remove the stone pavement beneath the cot of the
cell selected. The pieces were broken into small fragments and deposited in the ashes of the
huge stoves u.sed to warm the halls. This had to be done slowly and cautiously, for the
appearance of any large quantity or large fragment would at once arouse inquiry. After the
sl;une pavement was removed a layer of cement was found. This too was broken up and
divided between the stoves and the mattress, from which the stuffing was removed and burned
as the material increased. The bed of the cell consistedof a cot, reared during the day against
the wall and when down covered the hole at which the men were digging. Thev took turns
at this slow, tedious process, and at the end of three weeks reached the sewer, arched with
brick. Through this a hole was opened large enough to admit the body of a man.
Had the brickwork, cement and pavement been honestly executed the prisoners would
not have so readily opened the way. But like all the government work, it was found to be rotten
and easily removed. To lower one of their number into this fotil receptacle and explore the
same came next. Owing to its size, and the fact that water was flowing through contin-
uously, the air was not so poisonous as they feared ; but they found at the lower end where
the sewer leaves the prison for the river, a heavy iron grating that defied all efforts made to
break through. Driven from this end, the prisoners tried the other. It terminated at a wall.
They attacked this wall. Their first impression was that getting through this obstacle, they
would find themselves in the open country. (Uose but cautious questioning of guards and
convicts — such convicts as I have said before, being near the close of their terms, were there-
fore used as messengers — with such observations as their indomitable leader could make,
convinced them that this wall was between them and, not liberty, but a court surrounded
partly by a prison and partly by a wall some thirty feet in height. There was nothing left
them, however, but to dig through.
It seemed an endless work, certainly no light one, for the wall was found, when ijierced,
to be fourteen feet from outside to outside. This work again was facilitated by the dishon-
esty of the government contractors in building the prison. After penetrating the .«hell of
solid masonry the interior was found to be rubble held together by a mortar of sand. One
day a messenger convict who had been trusted by the Confederates in carrying written mes-
sages to their friends outside, produced from one leg of his pantaloons a slender pick such as
miners use, and from the other a short stout handle. This was repeated until more picks
were furnished than could be used. And then followed —this time from his bosom— a
shovel ; after that came bits of candles, and continued until Morgan ordered the man to desist,
fearing that he might be discovered. The fellow gave over with much reluctance, for the
receipt signed by Morgan for each article delivered brought him a hundred dollar greenback,
and he was rapidly and easily accumulating a fortune.
The heavy wall was pierced at last and quite an excavation was made in the earth of the
courtyard, when the conspirators turned their attention to constructing openings into the
thirteen other cells. As the escape was to be made in the nighttime each cell, of course, had
to be tapped. After careful measurements and calculations, the precise places were desig-
nated and working from below, the arch was broken and the earth removed, all but the stone
pavement; that was left so that a few blows would open the way at the moment when escape
was determined upon. In the meantime other necessary preparations were being made. A
rope was constructed of the sheets of their beds torn into strips and twisted together. At
seven every night the prisoners were locked in their cells, and as an hour after, there was an
inspection wdiich consisted of a lantern being thrust through the door so that the the oiBcer
in command could see that his prisoner was in bed, it was necessary to get substitutes. To
this end paddies were constructed out of their underclothes, stuffed withrfhe filling of the
mattresses. After this Morgan's men slept with their heads covered, so that their inanimate
substitutes might not be discovered. For awhile the officer would call the prisoner, but found
The Penitentiarv, 585
it so difficult to awake liiiu that this was abandoned, tlie puzzled guard saying that Kentucky
" rebs " slept like " niggers," with their heads covered, and " sound as whiteoak wood."
All was ready for the desperate attempt, and the leader was waiting for a stormy night,
when one day he received through their trusted messenger a bit of paper. On the paper was
written, " Warden of the prison changed tomorrow." John Morgan was not slow to learn
the meaning of this. A new commandant meant a new broom, new regulations, an insnec-
tion and perhaps discovery. Morgan did not know that this change was the result of an
anonymous letter received by Secretary Stanton, written and mailed in Columbus, that hinted
darkly at a revolt in the State's prison and the destruction of the State's capital. But he did
know that the attempt was to be made that night or abandoned.
During the winter almost a perpetual twilight reigns within the gloomy walls of the
State Prison at Columbus. Sometimes this deepens into night, and then the unhappy
inmates know that a storm is raging without. The eventful day forced on them for the
attempt so long in preparation was lighter than usual and it was resolved to fight their way
out should that way be obstructed by guards. To this end their blunted knives were sharp-
ened to a point, and fourteen of these deadly weapons, deadly in such hands, were distributed
to as many men.
The first difficulty to be overcome was to get General Morgan from the cell in the upper
tier to one of the cells communicating with the sewer. He selected his brother, not only
because of the personal reseuiblance, but for that he thought it just for others that the pun-
ishment following the discovery should fall on hiuiself through the one nearest to him.
Night came and the brother hurried into the General's cell, while the General placed him-
self in the one vacated below. The change worked well, when, at the moment the guard
was about leaving, having locked in the prisoners, one appeared at the cell door so lately
occupied by the General, thrust a lantern in at the opening, and, just as the younger Mor-
gan was giving up all as lost, demanded a rattail file loaned the General the day before.
"What file ?" ttiougbt the young man. He had not heard of the article, borrowed under pre-
tense of making a ring for a lady from a bone. He had, however, enough presence of mind
to betray no confusion, but began, with his back to the door, an active search for the misera-
ble file. As luck had it, his hand fell on the article where it had been left upon the bed.
Covering his face with his hand, as if the light hurt his eyes, he gave the file to the guard
and then listened with throbbing heart to the footsteps that died away in the distance.
The clang of the irongrated door as it swung to was the signal for immediate action.
The pavements above the sewer at the designated places were broken through, and fourteen
men dropped into the foul receptacle. The candles were lighted and the work began. Five
feet of earth had to be removed before midnight, and taking turns they worked as probably
men never labored before. Rapidly, as the earth was loosened, it was passe<l back into the
sewer, their wooden cups being used for this purpose. At last an opening was made,
enlarged sufficiently to admit the passage of a man,and.Iohn Morgan pushed his way through
and stood upon the ground of the court. He found the sky overcast and a drizzling rain
slowly falling. The place seemed deserted. The man on guard had evidently sought shel-
ter from the inclement weather. One by one these resolute men emerged from the hole.
Grasping each other by the hand and led by their General, they moved slowly and quietly
toward the wall that divided the female prison from that which they so lately occupied.
The wall was reached, and the stoutest bracing himself against it with his hands, another
mounted to his shoulders ; then a third climbed above the two, and a fourth was making his
way up when the second man missed his footing and all fell to the ground. This mode of
scaling a perpendicular wall is successfully practiced by French zouaves and acrobats. But
it requires strength and dexterity, a dexterity that comes of long practice, and this practice
had been denied Morgan's men. General Morgan then shifted from the dividing wall, after
listening a minute to find whether the noise of the unhappy tumble had been heard, to the
corner furthest from the prison.
In former years, on this corner had been a platform and a box tor a sentry. But as the
guard was over women not given to attempted escapes, and as the sentry was subject to a
continuous volley of abuse from the female wards below, the guard had been removed.
Aided by the corner, that served as a support, the human ladder succeeded in reaching the
top of the wall, and the men clambering upon it with their improvised rope, made it fast.
One by one all of the fourteen came out. hand over hand, and the rope was dropped on the
outside, and in a few minutes the entire party found themselves free.
Here of course they were met b)' their sympathizing friends. My informant, on this
part of the business, was silent. Who guided the escaped prisoners to a place of refuge and
gave each a change of clothing— warm overcoats, cloth'traveling caps and carpetbags— will
probably never be known.
John Morgan selected one of his officers, now an eminent Judge in Kentucky, a man
noted for his cool selfpossession and courage, as his companion and separating from the other
586 History op the City op Columbus.
twelve, the two walked into the depot at Columbus at the moment the eastern express train
was about to start for Cincinnati. They had no time to procure tickets, and boarding the
cars. General Morgan purposely selected a seat by a Federal officer. In a few seconds the
cars were dashing into the night, towards Cincinnati. Shortly after, General Morgan's com-
panion pointed with his finger through the window next which he sat and said :
" That, sir, is our Penitentiary, and just now, you know, it is the residence of the famous
John Morgan."
"Indeed, it's there, is it?" responded Morgan. "AVell, let us drink to the strength of its
walls," and pulling from his breast pocket a flask of old whisky the officer joined in the
toast.
The conductor collected his fare, and the passengers nodded and slept, and among the
rest General Morgan's Federal officer, who, having taken several draughts from Morgan's
flask, and doubtless being fatigued by his many labors of the day, snored in the deepest
sort of slumber. Daylight, and the twain were approaching Cincinnati together when Mor-
gan, leaning over, whispered to his companion that it was about time to get ofT. Putting his
valise under his coat, he went quietly to the rear platform. In a few minutes after his com-
panion followed. Fortunately the brakeman was at the other end of the car. Morgan
directed his friend to throw his might and strength upon the brakes when he, Morgan, should
pull the bellrope, that signals a stop. This was done. The shrill scream of the locomotive
was heard, followed by the rasping noise of brakes along the train before it came to a full
stop, but after it had ceased to run so as to be dangerous to jump oft", the two fugitives
jumped from the platform and immediately hid in the bush that lined both sides of the road.
They heard the train come to a full stop ; they heard the voices of the conductor and
brakemen crying to each other with much profanity ; then the bell rang, the locomotive
screamed and the train moved on. Thev waited until the last faint roar died away in the
distance, and then emerged from their hiding places to fall almost into the arms of five gov-
ernment soldiers traveling along the track.
u^^^* *'*^ '^''^'" ^''^ ^°^ about here ? " cried one, facing Morgan and his companion.
Rather," replied Morgan quietlv, but firmly, "what are you doing from camp at this
hour?"
The question was embarrassing, for the men were laden with an admirable assortment
of dead poultry and conspicuous among the lot an infant pig lately sacrificed.
"VVe'ere out buyin' provisions for our Colonel," was the prompt replv, with some stress
on the word that indicated the purchase.
•'Does your colonel send you out to purchase poultry after night— and who is he? "
'Yes, he does, 'cause, you see, we're fightin' all day ; and his name's Squibob, Colonel
Squibob of the One Hundred Ninetysixth Ohio Volunteers," was the response as the chicken
thieves moved on.
The two arrived in Cincinnati as the day began to break. At that hour the police
waken ; cats steal home, and at intervals milk carts and meat wagons can be heard rattling
over rough streets. The few they met regarded them as early travelers seeking the depot,
and unobstructed they found themselves upon the banks of the Ohio. The ferry boats were
preparing their daily rounds, but the two hesitated trusting themselves to this sort of con-
veyance, for they saw a squad of infantry under command of a sergeant hurrying to one of
the landings. They did not know but what their escape had been discovered, and were well
aware that in an hour the guard would take their rounds through the prison and immedi-
diately thereafter the telegraph wires would fairly hum with the startling news of John Mor-
gan s escape. While they hesitated and thought a small boat rowed by a boy shot in near
the spot where they stood. Morgan approached the lad and asked what he would charge to
row them_ to the Kentucky side of the river. The boy eyed the two inquiringly as well as
he could in the dim light of the early morn, and then responded that he thought fifty cents
apiece would not be too much. This compensation was immediately agreed to. and then
the moneygetting gamin said he must have it in advance. The shrewd boy suspected the
two mencalling for a rowboat when the ferryboats were flying between the shores and the
information that he gathered cost subsequently some money and no little bloodshed. The
only track the authorities had of General Morgan, after he left the Penitentiary until he
struck the Ohio, was from this observant little Yankee, and the proof of his shrewdness was
in tlie fact that he collected his fare in advance.
The boat was small and the two heavy men sunk it to the gun'els, but it carried Csesar,
and his fortunes, or rather, I should say, carried Cissar to his fate. Could the daring raider
who sat with arms folded in the stern of that frail craft have had the present darkness sud-
denly lifted and the future revealed, I doubt if he would have cared whether the boat sunk
or floated ! He would have seen that his brilliant career had already ended, and in the
future was only the applause given a popular actor as he leaves the stage while the ignoble
death that began with treachery and ended in a few shots, and a body thrown upon a wag-
The Penitentiary. 587
oner's horse, would make that found in the quiet waters of the wintry Ohio far more pleasant
and dignified.
While slowly breasting the swift current, the ruddy couriers of the early dawn began to
brighten up the east, while night hung dark and gloomy in the west. In this dim and
cloudv quarter, high upon the Kentucky bank of the river, Morgan saw a bright light and
asked'the boy what it was. " Tbat." answered the little boatman, looking over his shoulder
without ceasing his elforts, "why, that's widow Ludlow ; she keeps her house lit up all night,
'cause they say she's feared of ghosts." "Land me there and I'll give you another dollar."
"Fork over," was the brief response, and getting his money, he turned his boat more with the
current and in a few moments landed the fugitives near the widow's house.
Getting once more upon Kentucky soil, John Morgan drew a long breath, tilling his
lungs with not only to him free air, but giving to his heart a fresh impulse of courage for the
cause he had helped to make immortal. He and bis comrade found refuge in Mrs. Ludlow's
house. What followed I have not the space to tell nor is it my province.^ I sat down only
to detail the heretofore unknown history of Morgan's escape from the Ohio prison. All that
followed is already known and belongs to the history of our country.
Possibly encouraged by the recollection of Morgan's exploit, four prisoners
undertook to effect their escape in October, 1867, by digging an underground pas-
sage from the eugineroom of the Ohio Tool Company towards the main sewer.
This effort was detected and arrested before the sewer was reached.
Of the freaks, anomalies and adventures developed in criminal experience and
temperament, the annals of the prison afford many curious examples. By way of
illustration one or two may here be given. The following strange history of
William Campbell, who died in the prison November 12, 18G7, is taken from the
Ohio State Journal ■
In 1838 he [Campbell] was sent to the penitentiary from Muskingum County under sen-
tence for three years for burglary. He was discharged in August, 18-11, but was returned to
prison in July, 1842, from Coshocton County, sentenced for a long term. He was pardoned
by Governor Ford in July, 1849, but was returned to prison from Muskingum County under
sentence for six years, in 1850, and was discharged in March, 1856, by expiration of sentence.
In June of the same year he was returned to prison under the name of Sheldon Campbell
from Morgan County, undt r sentence for fifteen years for horsestealing. He was pardoned May
fifth, 1866, on the certificate of the physician of the prison that he was in theloweststageof con-
sumption, and should he sent home to die. The veteran horsethief did not go home to die,
but to resume his calling, and in February, 1867, was returned to the Penitentiary for the fifth
time. He came this time from Allen County, convicted of horsestealing, and sentenced under
the name of William Martin, o/ias John Hess, for six years. There was a rich scene at the prison
when he was recognized, and as his pardon had been revoked, the old fellow resigned him-
self to his fate, and commenced his fifth term in about his usual spirits. He was a straight,
tall man, had mild grayish blue eyes, an easy manner, a good disposition, and was always a
good man in prison. For some weeks the old disease (consumption) made him an inmate of
the hospital. Though scarcely able to speak, he insisted to the last that he would get well,
and died without one evidence of a change of heart in any sense of the word.
The ciise of Mary Garrett, a Medina County murderess, who with her infant
child, arrived at the prison, under sentence of execution, on October 5, 1888, was
one of the most distressful in the Ohio annals of crime. Mrs. Garrett and child
reached Columbus on a stormy, di.smal day in October. The event was thus
described •}"
The mother alighted from the train with the babe in her arms and followed the sheriff
through the masses [of people assembled to see her]. She was unconcerned, and seemed to
care for nothing except her babe. . . . The sheriff held the baby while Mrs. Garrett alighteil
from the carriage, but she immediately took it. . . . They passed immediately througli the
guardroom and the corridor to the annex. The babe acted like a hero and was very good,
not even uttering a sound as he passed behind the bars. It was a sorrowful and touchins
sight to see the mother and babe enter the execution room The little babe simply
cooed as it passed the .scaffold, and the warden conducted the mother to a chair in the annex
cage. She was visibly affected when she bade Sheriff Dealing goodbye. Holding the babe
to her bosom with her left, she shook his hand and uttere<l the words, " Goodbye Sheriff,"
while her eyes filled with tears. She was left to herself then, and it is probable that her little
boy furnished her sufficient company to prevent her from giving full vent to her feelings.
58S History of the City ov CoLUMisrs.
Of Mrs. Garrett's history very little is known. She has been twice married, her first
husband's name being Geoffrey Iflinger, by whom she had two daughters who are still living.
Three years ago she was married to Alonzo Garrett, a well-to-do widower at Elyria. He had
two daughters, Anna and Eva, aged 26 and 42 respectively, who were always a great eyesore
to the new wife. It is said that she married Garrett for "his money, and she plotted vigor-
ously against the lives of his daughters for several reasons. She had one of thenj sent to the
Imbecile Asylum in this city for a time, and at another time both of them sent to the poor-
house. The crime for which .Mrs. Garrett is sentenced to be hanged January 4, 1889, was the
burning to death of these idiotic stepchildren on the night of November 1, 1887.ii
On June 13, 18G9, a female convict, Mary Williams, hid out until night, when
she rang the bell for the outside gate, at the opening of which she knocked down
the female guard who had opened it, rushed out, leaped over the picket fence and
made off towards Dublin, near wbieli she concealed herself in a corncrib. On the
following day she was detected in the crib, and brought back to the prison. In
September, 1872, Ida May attempted the murder of Maggie Williams, a .sister
convict, whom she severely injured. In Jul}-, 1869, William Carroll struck Frank
ilauth, a fellow convict, with an iron ladle, inflicting a dangerous wound. On
January 30, 1875, Nancy Jane Scott and Thomas L. Miles, both convicts dis-
charged on that date, were married at the prison, in the presence of about five
hundred persons, including members of the General Assembly and State officers.
Both pai-ties to the marriage had shortened their period of confinement by good
behavior.
In the spring of 1870 the General Assembly appropriated $1,000 to provide
the prison with a circulating library. A new chapel was sufficiently advanced to
be used for religious services in 1875. In 1874 a legislative committee investi-
gated and condemned the arrangement and ventilation of the cells, and i-ecom-
mended their reconstruction. The committee also advised the erection of a new
building to contain 500 cells. The foundations of this building were laid in 1875
on ground previously occupied by the prison cemetery, from which the remains of
deceased convicts there interred were transferred to a spot near the State quarry.
Apparatus for the manufacture of gas was introduced in the prison in 1873. A
plan for supplying the prison with water by means of its own pumps and a stand-
pipe was broached in 1882. In 1885 the standpipe was completed.
Bj- legislation of 1884 and 1885 a plan of graded punishments was intro-
duced, and the entire sj-stem of penitentiary management was recast on a reform-
atory basis. First in this series of statutes was "that of March 24, 1884, which
vested the general control of the Penitentiary in a board of five managers to be
appointed by the Governor, to serve for a term of five years, to have authority to
make rules for the prison and to appoint and remove its warden. Two of these
managers, the law required should be " practical and skilled mechanics," and not
more than three of them should " belong to the same political party.' By this
same statute the contract labor system was abolished and in lieu thereof it was
provided that the prisoners should be employed bj' the State, that those under
twentj'one years of age should engage in handiwork solelj' for the purpose of
learning a trade, and that articles made in the prison for the State institutions
should be paid for at the market prices. The law provided for a classification of
the prisoners in different grades, for their advancement or degradation according
to behavior, for their conditional release on parole, and for the gradual and com-
plete recovery of their liberty by meritorious conduct. To the warden was
entrusted the appointment of the employes, guards and subordinate officers
of the prison. As to the warden's qualifications it was required that he should be
a person of executive ability and practical experience. His removal from office
"for political or partisan reasons " was forbidden.
Pursuant to this law the board of prison managers proceeded to classify all
the prisoners into three grades, numbered from highest to lowest, as first, second
The Penitentiarv. 589
and third. The entire bod^- of convicts in tiie prison at the time of tlie adoption
of these grades, and all new arrivals, were assigned to the second grade, with the
possibility of falling by bad conduct to the third, or of rising by good conduct to
the first. Tlie prisoners of the first grade were clothed in a suit of mottled blue,
those of the second in one of mottled gray. The third grade continued, as before,
to wear striped clothing. In the first and second grades the lockstep was abol-
ished. A system of promotion and degradation in the grades, such as had been in
successful operation in the New York reformatory at Ehnii-a, was established.
Under this system, which is described as " simply a substitution of a task for a
time sentence,' the prisoner maj-, by good conduct, gain a monthlj^ deduction
from the full period of his sentence, as follows : Five days during his first year,
seven days during his .second 3'ear, nine days during his third year, and ten day.s
per month after he shall have passed, without fault, the first three years of his
sentence. In apportioning credits, the prisoner is charged for eachinonth nine
marks; three of these he may earn by labor, three by behavior and three by
study. To aff'ord facilities for study a school was established, and during the first
year of its operations five hundred illiterates then in the prison became " quite
proficient in reading, writing and arithmetic."'-' Each prisoner is furnished a
conduct book in which he receives monthly credit for the number of inarks
gained, and is charged with all off'enses reported against him.
The results of this system have been highly gratifying, and would doubtle.ss
be still more so if reinforced, encouraged and protected by such legislation as
would contribute to the prison management of the State a corps of trained
experts, wholly exempt from partisan or personal interference.
The socalled " piece or process plan " of prison labor was introduced in the
Ohio Penitentiary by an act of February 27, 1885. The use of the " duckingtub "
as a means of punishment was discontinued on January 1, 1889.
On AjM-il 29, 1885, an act was passed which provided that '■ when any person
shall be sentenced by any court of the State, having competent jurisdiction, to be
hanged by the neck until dead, such punishment shall only be inflicted within the
walls of the Ohio Penitentiary at Columbus, Ohio, within an inclosure to be pre
pared for that purpose." In pursuance of this act "a suitable building and scaf-
fold" were erected, and allexecutions for capital offenses in Ohio have since taken
place at the Penitentiary.
While the location of the State Prison at Columbus has undoubtedly bene-
fited the city in some, though not all, material respects, it has also carried with it
some moral disadvantages. One of these is the steadj' contribution by the prison
of unregenerate lawbreakers to the population of the capital. This evil has fre-
quently been a subject of legislative as well as local discussion, but no satisfactory
remedy for it has yet been found. That the frequency of capital punishments, in
any community, is promotive of refined tastes or delicate moral sensibilities, can
scarcely be admitted. Familiarity with the operations of the gallows is neither a
preventive of crime nor a refining influence.
The most important fact in the history of the Ohio Penitentiary is the ettort
which has been and is still being made to convert it into a reformatory institution.
Should this eff'ort be successful to the full extent of its deservings or its possibili-
ties, the prison may become an unqualified blessing both to the State and to its
capital.
590 History op the City of Columbus.
NOTES.
1. See Chapter XIII. Volume I.
2. An old citizen informs the author that this ground was originally a dense pawpaw-
thicket.
3. The bricks of which the original Penitentiary was composed are said to have been
made, in part, of clay taken from the ancient mound on South High Street.
4. Western Intelligencer.
5. Theconvicts.it is said, were allowed to amuse themselves with ballplaying, and
trained a dog to bring the ball back to them when it happened to fly over the walls. Another
story of that period represents that a drunken convict, while roaming the streets, met Gov-
ernor Lucas and implored his pardon, much to the Governor's disgust. During one of the
numerous escapades, in 1830, a convict named Smith Maythe seized and held one of the
guards while his confederates, about a dozen in number, made their escape. Pureued by
guards, the fugitives betook themselves to the mound on South High Street, whence they
retreated to Stewart's Woods, where they were retaken. Maythe, the leader in this adven-
ture, was one of four brothers then confined in the prison. On being brought back, one
of the brothers reproached him for his conduct, saying, " how could you so disgrace our
family!" During the cholera epidemic of 1833 Maythe earned and obtained his pardon by
faithful service in caring for the sick and dying on that occasion. He was subsequently-
returned to the prison on conviction of horsestealing, and was finally hung by a mob in Ken-
tucky for attempted murder.
6. The author of this plan is said to have been Doctor J. P. Kirtland, of Trumbull
County.
7. The Ohio State Journal ot December 9, 1878, in discussing a change in the warden-
ship then pending, said editorially :
" When the present bastile [State prison] opened, a prominent writer said that the failure
of the old Penitentiary, both in a pecuniary and reformatory view, had generally been
attributed to the insufficiency of the buildings and the lax government of the institution, and
high expectations were entertained that under the new system a revenue would be produced
and a moral reformation wrought upon the convicts. Were that man to write today he
might have something to say about political influence and the division of spoils as well as" lax
government. The Columbus police might also give him some information as to the moral
reformation wrought on convicts. It is a fact that imprisonment serves only as a punish-
ment. Its reforming effects are all in the mind's eye. Those who have been reformed are
very exceptional cases, though there are some good ones. But exconvicts, as a rule, are bad
elements in society, and they are cited against the exercise of the pardoning power. Very
many convicts who are discharged at the expiration of their terms are arrested again before
they get out of the city, and on charges that send them back. There are a dozen, or more, of
the hardest holes in this city kept by exconvicts."
8. Ohio State Journal.
9. In April, 1851, this boy — James Murphy — was released on pardon and taken to the
Clermont Countv farm of Mahlon Medary.
10. Ohio Stale Journal.
11. On recommendation of the Board of Pardons, (Governor Foraker, on January 18,
1889, commuted Mrs. Garrett's sentence to imprisonment for life.
12. Manager's Report.
KEEPERS AND WARDENS FROM 1815 TO 1892.
A>i)m. — 1815 1822, James Kooken; 1822-1823, Barzilla Wright; 1823-30, Nathaniel
McLean; 1830-1832, Byram Leonard; 1832-1834, William W. Gault.
ll'ordms; — 1834-1838, Nathaniel Medberv ; 1839-1841, W. B. VanHook -, 1841-1843,
Richard Stadden ; 1843-1846, John Patterson ;" 1846-1850, Laurin Dewey; 1850-1852, D. W.
Brown; 1852-1854, A. G. Dimmock ; 1854-1855, Samuel Wilson; 1855-1856, J. B. Buttles;
1856-1858, John Ewing ; 1858-1860, L. G. VanSlvke: 1860.1862, John A. Prentice ; 1862-1864,
Nathaniel Merion ; 1864 1866, John A. Prentice; 1866-1869, Charles C. Walcutt; 1870-1872,
Ravmond Burr; 1873-1875, G. S. Innis; 1876-1878, John H. Grove; 1879. J. B. McWhorter ;
1879-1880, B. F. Dyer; 1880-1884, Noah Thomas; 1884-1886, Isaac G. Peetry ; 1886-1890, E.G.
Coffin ; 1890-1892, B. F. Dyer.
CHAPTER XXXVll,
CENTRAL ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE.
No State Institution for the care of the insane existed in Ohio during the
first Ihirtyfivc years after her admission to the Union, The first action of the
General Assembly having any important relation to the specific purposes of such
an institution was taken in February, 1815, when an act was passed authorizing
justices of the peace to summon a jury of seven men to make inquest as to the
sanity of any person who might be brought before them "on the application of
relations or by any overseer of the poor." Upon the unanimous finding of such
a jury that any person brought before it in the manner prescribed was an idiot,
"won compos, lunatic or insane," it was made the duty of the justice to issue a
warrant for the commitment of the person so adjudged to enforced custodj'.
Harmless lunatics were placed under the care of the overseers of the poor ; dan-
gerous ones were committed to the county jail. In January, 1821, the General
Assembly appropriated $10,000 to establish a " Commercial Hospital and Lunatic
Asylum" to be located at and supported by " the town of Cincinnati." This insti-
tution, afterwards styled the " Ohio Medical College and Lunatic Asylum," was
intended for the relief of " sick and destitute river traders." For the insane gen-
erally throughout the State no refuge other than that of the jail or the poorhouse
was provided, down to the opening of the institution the general history of which
it is the purpose of this chapter to narrate.
The condition of the unfortunate persons of unsound mind who were com-
mitted to the crude and often heedless if not cruel guardianship which the earlier
resources of the counties provided for their paupers and criminals, was truly piti-
able. One of those who most fully appreciated it, and were most profoundly
touched by it, was Doctor William Maclay Awl, M. D.,of Columbus. Doctor Awl
was a native of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, born May 24, 1799. After having
studied medicine with Doctor Samuel Agnew at Harrisburg and received an hon-
orary professional degree from Jetferson College, he shouldered his knapsack at
the age of twentyseven, and set out on foot for Ohio. First settling at Lancaster,
in 1826, he removed a year or two latei' to Somerset, Perry County, whence, in
the sjjring of 1833, he transferred his residence and professional labors to Colum-
bus. During the first year of his residence in the capital, says his biographer,'
He had an opportunity- of proving his professional zeal and knowledge in combatina; an
epidemic of cholera which raged during July, August and September He, in common with
the other physicians of the city, was kept busy night and day during this period of suffering
and alarm ; among other things he tried saline venous injections in one case, but relied
mainly on calomel.
[591]
592 History of the City op Coldmbcs.
On Jamiarv 5, 1835, a convention which Doctors Awl, Drake and others had
invited "all the regular and scientific physicians of the State ' to attend, met in
the First Presbyterian Church. Its attendance numbered about seventy. Its
president was Peter Allen, of Trumbull; its secretaries were M. Z. Kreider, of
Fairfield, and William M. Awl, of Columbus. Among the subjects discussed were
these: Erection of commercial hospitals by the National Government on the Mis-
sissippi, the Ohio and Lakes ; propriety of petitioning the legislatui-e to legalize the
study of anatomy ; vaccination; intemperance; medical ethics, and, as the event
proved, most presageful of all, the establishment of a school for the blind and an
asj'lum for the iusane. Consideration of these two latter subjects was the princi-
pal purpo.se which Doctor Awl had in mind when he became the leading spirit
among those who had summoned the convention and it was chiefly at his instance
that the assembled physicians decided to memorialize the General Assembly- to
establish the two public charities in behalf of which he had taken such an active
interest. The memorial, as it was afterward presented, was signed by Doctors R.
Thompson, T. D. Mitchell, William M. Awl, John Eberleand E. Smith as members
of a committee, and by Doctor Peter Allen as President and Doctor M. Z. Kreider
as secretary of the State Medical Convention.
So strong was the argument made by the memorialists that, on March 7, 1835,
the General Assembly passed " an act providing for the erection of a Lunatic
Asylum,'' to be erected on a tract of not less than fifteen nor more than thirty
acres of land, distant at least one mile and not more than four miles from the city
of Columbus. For the purchase of the site the act authorized an expenditure of
not more than two thousand dollars. The duty of acquiring the necessary grounds
was lodged in a board of three directors, who were further required to obtain, by
visiting the best institutions for the insane in other States, or otherwise, all need-
ful information as to the best plan for equipping and organizing such an institu-
tion, and to report the results of their investigations, together with estimates of
cost, to the next General Assembly. The directors appointed were General S. T.
McCracken, of Lancaster, and Doctors William M. Awl and Samuel Parsons, of
Columbus.
These gentlemen, after visiting Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston
and other cities signed a report on December 10, 1835, recommending for the Ohio
institution the general plan of "the Massachusetts Lunatic Ho.spital at Worcester."
In setting forth the details of the plan proposed for adoption the report says-:
The structure will consist of a centre building and two wings, all extended upon the
front, and measuring 266 feet. The centre, or principal edifice, will be eightyone feet long by
fortyiive feet in width, three stories and an attic in height, and ornamented in front wiih a
plain portico supported by four Ionic columns. The wings will extenil to the right and left
of the centre building. They are each ninety feet six inches in front by one hundred feet in
the rear, thirtynine feet wide and three stories high. They recede twentyfour feet from the
front line, and are so united to the opposite ends of the centre structure, by onehalf their
width, that the corresponding half, or nineteen feet six inches, will fall beyond its rear.
This arrangement disconnects half the end of each wing from the rear of the centre of the
building, entirely, permitting, by means of a large window, the free circulation of the exter-
nal air throughout the long wings. . . . The centre edifice, together with the wings, is to be
built of brick, upon a basement of stone work seven feet high.
The cooking and laundry departments and the workshops for patients were
assigned to the basement, the offices, medical dispensary, libraiy and reception
rooms to the central building, the dining rooms to the rear part of each floor in
the wings. Through the centre of each wing extended a corridor fourteen feet
wide, with apartments for patients on each side. Heat was derived from furnaces
in the basements. Arrangements for ventilation, including ready facilities for
communication with the external atmosphere, were carefully planned. A separate
([),(pyfl'yM/i^i'^CAm^ 'M<M.
Central Asylum for the Insane. 593
stairway from the corridor of each wing conimiuiicated witii a courtj-ard enclosing
about oiiethird of an acre. The grounds selected and purchased for the site com-
prised an area of thirty acres, now known as East Parlv Place ■ The report of the
directors thus described it :
The site for the asylum is in the immediate vidnity of this city, about one mile in a
northeast direction from the iState House; the grounds are within full view and comman<l a
handsome prospect of the surrounding country.^
The price paid for tiiis ground was $66 per acre; the aggregate, 11,980. The
central building was set back about 200 yards from Broad Street toward
which it fronted, looking south. The estimated cost of the entire structure was
$40,767, of which sum about $18 000, the directors believed, could be saved by the
labor of convicts. A reason given for locating the institution at no greater dis-
tance from the city was: " To enable the patients in certain states of disease to
have ready access to objects and scenes that may interest them, and such as are
calculated to induce a new train of thought and consequent change in the oper-
ations of the mind." Pursuing this subject the directors say:
Solitude not only disposes to insanity, but enables the mind, when deranged, to dwell
upon the original cause of alienation, and tlierebyto perpetuate the disease itself. In recent
or violent cases of mania the location is not material ; the patients in such cas'S require a
more active medical treatment, and need no other accommodations as to insulation, than
safe, commodious and well-ventilated apartments. But after the acute stage of the disease
is past, and the patients are convalescent, or the disease has assumed a chronic form, or in
cases of partial derangement, in all which the treatment will be chiefly moral, such a situa-
tion as before named is found from experience of the best institutions to give additional
effect to the ordinary occupations and amusements of the patients in exciting- and perma-
nently impressing new ideas upon their minds. Considering the subject of a location in this
light, the directors procured a site for the asylum in the vicinity of the city instead of one
more remote in the country.
Thirty years later, fortunately for the city, and also for the institution, the
progress of medical science with respect to the treatment of insanity justified a
view just the opposite, in most respects to that here taken.
In March, 1837, the General Assembly granted, by almost unanimous vote,
an appropriation to erect the asylum buildings in substantial accord with the
plans and recommendations submitted by the directors. N. B. Kelley, afterwards
architect of the Capitol, was appointed superintendent of construction. Excava-
tion began at once, and on April 20, 1837, the first stone of the foundation masonry
was laid by one of the convict laborers from the Penitentiary at the northwest
corner of the west wing.
Doctor William M. Awl was appointed superintendent and chief physician of
the institution in the spring of 1838, and spent the ensuing summer in a study of
hospitals for the insane in the Eastern States. On November 10, 1838, the asylum
buildings were declared to be complete, and final settlement was made with the
superintendent of their construction. Their total cost up to that time had been a
little over forty thousand dollars. So pressing had been the need for the institu-
tion, owing to the condition of the insane throughout the State, that the General
Assembly humanely gave it preference over the Capitol in the appropriation of
surplus convict labor. The number of the insane in Ohio at tlie time the asylum
was first opened was about 300 ; the institution had capacity for but 140. More
than half of those who needed care were therefore still left in the poorhouses and
jails. A necessity for enlargement of the buildings was therefore felt almost from
the beginning. Accordingly, the west wing was begun in 1843, and completed
in 1845. The cast wing, begun in 1844, was completed in 1846. In 1847 the cen-
38*
594 History of the City op Columbus.
tral wing was erected. These additions inerea.sed the frontage of the building to
370 feet, its depth to 218 feet, the total number of its rooms, exclu.sive of the hase-
ment to 440, and its total cost to $153,821.84. The number of its rooms at the
disposal of patients was 219 besides twentynine lodges. The buikling in its
enlarged form was quadrangular, and covered precisely an aero of ground. The
completeness of the institution, and its efficiency under Doctor Awl's manage-
ment, at this time attracted wide attention. On reading its report for 1842, Lydia
Hnntlej" Sigourney, the New England poetess, was inspired to write the following :
ADDRESS TO OHIO.
Hail ! Sister, of the beauteous West,
Throned on thy river's sparkling tide,
Who still seeks, with pitying breast,
The sick to heal, the lost to guide.
Still o'er thy wounded children bend,
With bounteous hand, and kindness true.
Intent thine utmost skill to lend
The broken mind to build anew.
The care, the cure to thee are dear,
Of ills to which the world is blind.
Or, sunk in apathy severe.
To torture and despair consigned.
Clothed and restored to Reason's sway
Thou joy'st thy suflFering ones to see,
And hear them pour the votive lay
To Heaven, and happiness, and thee.
Say, is a nation's truest praise
In pomp of lordly power to shine,
The o'ershadowing pyramid to raise,
Or hoard the treasure of the mine ?
No, no ! with sympathising heart
From sorrow's grasp the prey to wrest ;
And thou hast chosen that better part ;
God bless thee, Sister of the West !
The asylum received further commendation from Miss Dorothea L. Dix. the
Massachusetts authoress and philanthropist, who visited and inspected it in 1844.
On Tuesday, November 17, 1868, the board of trustees met at the asylum and
received reports from its different departments. According to these reports the
condition of the institution at that time was superb. The system of administra-
tion was admirable, and the success in treatment very gratifying. Pleased with
the condition of things, the board adjourned and its members departed to their
homes.^ On Wednesday evening it was usual for the patients to assemble in the
amusement hall for recreation. They were thus engaged on Wednesdaj^ even-
ing, November 18, and the last quadrille in the customary dance had been called,
when, a little after nine o'clock, an attendant came into the hall and informed
the superintendent, Doctor Peck, that a fire had broken out in the sixth ward.
Hastening to that ward, which was in the northeast part of the east wing. Doctor
Peck found it already filled with dense smoke, forbidding all entrance. An alarm
Central Asylum for the Insane. 595
was at ouce telegraphed, and about fifteen minutes later the three steam fire-
engines then owned by the cit}- were throwing water from tiie cisterns. The
steam pump at the asylum was also at work. One of the city steamers, the
John Miller, had been engaged with the fire but a short time when it was disabled.
The Bidgicay, an old engine lately from the repair shop, took the Miller's place,
but soon failed and was also retired. Within half an hour after the pumping
began the water in the asylum cisterns gave out. Wells and other cisterns of the
neighborhood were resorted to, but in vain. The fire made steady progress along
the great wing, pushing its advance under shelter of the heavily-sheathed tin
root, and devouring everything before it. Its fierceness set the feeble resources
of the fire department at defiance ; its smoke repelled all who sought to penetrate
its lair.
The asylum contained at this time about 330 patients. The most violent of
these, about sixty in number, were lodged in a hospital, detached from the mjiin
.building. They were safe. The entire otficial and working force of the institu-
tion, together with scores of helpful citizens who came rushing to the scene,
therefore bent their entire efforts to the rescue and removal of the insane from
the burning building. This was accomplished in various ways. Some were
lifted thi-ough holes cut in the roof and ceiling, others were taken out through the
windows, from which the strong iron gratings were wrested. Women with hair
dishevelled, almost naked, and shrieking with terror were borne by strong arms
through the glare of the flames along the steep roof. A thrilling story is told of
aphj-sician who rushed to the rescue of a robust female maniac, who, as soon as
he entered her room, shut the door, threw herself against it, and with the fury
and strength of wild delirium, defied all attempts to open it. The flames which
hissed, crackled, and darted their red tongues gave her no fear; she scorned them
with a demoniac laugh. Fortunately for the imprisoned man an attendant came
to his rescue, and together they removed the frantic woman to the amusement
hall, where she vented her remaining fury by dancing on the piano until it was
completely ruined.
The ward where the fire first appeared contained thirtytwo women. Six of
these were caught in the smoke before help could reach tliem, iind were suffocated
to death.' Their lifeless bodies were snatched from the flames and stretched upon
the grass, then rapidly whitening with falling snow. The patients who were
assembled in the amusement hall when the fire broke out were locked up there to
prevent their escape. Thus imprisoned they indulged their wild fancies in many
fantastic modes. A few, not confined to the hall, escaped from custody in the
confusion and broke away through the dismal night on foot for their homes. As
rapidly as possible the patients confined in the amusement hall and those rescued
from their rooms were removed in omnibuses and carriages to the Institution for
the Deaf and Dumb. Meanwhile the fire moved resistlessly on, and on, through-
out the night until it passed through the central building and reached the lust
extremity of the western wing. It halted only because no further food for it lay
within its reach. The central wing, midway between the eastern and western
one, was saved almost entire; the rest, when morning dawned, was blackened,
roofless walls.
The origin of the fire was never ascertained with certainty'. It was first
detected in the attic at the northwest corner of the east wing. No fire was in use
in that part of the building, nor were there any flues there from which ignition
was at all probable. Doctor Peck thus stated his own theory :
The origin of the tire was in the clothing room of the number six ward. This room con-
tained all the clothing of thirtytwo patients, and the sudden filling of the ward with such a
dense, stifling smoke was the natural re.sult of the burning of so much clothing made of both
cotton and wool. How did the fire find its way into that room? In answer to this question
596 History of the City of Coi.umbus.
I have but one theory. While the patients were being put to bed, some one of the mis-
chievous ones must have lighted at the gas burner some combustible material like paper, or
cotton, or cloth, and thrown it over the transom of the clothing room door into the clothing
room. . . . While writing this article, a conversation with Doctor G. H. Stewart, who has
been in charge of all the patients sent to the Newburg Asyluai, has established in my mind
my theorv of the origin and cause of the tire. One of the patients of that ward was a sub-
ject of periodical attacks of maniacal excitement. While passing through these periods her
impulses were various, but she was almost always mischievous, often violent, and always
perfectly reckless. At the time of the fire she was in an excited state. After she arrived at
the Northern Asylum, it became necessary to use restraint by confining her hands. While
Doctor Stewart was making his morning round a few days since she urged the removal of the
restraint, and while he wa,s hesitating to do so she remarked to him : " I know the reason
why you do not take off these mittens ; it is because you are afraid I will burn up this
asylum as I did the other." She added further that she lighted paper in the gas and threw
it over the door into the room.
Immediate rehabilitation of the .institution was universally concurred in, but
with respectto reconstruction of the burned buildings there arose a wide difference of
opinion. A proposition to remove the asylum for the insane to a farm somewhere in
the vicinity of Colunibus, and erect upon its Broad Street site an institution for
the blind was abl}- advocated in the General Assembly bj' Hon. James Scott.
This plan was reinforced by declaration officiallj^ adopted by the asylum trustees
that it would be inexpedient to rebuild on the old site unless it should be enlartjed by
the purchase of at least fourteen acres of additional ground. The trustees further de-
clared that enlargement of the buildings and material changes in their plans would
be imperatively necessary. In advocating removal Judge Scott pungently stated
that on its Broad Street site the as^-Jum was " a nuisance to the city and the city
a nuisance to it." The writer of these lines and others who happened to be at that
time colleagues of Judge Scott in the House of Representatives heartily seconded
this view, and did all we could to insure its acceptance, but in vain. On April
23, 1869, the General Assembly passed an act providing for the erection of a new
building on the old grounds, and, so Car as possible, with the old material. This
act made an appropriation of $100,000, required that the new building should be large
enough to accommodate 400 patients, and limited its maximum cost to 8400,000.
Nothing was done under this act until September, 1869, when contracts for work and
materials began to be let. Levi F. Schofield was chosen as the architect, his plans
were accepted, and on an inclement day in October, 1869 — twentythird — the
ceremony of breaking ground for the new building took place. The spot selected
for this ceremony was that where the northeast corner of the new structure was
intended to rest.' A considerable number of ladies and gentlemen were present,
one of the most notable members of the party being the Governor of Ohio, Hon.
R. B. Hayes. After brief remarks by Doctor S. M. Smith, one of the trustees, an
invocation was offered by Rev A. G. Byers. Governor Hayes then lifted the
first shovelful of earth into the barrow. "This act was repeated by Doctor Smith,
Judge W. B. Thrall and others. Demolition of the old walls began at the same
time, and continued during the few weeks which remained prior to the close of
the season.
Fortunately for the institution, and for the city, the opening of the season of
1870 brought with it an entire change of programme. Ou April 18 of that year
the General Assembly authorized the Governor, State Treasurer and Attorney-
General to sell the grounds of the old :is.\lum, then comprising seventytwo and
onehalf acres, for not'less than $200,000, and to purchase a new site, in the vicinity
of Columbus, at a cost of not over §100,000. Pursuant to this authority a sale
was effected in May, 1870, for §200,000, the sum of S60,000 to be paid in cash
down, and the residue in nine equal annual instalments. The purchasers were
William S. Sullivant, Andrew D. Rodgers, John G. Mitchell, Richard Jones, John
and T. Ewing Miller, Orange Johnson, Frederick J. Fay, James Watson, S. S.
Central Asvlum for the Insane. 597
Eickly, Charles Baker, D. W. H. Day, W. B. Hawkes, John Joyce, John L. Win-
ner and W. B. Hayden. By this syndicate the grounds were handsomely jilatted
into streets, avenues and parks, and named East Park Place.
After e.xamining various lands oflFered, the committee decided to purchase for
the new site the farm of William S. SuUivant, west of the city. The tract contained
three hundred acres ; the price paid for it was 1100,000. The new institution was
planned on a vast .scale, and on May 16, 1870, its erection was ceremoniouslj'
inaugurated " Hitherto, the elevation on which the new bnildings were staked
out had been known as SuUivant's Hill ; at the suggestion, it is said, of Mrs. Doc-
tor W. L. Peck the trustees decided to name it Glenwood.' On July 4, 1870, the
cornerstone of the new as3ium was laid, with Masonic ceremonies, conducted by
officers of the Grand Lodge of Ohio. A street parade in the city, preceding the
ceremonies, was participated in by the fire department. State officers and visiting
Masonic bodies. Governor E. B. Hayes presided at the grounds and delivered an
address. Hon. Bellamy Storer, the orator of the occasion, delivered a disquisition
on Masonry. In the course of his remarks Governor Hayes made the following
historical statements:
Prior to the legislation of the last session of the General Assembly the law made a
broad distinction between cases of chronic insanity and cases of recent origin. Those who
had been insane more than two years and those who had been returned from an asylum as
incui-abie were not entitled to the benefit of the provision made by the State for the insane,
but were left to such care as their families, or tlie counties of tlieir residence, were prepared
to give. Last winter the General Assembly took a great step in advance of all our previous
legislation on this sui>ject. The second section of an act passed April 12, 1870, is as follows :
''The chronic insane shall be admitted to tlie several lunatic asylums of the State upon
the same terms and in the same manner that other insane persons are admitted thereto, and
no discrimination shall be made against those who3e cases may be adjudged chronic, nor
shall any preference be given to those whose cases may be regarded as curable."
In order to carry out the wise and humane object of this section, extensive additions to
existing asylums, and to the asylums now building, were authorized. The Central Asylum
here building was required to be enlarged so as to accommodate six hundred patients at an
increased cost of $20J,000. . . . With this legislation a new era begins in the history of the
treatment of tbe insane in Ohio. Hereafter the policy, the purpose will be to make as
speedily as practicable ample provision for all of this unfortunate class of our people.
Additional remarks were made by Doctor Peck, in the course of which ho paid
a high tribute to Doctor William M. Awl as the founder of this great charity. In
behalf of the trustees, Henry B. Curtis presented the cornerstone, which was then
laid under the direction of Grand Master Alexander H. Newcomb, assisted by
Deputy Grand Master Philip M. Wagenhals. In a cavity beneath the stone vari-
ous documents and other articles ■^^ere deposited.
The first patients regularly received by the asylum were an instalment, 180 in
number, transferred to it from the Dayton institution on September 7, 1877.
Doctor ilichard Gundry, an eminent expert in the treatment of insanitj', was the
superintendent in charge. He had been transferred to the Central Asylum from
the one at Athens. During the spring of 1878 Doctor W. W. Ellsbury was chosen
to supersede him, but after coming to Columbus to assume his duties he resigned,
whereupon Doctor Gundry was offered reinstatement, but declined it. The emi-
nent qualifications of Doctor Gundry did not, however, fail of due appreciation,
for the superintendency of the Maryland Institution for the Insane at Spring Grove,
near Baltimore, was tendered him, at a salary of $2,500 per annum, and was
accepted. On February 10, 1881, a few months before his death. Doctor Gundry
wrote to the author in response to some inquiries. His letter contained the follow-
ing passage :
598 History of the City of Columbus.
My connection with tlie Central Asylum was very short, and not remarkably pleasant.
I assumed charge as superintendent January 9, 1877, furnished it, opened it for patients in
September of that year, and had admitted about one thousand patients when, on April 9.
[1878], I was superseded by the appointment of Doctor W. W. EUsbury who, resigning, gave
way to Doctor [L.] Firestone. I left the institution, and Ohio, May 27, 1878.
These examples will serve to illustrate a long series of changes in manage-
ment with which this great charity has been visitsd, chiefly for partisan reasons,
in the course of its history. The storj' is a painful one to contemplate, and we
gladly turn from it to other themes.
NOTES.
1. J. H. Pooley, M. D.
2. The dilferent purchases of ground for the use of the asylum, made then and subse-
quentlv, were as follows: August 12, 1835, thirty acres and half of the width of an alley
conveyed to the State by Alfred Kelley and R. Neil for $1,980; March 26, 1839, twentysix
and eightyi'ight hundredths acres, conveyed by Alfred Kelley for $2,925; nine acres con-
veyed at a later date by William Burdell; seven and onehalf acres conveyed in February,
1869, from the estate of Robert Armstrong.
3. A correspondent of the Cincinnati Chronicle, writing in February, 1838, described
the location of the asylum, then in course of erection, as " about a mile east of the Capitol,
on the north side of the old Zanesville road."
4. The members of the board at that time were Doctor S. M. Smith, William B.
Thrall, Henry B. Curtis, Henry Wilson, John Hunter and Doctor William Fullerton.
5. These victims were Mrs. Caroline Corner, Miss Lizzie Herold and Mrs. C Bradford,
of Athens County ; Mrs. Murphy (over eighty years of age), of Wyandot County ; Mrs.
Susan A. Parker, of Licking County, and Bridget Brophy, of Franklin County.
6. The first earth was thrown by AVilliam S. SuUivant, the next by Hon. Josiah Scott.
Judge of the Supreme Court, the next by W. W. Pollard, surveyor of the grounds, and the
next by Hon. A. D. Rodgers.
7. It was thus formally christened on September I, 1870. The trustees decided at the
same time to name the institution the Central Ohio Lunatic Asylum at Glenwood. It was
afterwards, in much better taste, given its present title as the Central Asylum for the Insane.
CHAPTER XXXVIIl.
INSTITUTION FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB.
BY ROBERT PATTERSON, PRINCIPAL OF THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
SKETCH OF ROBERT PATTERSON.
BY PROFESSOR ROBERT P. m'gREGOR.
[Those who imagine that the loss of one of the most important senses, that of hearing,
incapacitates from attaining distinction in any walk of life, or dwarfs the moral and mental
attributes, find a perfect refutation in the career of the subject of this brief sketch. It is also of
value as an example of what can be accomplished under the most adverse circumstances and
apparently cru.shing misfurtunes at the very outset of life, by an indomitable will and a
spirit that soars above all earthlv trammels.
Robert Patterson was borii in Oakley, Fifeshire, Scotland, near Dumfermline, Decem-
ber 11, 1848. When about two weeks old he was carried, in the arms of his aunt Marion,
mother of Attorney James Allen, of this city, to the kirk at Carnock, two miles from Oak-
ley, to be christened. He was named after his grandfather. His father was a miner. AVhen
Robert was three years and seven months old, his parents emigrated to this country and settled
at Bloomsburg, Columbia County, Pennsylvania. At the age of six he had an attack of scarlet
fever which was prevailing in that neighborhood at the time. He grew worse and worse till
at last the doctor lost all hope and, on leaving the house, one morning, happening to meet an
undertaker just entering the house next door, where a child had died during the night from
the same disease, he said: " There is another job for you in there. The little boy," refer-
ring to Robert, "cannot live." Robert's mother overheard this, and the indomitable spirit
which she has transmitted to her son was aroused. She resolved that the doctor's ill-omened
prediction sh<,uld not prove true. She threw his prescriptions to the winds and, resorting to
" old country " remedies and careful nursing, wrought such a change that when the doctor
called next morning to, as he believed, write out the death certificate, he was astonished to
find Robort alive and likely to recover. From that time he rapidly improved, but the dis-
ease, as il in revenge at being baffled of its prey, left him without his hearing and a cripple,
his left leg being drawn up some six inches shorter than the other.
One drty while he was slowly convalescing, as he satin the doorway enjoying the scenery,
being still too weak to do anvthing else, he attracted the notice of a young doctor who had
just come to town. He ofl'er'ed to cure the defect in Robert's limb for a consideration. The
ofi'er was accepted by Robert's parents and the doctor went to work, spurred on by the incredu-
lity of the neighbors, who did "not believe a cure could be effected. However, after several
mouths of patient labor, Robert was able to throw away his crutches, the doctor's reputation
was made and his success assured.
[599]
600 HlSTdRY OF THE CiTY OF COLUMBUS.
Robert removed with his parents to Ohio in 1857, and in September, 1859, he was sent
to school at the Institution for the Deaf, here. Meanwhile he had lost, through disuse, on
account of his inability to hear, the power of speech. He has since learned to speak a few
words and disconnected sentences but not enough to be of much practical use, so he depends
almost entirely upon writing to communicate with those who can hear. During one of his
summer vacations, which he spent at home, he attracted the attetition of Josiah Griffiths, of
Salineville, Ohio, an accomplished marble carver and a sculptor of considerable ability. He
gave Robert lessons in modeling in clay, drawing and designing, and he was so struck with
his evident artistic ability in that line that he offered to take him as an apprentice, after he
should leave school, and, after he had taught him all he could, to obtain help to send him to
Florence, Italy, to finish his studies as a sculptor. Robert was both willing and eager to
enter into the arrangement, but his father objected on account of his apparently feeble con-
stitution which he feared would be injured by the dust incident to a marble cutter's estab-
lishment.
In November, 1865, he suddenly severed his connection with the institution as a pupil
and entered the Preparatory Class of the National Deaf Mule College at Washington, D. C.
He was the next year admitted to the Freshman Class and graduated in 1870 with the degree
of bachelor of Arts. He received his diploma from the hands of President Grant, whose
signature, as Patron of the College, it also bears.
During the summer of 1809, he was appointed by Hon. Columbus Delano, Commissioner
of Internal Revenue, to a clerkship under Third Commissioner Colonel Given, an olii resi-
dent of this city. His Chief of Division was Colonel Cox, also of this city. These gentlemen
were so well pleased with his work that they urged him to return as soon as he had gradu-
ated and identify himself with the Government service. It was his intention to do so, with
the object in view of preparing himself for newspaper work, but upon the representation of
the President of the College that he would be more useful if he devoted his talents to the
education of the deaf, when he was offered the position of a teacher in his Alma Mater here,
soon after graduating, he resolved to accept it. He was married in 1875 to Miss Rosa O.
Gildersleeve, of Ross County, Ohio, one of the teachers at the institution. Like himself she
is deaf, but she can speak and is remarkably expert at reading the lips. Four children, all
of whom can hear, have resulted from their union. Three of them are living. In May, 188.3,
he was called to Washington, D. C, to deliver an oration on the late President Garfield's
services in behalf of the higher education of the deaf, at the unveiling of a national memorial
of him presented to the college by the deaf of the country, and upon that occasion also
received the degree of Master of Arts in course.
Professor Patterson has been a frequent contributor to the Annals of the Deaf, a
quarterly magazine, the exponent of the profession in this country, and is at present the
editor of Thf ihite's Chronicle, the institution organ. Once he has been honored with the
Vice-Presidency of the Ohio Deaf Mute Alumni Association, and twice with the Presidency,
In 1889 he was selected by the deaf of the state as their delegate to the International Con-
gress of the Deaf which met in Paris, France, in June of that year. In June, 1890, he was
chosen Principal of the Institution, and in 1891 he completed a course of study for the
school which is acknowledged to be the most thorough and comprehensive for such a school
of any ever written. As a master of the sign language of the deaf he has few equals and no
superiors. He is known far and wide as a brilliant and talented lecturer and is much in
demand as such.
Professor Patterson has been connected with the institution as a pupil, teacher and
principal for twentyeight 3'ears, and it can be safely said that there is not a man in the state
who is more thoroughly equipped and qualified, both by learning and experience, for .the
responsible and difficult task of supervising the education and training of these wards of the
state. That this is true is evinced by the great changes for the better which he has brought
about in his department since he took charge of it. Having, as a pupil, overcome, through
patient toil, and steady endeavor, all the obstacles incident to the acquisition of knowledge
by the deaf, he can appreciate the difficulties that his charges are obliged to encounter and is
able to encourage them and show them the best way to succeed. Coupled with this his long
experience as a teacher has given him an insight into the workings of the minds of the deaf
which is of great value to them and enables him to correctly indicate and direct the methods
to be pursued by his subordinates.]
;^^^^T^
THE SURGICAL HOTEL.
JTEL OFFICES, TREATMENT ROOMS
Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. 601
At the nortliwest corner of Town Street and Washington Avenue lies an area
of ten acres, enclosed with an iron fence, strong in build though not very beautiful
in design, with two massive gatewa3's on the street and one on the avenue, which,
for many years prior to 1873, graced Capitol Square. When this tract was pur-
chased, in 1829, for the purpose for which it is now used, it was half a mile east
from the town and was, in common parlance, referred to as ■' the hill." On the
west was a pond extending from near the present site of the Broad Street Metho-
dist Episcopal Church, in a southwesterly direction, to the corner of Rich Street
and Hubbell Alley. Across this pond was a bridge near where now is the inter-
section of Town Street and Grant Avenue. The road leading westward to the end p
of Town Street, within the corporation line, which was Fourth Street,^was low andt^ii, (,(S^
swampj-. It was not until 1852 that the sidewalks of Town Street were paved to iP,(yo^
these grounds. In the centre of the grounds, two hundred and fifty feet from the
street, stands a stately edifice of brick, liberally trimmed with limestone, forming
a striking piece of architecture, with its frontage of four hundred feet, its seven
towers, of which the central one is one hundred and fifteen feet high ; its iron pil
lared balconies, three in number, one above the other, and its broad flight of lime-
stone steps. This is the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb,
the fifth of its kind established in the United States.
The institution is an outgrowth of that noble idea of the indispensable condi-
tions of liberty which are declared in the ordinance of 1787 and which the Consti-
tution of 1802 reiterates in these words : " Religion, morality and knowledge being
essentially necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools
and the means of instruction shall forever be encouraged by legislative provision
not inconsistent with the rights of conscience." The same policy that aims at
advance along the lines of improvement and helpfulness in every direction to the
citizens of the state again showed itself in the Constitution of 1851, which says :
" Institutions for the benefit of the insane, blind and deaf and dumb shall always
be fostered by the state."
The first time that the subject of deafmute education was brought to the atten-
tion of the General Assembly was during the session of 1819-20, when a citizen of
Stark Countj' applied for aid from the state to send his deaf son to the American
Asylum established at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1817. A bill was reported in his
favor but it ajjpears that no final action was taken upon it. In the spring of the
following year, 1821, a number of citizens of Cincinnati formed themselves into an
association " for establishing a school for the instruction of the deaf and dumb in
this part of the western countrj'." Who knows but this movement received its
impetus l!rom the fact that a citizen of that city had his deaf son educated at the
American Asylum, 1818-22, at his own expense? The association selected a prin-
cipal in the person of Rev. James Chute and sent him to Hartford in July to
acquire a knowledge of the s_ystem of deafmute education, which should qualify
him for the new work. Shortly after his return in the [following November the
association applied to the General Assemblj' for an act of incorjioration and for
pecuniary aid. The proposed institution was to be named " The Western Asylum
for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb," and was to be located in Cincinnati.
The application was rejected on the ground that a state school of the kind should
be centrally located.
The interest thus revived was increased the next year (1822) by the receipt
of a letter by Governor Trimble from the directors of the Pennsylvania Institute,
established at Philadelphia in 1820, where a Buckeye boy had been sent by his
parents in 1821. The letter contained an offer to the General Assembly to receive
pupils on the same terms as charged to the citizens of Pennsylvania. The results
of a recent census of Pennsylvania were given as evidence that the number of
mutes was much greater than was generally supposed. The offer was not accepted,
602 History of the City of Columbus.
but at the next session an act was passed requirinsr " the listers of the several
townships in each county of the state, at the time of taking the enumeration of
white persons, to ascertain the number of the deaf and dumb of all ages and to
return said lists to the Clerk of Common Pleas of said county " with a statement
of their pecuniary condition. Although no returns were made in Athens and
Hamilton counties, 428 were returned in the other counties, 288 being under
twenty 3'ears of age. Of the whole number, 279 were returned as poor, sixtysix as
in middlini;; circunistances, seventytwo as in good circumstances and the condition
of eleven was not reported. The result of the enumeration brought out two facts :
first, tli;it thciv existed material in the state for a school; second, that it was
utterly out of the question to depend for its support upon tuition fees.
This was during the stirring era of canal and school legislation. The air was
full of projects for internal improvements and educated citizenship. " An act to
provide for the support and better regulation of common schools " was passed
February 25, 1825. The law insisted upon "the instruction of youth of every
class and grade, without distinction, in reading, writing and other necessary
branches of a common education." This prepared the way for a successful effort
to establish a school for the deaf which was made at the session of 1826-7. Through
the influence of Eev. James Hoge, D. D., of Columbus, the interest of Governor
Morrow was enlisted in the subject. In his message to the General Assembly,
December 6, 1826, the Governor said : " I would call your attention to a subject
interesting to the compassionate feelings of the benevolent and humane. It is a
provision for establishing an asylum for the education of deaf and dumb persons
in this state. Measures were taken some years since and carried into effect to
ascertain the numbers of persons within this state in this unfortunate condition.
The result of the enumeration is not before me and cannot now be stated. Accord-
ing to the reports from the institutions now in operation, such persons may be
estimated at one for every two thousand of the populatiou. The number, then is,
and from an increasing population will continue sufficient for a large school.
Should an establishment for this purpose be authorized bj' the legislature, and
endowments only to the extent that the present means of the state would justify,
be granted, aid to the fund from the voluntary contributions of a benevolent
community might be calculated on, and also from the United States, Congress
having already granted to the institutions of this kind in Connecticut and Ken-
tucky each a township of land."
Doctor Hoge also prepared an elaborate memorial and had it signed by a
large number of prominent citizens. This memorial, addressed to the General
Assembly, urged immediate action. In the House of Representatives, upon motion
of Mr. Guy W. Doan, of Pickaway and Hocking, the following resolution was
.adopted December 8, 1826 : " That so much of the Governor' smessagc as relates
to an asylum for the education of the deaf and dumb persons in this state be
referred to a select committee of three members, with leave to report thereon, by
bill or otherwise." Messrs. Doan, Daniel Woodmansee of Butler, and Michael
Gunckle of Montgomery, were appointed said committee.
On the twentythird of the same month, on motion of Mr Davis Higgins, of
Butler, the committee was " instructed to report a bill for the establishment of an
asylum for the education of the deaf and dumb." On the twentyseventh the bill
was reported and read the first time. The next day it was read a second time and
referred to a committee ol the whole house On the ninth of January, 1827, Mr.
Purviance, of Preble, Paulding, Darke, Mercer, Van Wert and Williams counties,
reported the bill with sundry amendments. On the eighteenth, on motion of Mr.
Doan, the House took up the report of the committee of the whole house on this
bill, and it was recommitted to a committee consisting of Messrs. Hampson,
Lathrop, Doan, Woodmansee and Gunckle, to report thereupon. On the nineteenth
Institution for the Deaf and Ditmb 003
rife r,,^» «°rK:?^e:at;'»:ro'!:;L «e,;.y«co,,J i. „„ »„,„l«ed t.
a iommilteo or the «';»!'^"™;^. . „,,„,, „„-,t H,o commUtoc had made mn-
for deaf mutes was^tarted at Tallmadse, now in S^;"'^ Oouut^ A ^ ^-en o t a
in the vieiiuty, held a meeting March l.)l«-7, at %\ "'^" ^ ,,„„f ^^^ dumb." A
a to make an attempt to establish a schoo or asyhin fo the deaf au 1 dun
committee with full powers was appoin od and ^' f^,,^J °°^7;,\r??^nd was sus-
under the instruction of Mr. Smith. It *% ^«'''^"^^^*7^ ^^the legislature
tained by private charity with the -<;«lf;°" °f/l?r\f ^f^^hiSantedthis su.n
in 1828 towards paying the salary of tl e teachei. ^/, '^ ,'''' "^n 'u ,^bus not -o into
also allowed $100 for the next year " should the ^cl oo at ^^lumbus
permanent institution. i^^+Un+inn n hoard of trustees
In accordance with the act incorporating; the 'n«t^t^^*'''"v'',''*^"\? "y,,„^i„„
604 History of the City of Columbus.
Hon, Thomas Ewing, of Fairfield ; Rev. William Graham, of Ross ; John H.
James, of Champaign ; Thomas D. Webb, of Trumbull ; and Sampson Mason, of
Clark. This board met and organized in July, 1827, with Governor Trimble as
President, ex officio ; Rev. Dr. Hoge, Secretary, and Hon. Gustavus Swan, Treasurer.
Invested with the usual corporate powers to hold property for the object specified,
the annual income of which should not exceed $30,000, the board assumed the
duty of organizing the first of the now socalled Public Benevolent Institutions of
Ohio.
The plans of the board contemplated a school that should receive all pupils
north and west of the Ohio and also divide with the Kentucky Asylum, founded
in 1823, the patronage of the Mississippi Valley. It was estimated that fifty pupils
were eligible from Ohio alone, and twentyfive from the states and territories west
of it. The board recommended that the institution be located at Columbus, urging
that "At this place it will be under the eye, and subject to the inspection of the
Legislature, its immediate patron, at all tintes, and the facilities of intercourse
and conveyance which are collected at this point render it more convenient to
every part of the state than any other place."
By an act of the General Assembly, passed in January, 1829, an appropria-
tion of five hundred dollars was made for the purchase of a site for the institution
in Columbus. The committee of the board on sites consisted of Messrs. Gustavus
Swan, N. McLean and Michael L. Sullivant, who selected the present site, com-
prising three outlots containing three and a third acres each. Three hundred
dollars were paid to John B. McDowell, Peter Sells and James Hoge February 21,
1829, for the lots. The trustees, in their report for the year, speak of "these lots
as sold to us for the use designed for a price considerably below the supposed
value." Doctor Hoge, in a letter to Hon. M. Birchard, April 25, 1854, also said :
"These lots were sold to the state for less than their value, for the express pur-
pose of being so used, and would by no means have been sold at that price for
individual use." For want of funds the trustees were not able to erect any build-
ings until 1832.
At the session of 1827-8 an appropriation of 1376.60 being made for the train-
ing of a principal, the board selected Horatio N. Hubbell, a young man of energy
and character, who had just fulfilled the trust of removing twelve Osage Indian
students from the Cornwall school, suspended in Connecticut, to the Miami Uni-
versity at Oxford, Ohio. In March Mr. Hubbell went to the American Asylum
where he spent eighteen months in studj-ing the theory and practice of deafmute
education. Upon his return the board rented a house of D. W. Deshler, Esq., at
one hundred dollars a year, at the northwest corner of Broad and High streets,
now the site of the Deshler Block. It was a twostorj- brick house containing
three rooms with a hall and a frame addition in the rear of four rooms.
On the sixteenth of October, 1829, in front of this building stood a stout,
medium-sized man of thirty years of age, dressed in a suit of dark clothes, with a
beaver hat. This was Principal Hubbell, who was expectantlj- watching the four
roads in sight from this point for p»i>ils. At ten o'clock in the morning a man
on horseback, with a boy behind him, came up West Broad Street and stopped.
Mr. Hubbell greeted them cordially and lifted the boy off. This was the first
pupil of the Ohio Institution for the Deaf Ho was eleven years old, looking
bright and cute in his homespun suit of brown pantaloons and gray jacket which
was buttoned up with three large brass buttons. A coarse, close-fitting fur cap
completed his outfit. He was a son of Judge Flenniken, who lived where now
Sellsville is. Within half an hour the Governor arrived, and taking the little fel-
low bj- the hand, patted him heartily on the back. Two years had elapsed since
the passage of the act incorporating the school and a circular stating its objects
had been published for some months previously in the leading papers of the state.
Institution for the Deaf and D
60(5 History of the City op Columbus.
Yet, on opeiiiiif,' day, only tliree pupils presented themselves for admission. One
of them proved to be idiotic and another was of a weak mind and not long after-
ward became hopelessly insane. The attendance, however, increased to nine
pupils before the year closed.
In the course of the second year the number of pupils grew to twentytwo and
Mr. Hubbell was compelled to engage a schoolroom in the rear of what was for a
long time known as the Capital Hotel, on Broad Street, the present site of the Board
of Trade Building. Alter a few months he had to abandon this room for two in the
old Courthouse which stood near where is now the west gate of the Statehouse
Square. These rooms also had to be given up after a few months. The incon-
venience resulting from boarding and lodging in one building and going to school
in another finally led Mr. Hubbell to move out of the Deshler house into a frame
house at the corner of Front Street and Lynn Alley. Here Mr. Hubbell remained
until 1834, when the first building of the institution was completed.
In 1832 the trustees succeeded in securing an appropriation from the General
Assembly which enabled them to undertake the erection of a building. Gustavus
Swan. Lincoln Goodale and Robert W. McCoy constituted the building committee
of the board. The foundations were commenced in 1832 and the building was
ready for use in the fall of ISSi. Its cost was $15,000. The building, fronting
toward the west, was fifty feet by eighty in lateral dimensions and three stories
high. It was considered sufficiently large to meet the wants of the State for a
long time to come. In 1844 the number of pupils reached over a hundred and an
extension four stories high and seventy feet by thirty was made, giving a south
front to the institution. The institution then furnished ample accommodations
for one hundred and fifty pupils, but that number was passed in 1853, and thence-
forth the neccessitj^ of enlarging the accommodations was constantly urged.
In 1860 a bill was introduced in the House providing for the erection of a new
building owing to the dilapidated condition of the older portion of the institu-
tion, which was described in ijublic prints as " an uncomely relic of modern
antiquity." The bill failed by one vote to pass. The nextj'ear a bill for the same
purpose reached its third reading in the House, when all further action was
dropped on account of the gathering cloud of the Civil War. The progress of the
war instilled new energy and life into the people, and in March. 1864, notwith-
standing the greatly enhanced cost of materials and labor, a bill passed the Gen-
eral Assembly unanimously providing for the erection, under the direction of the
Governor, of a new house " to be of plain, substantial construction, having special
reference to adaptation and proper economy for the convenient and suitable
accommodation of three hundred and fifty pupils and necessary officers and ser-
vants." Governor Brough appointed as architect Joseph M. Blackburn, of Cleve-
land, Ohio, who designed the present structure. It is of the French-Italian stj'le
of architecture. The campaniles, or towers, are of the form and appearance
peculiar to the Italian order, while the steep roofs and dormer windows are of the
French st^le. The first sod was cut for the foundation on the thirtieth of June,
1864, by the superintendent, George L. Weed, Junior. The first foundation stone
was laid in August, and the corner stone was laid on the thirtj-first of October by
Lieutenant Governor Anderson.
In March, 1867, an epidemic of tj'phoid pneumonia broke out in the old
building. Thirty pupils were sick at one time, five of whom died at the institu-
tion and three at home. This necessitated the disbanding of the school, soon
after which the demolition of the old building began. The erection of the pres-
ent building was carried on under the direction of the successive Governors,
Brough, Anderson, Cox and Haves during the years 1864-9. The cost was §625,-
000, the yearly appropriations "being $40,000, $200,000, $100,000 and $125,000.
The house was furnished at an expense of $35,000, and was opened for the recep-
Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. 607
tioii of pupils in September, 1868. In the following November, when the Central
Lunatic Asylum was burned, its entire household of over three hundred persons
was temporarily quartered at the institution.
During the session of 1829-30, an act was passed authorizing the suj)port of
one indigent pupil from each of the nine judicial ciicuits of the state, tlie pupils
" to be selected by the board of trustees from persons rccunimeiuled by the Asso-
ciate Judges of the counties where they reside." At tlic wl-xI session the support
of an additional pupil from each circuit was allowed by law. At the session of
1832-3 this number was increased to twentyseven, in 1833-4 to thirtysix, in 1834 5
to fortyeight, and in 1835-6 to sixty. In 1844 an act was passed making eiluca-
tion free to all deaf children of the state. This was a fulfilment of the
true spirit of the school law of 1825 which authorized a genei-al tax for the edu-
cation of all and was virtually a command to the people of Ohio to educate their
children. Yet it is common to regard appropriations for the ])urpose of educat-
ing the deaf as benevolent and charitable. Every argument which proves it a
matter of state interest and policy to educate the hearing children bears with
much greater force upon the deaf The institution of Ohio was the first to carry
out the important and only true principle that the entire expense of educating
the deaf should be defrayed by the state.
As early as 1836, when the institution was fairly settled, the board of trustees
considered the question of having the pupils employed to advantage out of school
hours. For the girls, housework, sewing and knitting afforded full occupation.
With the boys it was different. True, gardening and chores were available but
far from sufiBcient and satisfactory. Shopwork was deemed to be desirable for cul-
tivating skill and habits of industrj^ that might be of advantage in after life. In
1838 the first shop was erected and mechanics selected by the board contracted to
carry on their respective trades at the institution. The boys were to work four
hours a day for the sake of learning a trade. A machine shop was run for a short
time and a shoeshop received several trials. The foremen had no interest in teach-
ing the boys beyond making profit out of their labor, which was impossible owing
to the great waste of material. As the foremen were not able to communicate
with the boys in their sign-language, a want of harmony naturally arose and
resulted in the dropping of trade teaching in 1846. In 1850 Peter Hayden,
Esq., offered to erect, as an experiment, a building on the grounds of the institu-
tion, provided with a steam engine, and to introduce some branch of his extensive
manufactures at which to employ all the boys and give them wages for all they
could earn. This offer was not accepted. It was not until 1863 that the problem
was satisfactorily solved in the revival of shoemaking, when a deaf foreman was
appointed to teach the trade on a salary, the state owning all the material and
disposing of all the products. Since 1868 printing, bookbinding, carpentry and
tailoring have been made valuable additions. The foremen being paid salaries
they have no interest except in the progress of their apprentices.
The time at first allowed for the course of instruction was three years. In
1833 the term of pupilage was lengthened to four years, and in 1835 to five years.
In 1844 an act was passed empowering the trustees to keep pupils, at their discre-
tion, for a period longer than five years and not exceeding seven years. In 1866
the law was revised making the time ten years, which is the present limit. In
1872 the school was divided into three departments, viz. : Academic, which has
two classes; Grammar, which has five classes; and Primary, which has sixteen
classes. The teachers were similarly classified and their salaries fixed " without
regard to the ear." The institution was thus the first to abolish the distinction
between its hearing and its deaf teachers.
The system practiced is what is called the " American, or Combined System,"
which makes use of all methods known to be of practical value. For those pupils
608 History of the City of Columbus.
who retain speech as well as those who evince aptitude for vocal training, artieii
lation and lip-reading are taught bj- two teachers who devote their whole time to
the work. When tiie average deaf and dumb child comes to the institution for
the first time, no matter at what age, he may not show any marked difference in
personal appearance from other children of his age ; but his mind is almost a blank.
Ue knows not even iiis own name, nor anything about his Creator and tlie life
beyond the i;-rave. The teacher begins by teaching him the names of the most
cdiiiiiKiii olijects. The word eat may be written upon the blackboard. A picture
is |iic>ciii.d hffore the class. The sign for the animal is given and the word is
spelled manually. Then the pupil copies the word on his slate until he is familiar
with it and can reproduce it readily when the sign is made for it. After nouns
come simple verbs, adjectives, prepositions and adverbs, in which writing from
actions and pictures plaj'S a prominent part. Gradually he is led on through the
principles of English grammar until he acquires the art of intelligent reading.
Then he takes up primary geography and history. If, at the end of seven years
he proves proficient, he enters upon a higher course of three years, which includes
geography, history, arithmetic, physiology, science of government, a textbook on
morals and manners and some bookkeeping. For obvious reasons it has been
deemed important to bold short services in the chapel daily, and more prcilonged
services on Sunday, and to impart a knowledge of the principles of moralit}- and
Christianity, care being always taken to make them free from sectarianism.
In order to secure the best results from both the school and the shops the
following system of rotation, inaugurated by Doctor G. O. Fay in 186S, is in force.
The school is arranged by clashes in threa divisions The day is also divided into
three sessions of two and two and a half hours, the first extondins; from 8:15 to
10:15, the second from 10:30 to 12:30, and the third from 2 to 4:30, with a recess of
fifteen minutes at half past three. At eight o'clock the regular duties of the day
begin, when all the children repair to the chapel. After chapel services two
divisions go to their class rooms and the third is distributed to the shops and to
housework. At 10:15 all are dismissed, and at 10:30 two divisions go to their
classrooms and onethird are distributed, as before, to the shops and the housework.
All are dismissed at 12:30. At two o'clock, as before, two divisions go to school
and one to the shops and to housework. All are dismissed at 4:30. Thus from
8:15 in the morning until 4:30 in the afternoon twothirds of the scholars are at
school and onethird are at work. Ever}- pupil attends school two sessions daily
and works one session. The average daily time spent in school is about four and
a half hours, and that spent in shopwork is about two hours and a half. To
secure a fair distribution of time and also a desirable variety, the whole system
moves forward one session the first day of each montli, so that those who work in
the morning in any month work the next month in the forenoon and in the
afternoon the month after that. Those who work in the forenoon any month
work in the afternoon the next, and those who work in the alternoon any month
work in the morning the next.
The domestic life of the Institution runs on the following daily programme:
1. Rise not later than 5:45 A. m. 2. Breakfast, week days, 6:30 a. m. ; Sundaj^s
and holidays, 7:00 a. m. ; 3. Chapel, week daj-s, 8:00 A. m. ; Sundays, 9:45 a. m.;
4. School and work from 8:00 to 10:15 a. m. ; 5. Eece.ss, 10:15 to 10:30 a. m. ; 6.
School and work until 12:30 p. m. ; 7. Dinner, week days, 12:45 p. ji. : Sundays
and holidays, 1:00 p. m. ; 8. School and work from 2:00 to 3:30 p. m. ; 9. Recess,
3:30 to 3:45 p. m. ; 10. School and work from 3:45 to 4:30 P. m. ; 11 Supper, 5:30
p. M. ; 12. Study hour, 7:00 to 8:00 P. m. for Primary, 7:00 to 8:15 P. m. for Grammar ;
13. Bedtime for younger pupils, 8:00 P. .M. ; 14. Bedtime for adult pupils, 9:00 p. M. ;
Sabbathschool from 3:00 to 3:45 P. M.
''h t^-^ o^U^PL^::)
7&
Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. 609
A lecfac}- of twenty thousand dollars, reduced by litigation and compromise
to 110,886, came into the possession of the institution in 1879, in accordance with
the terms of the last will and testament of Matthew Russell, Esq., of Jeflferson
County, and it has since been used in the construction of the Russell Conservatory
and the fountain.
Until 1842 Mr. llui)beil performed the combined duties of principal, teacher
and steward. In that year he was relieved of the labor and confinement of teach-
ing a class in order to have an oiiportunity of overseeing all the classes both in
respect to government and instruction. He was then given the title of superin-
tendent. A year hiter he was released from the cares of the domestic department
when George Gobey, Esq., of this city was appointed steward. Mr. Hubbell
achieved a position of influence and honor among the citizens of Columbus. Of
the thirtyone persons who, in 1839, united to form the Second Presbyterian
Church, no one took a more active interest in the enterprise or contributed more
liberally of liis own means for its advancement than Mr. Hubbell. For nianj^
years he was trusted and honored with the offices of elder and trustee. He enjoyed
the friendship and confldoncc of Governor Ford, Judge Gustavus Swan, Hon. Peter
Hitchcock, Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and his sons, Henry L. Hitch-
cock, D. D., President of the Western Reserve College and Reuben Hitchcock,
LL. D.; Doctor Samuel Parsons, Doctor Robert Thompson, Colonel John Noble,
Robert W. McCoy, John S. Hall, D. W. Deshler and many others. One of his
most intimate friends was John if. Miller, an aristocratic gentleman of the old
school, connected with the " First Families of Virginia." Mr. Miller was in the
habit of wearing kneebrccches and the queue many years after he settled in tlie
city. When Mr^ Hubbell proposed making a trip to the East in 1831, Mr. Miller
insisted upon Ids stopping in Washington en route to call upon his brotherinlaw.
President John Tyler. In his letter introduing Mr. Hubbell to the President, Mr.
Miller said : " You will, of course, recognize in him one of our most useful citizens,
and I ask leave to assure you that he is one of the most excellent of men."
In January, 1851, Mr. Hubbell resigned his position as superintendent, but at
the request ol"the trustees bi.s i usi- luitidii di.! not take effect until the following
October. He was then oflcr<M| \\m- Mi|ii'rintt'mlcii(y of the Wisconsin Institution
for the Deaf and Dumb, but declined it, although lie went to Delaware and did all
he could toward organizing the school. He was one of the very first to propose
founding an institution for the feebleminded, in behalf of which he made urgent
appeals to the General Assembly in 1854. The last year of Mr. Hubbell's life was
spent in preparing for the press a work entitled. Dying Words of Eminent Per-
sons. On Saturday he completed and arranged his manuscript, and on the follow-
ing Monday morning, January 19, 1857, he was called to his reward above. His
grave in Green Lawn Cemetery is marked by a monument whereon appears his
name carved in the manual alphabet of the deaf
Rev. Josiah A. Cary succeeded Mr. Hubbell in the office of superintendent.
He had been a successful teacher in the New York Institution for the deaf for
nineteen years. He entered upon his new duties with a zeal and persevei'ance
beyond all praise, but died at the end of one year of anchylosis.
Rev. Collins Stone, who had been a teacher in the American Asylum for many
years, was chosen as Mr. Gary's successor. He was a man of great dignity of
character and was a fine disciplinarian. In 1862, after eleven years of service,
he resigned to accept a similar position in the American Asylum which he held
until he met with his death by being struck by a moving train in Hartford, Con-
ne ticut, in 1871.
Rev. George L. Weed, Junior, who had been connected with this institution
for seven years as teacher, was appointed superintendent to succeed Mr. Stone.
610 History of the City of Colcmbcs.
His affability and tact had a great deal to do witli tlie success of tiie cflFoit which
resulted in tiie buikiing ot the present structure. He resigned in 1865, and was
afterward superintendent of the Wisconsin institution. He is, at present, a teacher
in the institution at Philadelphia.
Rev. Gilbert O. Fay succeeded Mr. Weed as superintendent. He h:id taught
in this institution for four years. He showed remarkable executive ability in the
management of the institution, which is still conducted in accordance with his
plans. He resigned in 1880 to accept a teacher's position in the American
Asylum.
Charles S. Perry, who had taught in this institution since 1865, was next
appointed superintendent, which position he resigned in 1882. He is now teacii-
ingin the California institution at Berkeley.
Eev. Benjamin Talbot, who had been superintendent of the Iowa institution
at Council Bluffs for fifteen j-ears and was teaching at this institution, acted as
superintendent until Amasa Pratt was appointed to the office to succeed Mr.
Perry. Mr. Pratt had taught in the Philadelphia institution for one year, and in
the California institution for several years. He tendered his resignation in April,
1890, to take effect on the first of August, and is now one of the principals of the
Columbus Latin School.
James W. Knott, who had been superintendent of the Tiffin Public Schools
for eleven years, entered upon his duties as superintendent of the institution
August first, 1890, with Robert Patterson who was educated at the institution and
has been connected with it as a teacher since 1870, as princijJal of the school
department.
Quite a large number of teachers trained in this institution have been called
to the highest position in their profession. Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, Louisi-
ana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, California, Maryland, Arkansas, West Yirginia,
Nebraska and Florida have found superintendents here.
Tlie two thousand, in round numbers, who have been discharged from tiie
institution have completely refuted the familiar couplet of Lucretius :
To instruct the deaf, no art could ever reach,
No care improve thera, and no wisdom teach.
The many who have taken their places as members of society, sharing its
burdens and adding their quota to its productive wealth, have proved the injus-
tice of the Justinian Code, which, in the sixth century, denied civil rights to all
congenital mutes and consigned them to perpetual legal infancy as incapable of
man;iging their own affairs or of transmitting their property.
The many who have learned to turn their thoughts heavenward and find
their comfort and companionship in the Holy Bible, have exposed the fallacy of
St. Augustine who, in the fourth century, commenting upon Romans X, 17,
asserted, ''that deafness from birth makes faith impossible since he who is born
deaf can neither hear the word nor learn to read it.'' The many who have found
delight in social intercourse and in the treasures of literature have exploded the
idea of Samuel Heinicke, who, in the eighteenth century, declared that -'it was
speech onlj' which comprehended, contained and expressed the movements of the
soul,'' and that " every other means of communication was dead."
Yerily, the institution has accomplished a great and good work in carrying
out the idea of the Abbe de I'Bpee who, in the eighteenth century, said : " There
is no more natural and necessary connection between abstract ideas and articu-
late sounds which strike the ear than there is between the same ideas and the
written characters which address the ej^e."
CHAPTER XXXIX.
INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND.
BY G. L. S.MEAD, LATE SUPERINTENDENT.
The Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind was the fourth in order
of establishment in the ITnited States. The institutions in Boston, New York and
Philadelphia preceded that of Ohio by a few years.
Among the subjects considered at a State Medical convention held in Columbus
on January 5, 1835, was the establishment of public asylums for the reception of
the insane, and for the instruction of the blind. During the session of 1834-5 the
legislature authorized the Governor to obtain statistics of the unfortunate of the
State. In his message to the Thirtyfourth General Assembly Governor Robert
Lucas reported that, in fiftyfive counties, the number of idiots was 508; of luna-
tics 206 ; of blind persons 202. The whole number of blind in the State was then
estimated at 250. On March 11, 1836, the legislature by resolution appointed
Rev. James Hoge, N. H. Swayne, Esq., and Doctor William M. Awl as a board of
trustees for obtaining information in relation to the instruction of the blind,
together with the probable expense of commencing a school. The board was
required to submit a report to the next General Assembly. The trustees ascer-
tained that in fiftynine counties there were 287 blind persons. It was estimated
that sixty of these were proper persons to receive instruction in a school. From
information secured, the trustees further estimated that there were at that time
five hundred blind persons in the State. The board fixed upon $1,500 as the sum
necessary to commence the school.
Upon invitation of the board of trustees, Doctor Samuel G. Howe, the
Director of the New England In.stitution for the Blind, visited Columbus with
several of his pupils. On December 23, 1836, Doctor Howe addressed the legis
lature on the subject of the education of the blind, and exhibited the jjroficiencj'
of the blind pupils who were with him. In view of the facts obtained the board
recommended the immediate establishment of a school for the blind. Doctor
William M. Awl, of Columbus, drew up the resolution for this purpose and it was
passed by the legislature on the thirtieth of April, 1837. The same board was
apjiointed to secure land, commence the baihling and proceed with the school.
In pursuance of this purpose the trustees secured for the site of the building
nine acres of land east of the city limits of Columbus, on the north side of the
National Road, now Main Street. The price of the land was contributed by citi-
zens of Columbus and the deed presented to the State. The Board appointed
N. B. Kelley, of Columbus, architect and superintendent of construction, deter-
L611]
012 History of the City of Columbus.
mined upon the plan of the builiiing, and directed Mr. Kellej' to make contracts
for materials and prepare for commencing work tlie following season. The house
of Mr. Joel Buttles, on South Street, was rented at once for the use of the school,
but soon there was need of larger accommodations, and one of the " eight build-
ings," on Town Street, was secured and used until the completion of the building
erected by the State. On July 4, 1837, the school was opened. The preliminary
exercises were held in the First Presbyterian Church. There were present five
pupils. This number was increased to eleven before the close of the year.
Mr. A. W. Penaiman, a blind man who was educated iti the New England Insti-
tution, and afterwards assistant teacher in the Philadelphia Institution, was
selected as the first teacher. Mr. Isaac Dalton was the first Steward and Mrs.
Daltou was the first Matron.
The trustees showed their knowledge of the wants of the institution by
expending $250.60 for books and apparatus procured from Boston and Philadel-
phia. Among the items of books and apparatus purchased were a box contain-
ing an alphabet, figures and punctuation marks made of pin points, $30; fortytwo
pounds of t3'pe, $21 ; an alphabet cut in wood, $2.60; eight arithmetic plates and
type, $40 ; two dozen writing boards, $2.50 ; maps of the world and of the United
States, $36. Among the books were the New Testament in four volumes, geogra-
phies, spellingbooks, grammars, Baxter's Call, and the Dairyman's Daughter, ail in
raised print. The sum expended for salaries and current expenses for the fir.st year
was $1,707.15. The studies of the first 3'earwere reading, writing, arithmetic, geogra-
phy, grammar and music, both vocal and instrumental. Music was recognized as
of the first importance, and $229.50 more expended for a jjiano during the first
year. In these early days of the institution the girls were taught housework,
knitting and sewing. The boys were endeavoring to learn the trade of shoe-
making.
The first building was occupied October 15, 1839. It was intended to accom-
modate from sixty to eighty pupils with the necessarj^ officers and teachers. In
it were provided school rooms and workshops. There was expended upon the
construction of this house, with the necessary outbuildings, the sum of $34,409.34.
For the first three years the school was under the direction of the principal
teacher, Mr. A. W. Penniman. In May, 1840, Mr. William Chapin entered upon
his duties as the first Superintendent.
In those days it was especially necessary to make the existence of the institu-
tion known, and to demonstrate the practicability of educating the blind. For
this purpose both Mr. Penniman and Mr. Chapin made many visits to the cities
and towns of the State, taking with them several of the pupils of the school and giv-
ing exhibitions of their proficiency in literary studies and iu music. These exhibi-
tions excited great interest and called forth many expresions of approbation from
the citizens of the State. Also visits were made by Mr. Chapin to the capitals of
Kentucky and Indiana. Before the legislatures of these States exhibitions were
given by several of the pupils of the Ohio Institution, which resulted in the
establishment of the Kentucky Institution at Louisville and of the Indiana
Institution at Indianapolis. On March 10, 1838, an act was passed fixing the
tuition at $120 per year, which was afterwards changed to $100. This included
board and tuition. This act permitted the admission of twelve indigent pupils
who should be boarded and instructed at the expense of the State for five years.
By act passed in March, 1843, the trustees were authorized to admit free of
charge as many pupils as they thought proper ; to continue for two years longer
those whom they thought too young to be dismissed ; and to admit free indigent
persons over twentyone years of age for the purpose of learning a trade, and to
retain them for two years. This last provision was the beginning of the adult
department which has continued, with modifications, to the present time. On
Institution for the Blind. 613
March 11, 1851, the distinction between indigent and pay pupils was abolished,
and all of proper age, character and mental abilitj' were admitted free to receive
board and tuition at the expense of the State. Thus the institution became, and
has been ever since, a free school for the blind of Ohio. In 18-15 Mr. Chapin vis-
ited Europe and made an examination of various institutions for the unfortunate.
Upon his return he made a full report of his observations, which added very
much to the information concerning the education and care of the unfortunate.
At the end of the fiscal year, October, 1846, Mr. Chapiu resigned his position as
Superintendent. The school during his last year had enrolled seventythree
pupils ; 124 had to that time enjoyed the privileges of the institution.
Mr. Chapin's administration was eminently successful. He was a man of
earnestness and intelligence. His heart was in the work of the education of the
blind, and he gave much thought to improving methods of instruction. Especially
was his attention given to improving the industrial department. He also contem-
plated and advised the establish men't of a working home for the adult blind, to be
situated in Cincinnati or in one of the large cities of the State where a market
could be found for the manufactured products of the home. Mr. Chapin was in
1849 appointed Superintendent of the Philadelphia Institution for the Blind,
where he showed the same zeal and ability which were of so much value to the
Ohio Institution. In Philadelphia Mr. Chapin was permitted to fill out a career
of usefulness and philanthropy granted to very few. He remained at the head of
that institution to a good old age, keeping up his interest and attending the con-
ventions of educators of the blind even when age might have excused him from
the service. When too old to bear longer the burden of labor for the institution,
he was retired upon a living salary to rest for his remaining days amid the scenes
of his life work — a fit recognition of a useful, faithful life and a fit prelude to the
heavenly rest to which he passed, September 20, 1888.
Upon Mr. Chapin's resignation Mr. Penniman was made acting superinten-
dent, in which position he continued until the spring of 1848. In April, 1848, Mr.
George.McMillen, of Columbus, took charge of the institution. Mr. McMillen was
an experienced teacher and entered upon his duties with zeal and intelligence.
The work of the school was kept up to the high standard of his predecessor. To
Mr. McMillen is due the suggestion that the distinction between indigent and pay
pupils be abolished and that all blind persons of proper age be admitted and
instructed free of charge ; and during his administration this important change
was made in the policy of the institution. Mr. McMillen continued in oifice until
his death, July 25, 1852. The committee ad interim of the board of trustees, in
its report of that year, speaks of Mr. McMillen as follows
The close of the last session was saddened by the decease of George McMillen, Esquire,
the late Superintendent of this Institution. For more than four years he had faithfully and
honorably discharged the duties of that honorable post. Under his control the institution
commanded public confidence and continued to fulfill the ardent anticipations and benevo-
lent designs of its founders and friends. He exhibited by his energy and assiduity a laudable
devotion to the interests of the State. and to the duties of his calling ; contributed much by
Ids talent and intelligence to sustain the reputation and develop the advantages of the school ;
and successfully guided, by his salutary teachings and exemplary life of morality and reli-
gion, the pupils committed to his care in the pursuit of life's highest and holiest aims.
Until 1852 the institution was under the direction of a separate board of trus-
tees. By act of April 28, 1852, all the State institutions were placed under one
board of nine trustees. The policy continued until April 8, 1856, when the insti-
tutions of the State were again put under the management of separate boards.
Sixtynine pupils were enrolled the last year of Mr. McMillen's administration ; up to
the date of his last report 199 had, from the beginning, been connected with the
614 History of the City of Columbus.
institution. By tlie census of 1850, 912 blind persons were reported in tlie State of
Ohio.
In May, 1852, Mr. Penniman, so long a faithful teacher and at times ]ierform-
ing the duties of Superintendent, resi_£,med his position and terminated liis connec-
tion with the institution at the close of that term. His resignation was much
regretted by the board of trustees and by all connected witii the institulion, and
he was ever held in grateful remerabranee by those who came under his instruc-
tion. In the summer of 1852, li E. Harte, of Marietta, was appointed Superintend-
ent. During his administration the work of the institution went on with no spe-
cial events to distinguish his term of office. Mr. Harte^ advocated the iiigher
education of the blind. He proposed a plan of two departments in the school, tiie
academic and the collegiate. In the academic department he would have the
pupils pursue the common English brandies; to the collegiate tiepai-tment he
would admit, at the commencement of each school year, sucii pupils as had mani-
fested an ability to learn and should pass a satisfactory examination in the
required preparatory studies. The stmlies in the collegiate department should be,
in his opinion, the English, Latin and Greek languages and liieraturc and such
other studies !i8 are usually pursued in colleges. He claimed that such an education
would afford a higher degree of culture, and also fit the students to till higher posi-
tions in the !)rofes8ion of teaching — positions better adapted to the blind than the
lower grades in that profession. Such was his line of thought as expre.-'sed in one
of his reports, and perhaps these opinions shaped somewhat his direction of the
studies of the institution.
Mr. Harte's administration of four 3'ears ended in July, 1856, and on July 4,
1856, Doctor A. D. Lord assumed the duties of Superintendent of the institution.
In the appointment of Doctor Lord the trustees showed an intelligent apprecia-
tion of the purpose of the institution as a school for the education of the blind.
Doctor Lord was eminently an educational man. He was by nature, by educa-
tion and by experience a teacher ; a teacher not only of students but a te.icher of
teachers. In the twentysecond year of his age lie became principal of the
Western Eeserve Teachers' Seminary at Kirtland, Ohio. There he remained lor
eight years, having under his charge each year nearly three hundred students,
many of whom went out as teachers to all ])arts of the State. In lS4o, at Kirt-
land, he inaugurated the fii'St teachers' institute ever held in Ohio. When such
institutes became common he was often called upon to conduct them. In the
institutes of the State he made his influence felt in the cause of education, and
hundreds of teachers imbibed his enthusiasm and went forth to their work with a
loftier appreciation of the responsibilities of their high calling He was one of
the pioneers in improving the public school system of Ohio and in introducing
better methods of teaching and organizing the common schools of the State. By
his influence the system of graded schools was established in Columbus, and in
1847 he was appointed Superintendent of the schools of this city, in which posi-
tion he remained for nine years. He edited, durinir different periods, the Oldo
School Journal, the Public School Advocate, and the Ohio Journal of Education.
With such preparation and experience, combined with a love for his calling and a
heart responsive to the needs of humanity. Doctor Lord came to the superintend-
eney of this institution. With no reflection upon his predecessors his adminis-
tration may be said to mark a new era in the history of the institution. Circum-
stances were favorable. He was a.ssisted by Mrs. Lord, who was the mother of
the institution, as he was the father. He had associated with him a corps of
officers and teachers who were in harmonj- with his spirit and methods. The
mutual confidence of himself and the board of trustees secured unity in the pur-
pose and management of the institution. His reputation throughout the State
attracted pupils and secured the confidence of parents. And freedom from politi-
Institution for the Blind. (315
cal interference enabled him to look forward with a8surance to the fulfilment of
bis plans.
The moral influence of Doctor Lord's methods of discipline was peculiarly etfect-
ual ; efTectual first, because his methods were wise, and second, because behind his
method was the presence of a man of tender heart and of pure life. The annual
attendance of pupils during this administration of twelve years increased from
sixty to one hundred and fifty. In August, 1868, Doctor Lord resigned to accept
a similar position in the New York State Institution for the Blind, at Batavia,
New York. This institution was just then about to be organized. He established
it upon a firm basis of usefulness and continued to be its Superintendent for seven
years, until March 7, 1875, when his useful life was cut short by death and he
passed to the better life leaving in two institutions, and in two States, many sor-
rowful ami loving hearts who have ever cherished the memory of his noble char-
acter as an inspiration to better lives and higher usefulness.
Upon Doctor Lord's resignation, G. L Smead, who had been the senior
teacher in the institution for nine years, was appointed to succeed him. For
many yeurs it had lieen realized by those in charge of the institution that the
buildinu- first erected was too small for the growing wants of the school. It was
ihtended to accommodate sixty pupils. Some small additions had been made to its
capacity. One hundred and thirty pupils had been crowded into it, but such
overcrowding involved much risk of health to the inmates. Several applications
to the legislature were made for relief, but the finances of the State in those days
did not justify the expenditure. Then the war from 1860 to 1865 was an effectual
bar to any increase of the accommodations of the institution. In 1866 permis-
sion \\ as obtained to erect quite an extensive addition to the house. but when plans
came to be arranged it was deemed unadvisable to make additions to such a build-
ing with the probability that in a few years the growing institution and the devel-
oping taste of the public would demand an entirely new building. Accordingly,
the trustees determined to abandon the project of adding to the old building and
go before the legislature and ask for an appropriation for a new house.
In 1867 the legislature passed an act authorizing the board to erect a building
to accommodate three hundred pupils, and provide the necessary officers and
teachers, at a cost not to exceed $175,000. Plans were secured, but it was found
that the approved plan could not be carried out for less than $350,000. The tru.s-
tees being unwilling to enter upon the construction of a building whose cost
should be arreater than the sum fixed by the legislature decided to wait and present
the matter agai n to the General Assembly. By act of May 6, 1869, the trustees were
directed to erect a building at a cost not to exceed $275,000. William Tinsley, of
Cincinnati, who had prepared the approved plans, was employed as architect.
The plans were modified to bring the building within the required cost, and in the
spring of 1870 the foundation was laid. Four long years of watching and wait-
ing were consumed in its construction. On May 21, 1874, the new building was
occupied by the school. The pupils soon became accustomed to their new quar-
ters and the work of the classes went on as though no change of place had been
made.
The new house was commenced in the trusteeship of H. C. Noble, Stillman
Witt and F. C. Sessions. It was completed and occupied under H. C. Noble, John
G. Dun and Thomas Bergin. The cost of the new building, according to the
report of the trustees in 1874, was about $358,477.92. Later, a new boiler and
coalhouse were added, which, with the new workshop and barn made the cost of
the present buildings aggregate $376,477.92.
During this administration various kinds of work were introduced, such as the
use of the sewing machine, knitting machine, typewriter, caneseating and mattress-
making; also the u.se of the New York point print was introduced, and the kin
616 History of the City op Columbus.
dergarten established. The tuning department, after some interruptions, became
a fixed fact and has been a valuable profession and means of livelihood for many
who have gone out from the institution. A large amount of apparatus was pro-
cured to illustrate the different subjects taught in the schools. A pipe organ was
placed in the chapel, and the number of pianos was largely increased." Thus,
from 1868 to 1885, the institution advanced from an old house, crowded and ill-
adapted to the uses of the tichool, with very little apparatus, and restricted means
of illustrating the different subjects taught, to a well-equipped school with ample
resources for doing the work for which it was established.
Mr. Smead served the institution twentyfive years, nine years as teacher and
sixteen j-ears as Superintendent. He was succeeded in January, 1885, by Henry
Snyder, who occupied the position for six months, until in JnW, 1885, Mr. Snyder
was followed by Doctor H. P. Fricker, of Ashtabula, Ohio, who fulfilled the duties
of the office during the remainder of Governor Hoadly's administration. At the
close of the term of 1886, C. H. Miller became Superintendent and held the office
during the two administrations of Governor Foraker. In May, 1890, Doctor H.
P. Fricker came again to the po.sition in the change of politics, and is in office at
this present date — June 1, 1890.
During the history of the institution four reunions of former officers and pupils
have been held, viz.: In 1860, 1874, 1880 and 1885.
Upon all these occasions there were present many who had eomjjleted their
course in the school, and who testified by their bearing and character as men and
women that their training at the institution had been a great blessing to them.
A large proportion of them had been able to support themselves and to secure the
respect of the public for their worthiness of character and life. At least thirty
have been employed as teachers in institutions of learning, mostly for the blind.
Twentythree have been employed in this institution as teachers and helpers. Ten
or more have entered college, and several have graduated. Four are clergj'men ;
two are physicians ; three who have been connected with the institution as teachers
or pupils have been superintendents of other institutions. The most gratifying
part of the history of the institution is that written in the success in life of those
who have been instructed and trained under its influence, and whose lives, but for
their education, would have been a dreary blank. This portion of the history can
not well be put upon paper, but it is none the less real.
In 1837, the first year of the institution, there were enrolled eleven pupils; in
the year ending November 15, 1889, the number was 283. In all 1,502 have been
connected with the school as pupils. The sum of §1,786,321.66 has been expended,
§510,086.40 of which was applied to permanent improvements, and §1,276,235.26
to maintenance. Dividing the whole expense by the whole number of pupils, we
have the sum of $1,189.22 expended for each person taught and supiwrted by the
institution.
The employments taught in the institution during its historj' are as follows:
The making of shoes, baskets, brushes, carpets, doormats, brooms, mattresses,
caneseating, hatbraiding, beadwork, hand and machine knitting, hand and machine
sewing, crocheting, housework and pianotuning. The number of officers and
teachers of the institution from the beginning to the present time is as follows:
Trustees, 55; Superintendents, 9 ; Teachers, 94: Stewards, 11 ; Matrons, 12; Assis-
tant Matrons, 12; Housekeepers, 3; Phj^sicians, 11.
Of the fiftj-five trustees, twentyeight have been Columbus men, viz.. Rev.
James Hoge, Noah H. Swayne, Doctor William M. Awl, John A. Bryan, M. J.
Gilbert, John W. Andrews. William Armstrong, Samuel McClelland, Joseph McEl-
vain, Joseph E. Scroggs, W. B. Thrall, F. C. Kelton, Doctor S. M. Smith, A. P.
Stone, Thomas Sparrow, Henry Wilson, John Greenleaf, John Greiner, F. C. Ses-
sions, H. C. Noble, Thomas Bergin, B. F. Martin, Joseph Palkenbach, John C.
English, James Poindexter, Samuel Thompson, Daniel McAlister, Edward Pagels,
p
L.i
Residence of Joseph H. Dunn, 936 East Town Street, built in 1887
Residence of S. B. Hartman, 513 East Town Street, built in 1883.
CHAPTER XL.
INSTITUTION FOR THE FEEBLEMINDED.
BY HON. NORTON S. T0WN3HEND.
The Ohio State Asj'lum for Imbecile Youth was established in 1857. Start-
ing with difficult}', it has grown to be the large.st institution of the kind in tlie
country.
At a meeting of the American Association of Superintendents of Institutions
for the Insane, held in Philadeljjhia in 1844, Doctor William M. Awl, then Super-
intendent of the Oliio Lunatic As.ylum. introduced the subject of special training
for imbeciles. After some discussion the matter was referred to a committee which
made an able report at the next meeting of the association heM at Washington,
U, C, in 1846. In 1850 Hon. Pinckney Lewis, of the Ohio Senate, introduced a a^^
resolution requesting Doctor S. Btanbury Smith, then Superintendent of the Ohio ^
Lunatic Asjdum, to report at the next session of the General Assembly the proba-
ble number of imbecile youth in the State, and as to the expediency of making
pi'ovisiou by legislation for their support; also the result of experiments which
liail bcoi niade in the education of such persons and the advisability of supporting
and educating them in public institutions rather than by the methods then pre-
vailing. It is not known that any such report was made.
In his message to the General Assembly in 1852 Governor Wood directeil
attention to the necessity of making State provision for the care and training of
imbeciles, but no action upon the matter was taken at that session of the legisla-
ture. In 1854 Governor Medill in his messatce invited the attention of the General
Assembly to this unfortunate class, for whom no State provision had yet been
made. In the Senate that part of the Governor's message relating to imbecile
youth was referred to a select committee, the members of which were N. S. Towns-
hend, Hcslip Williams and .J. L. Wright.' Doctor Townshend, the chairman of
that committee, had s|ieiit the year Isio in visiting several of the medical colleges
and hospitals i.f f'-uropc, and while in I'aris had become interested in the eHorts
of hard, Pincl, Esqiiirol, Scguin and others for the training of idiots. The report
of this comniittee was ordered to be printed, but the bill which accompanied it and
jirovided for the establishment of an asylum was not reached in Lime for action at
that session. In 1855 the legislature did not assemble.
L617]
618 History op the City of Columbus.
In the year 1856 Doctor H. B. Wilbur, Superintendent of the New York
As}-lum for Imbeciles, passed through Columbus with two pupils, and gave a lecture
and exhibition before members of the General Assembly. This produced a very
favorable impression. In the same year Hon. Ralph Plumb, of Trumbull County,
introduced into the House of Representatives a bill for the establishment of an
asylum for imbeciles, but this bill was not reached before the session closed. In
1857 Hon. Herman Caiifleld introduced a bill to establish an asylum for imbeciles
and this measure wa^ passed liy large majorities in both branches of the legisla-
ture. Pursuant to lliis act William Dennison, Asher Cook and Norton S. Towns-
hend were appointed trustees. These trustees met and organized by selecting
Mr. Dennison as President of the Board ; they also appointed Doctor R. J. Patter-
son as .Superintendent of the institution. The trustees and superintendent then
visited the asj'lum for imbeciles in the States of New York and Massachusetts.
From the New York asylum they were permitted to secure two experienced
teachers, viz. : Miss Emily C. Whitman, to whom was assigned the duties of matron
and Miss Julia B. Burbank for first teacher. A house on Friend Street, in Colum-
bus, was leased, and on the third day of August, 1857, the first pupil was received.
By the time the first report was made in the ensuing November, the number of
pupils had increased to sixteen.
In 1858 Miss Harriet F. Purple was engaged as matron. Although the insti-
tution had only made a beginning, Mr. Charles Chapman, of Avon, Lorain County,
had by will made it the residuary legatee of his estate, from which it subsequently
realized $4,000. In 1859 Doctor G. A. Doren was engaged as assistant superinten-
dent; in 18G0 be was chosen superintendent vice Doctor Patterson, who resigned
to take charge of the Iowa Asj^lum for the Insane. In 1860 Hon. Herman Can-
field was appointed trustee in lieu of William Dennison, who had been elected
^^ Governor of Ghio. In 1861 Hon. Asher Cook resigned from the board of trustees
^_ to serve in the army and Doctor William Ide, of Columbus, was appointed to the
vacancy. In 1862 Colonel Canfield was lost to the institution by the effects of a
wound received at the battle of Pittsburgh Landing, from which he died. Hon.
Peter Hitchcock, of Geauga, and John A. Lutz, of Circleville, then became trus-
tees, the firstnamcd to continue in service for thirteen and the lastnamed for
fifteen years, ench with great devotion and profit to the institution.
In 1862 the number of pupils had increased to fiftyseven and the need of more
ample accommodations had become apparent. Consequently, in 1864, the legisla-
ture authorized the purchase of land and the erection of suitable buildings
thereon. A tract of 130 acres on Broad Street, two and onehalf miles west of the
Capitol, and an addition of 57i acres was subsequently made. In 1868, the new
asylum buildings being then near completion, the institution was transferred to
them with 105 pupils, which number gradually increased from year to year until,
in 1876, it exceeded four hundred. At this time the need of a better water sup-
ply and better sewerage being felt, the boards of trustees of the asylums for
imbeciles and the insane were temporarily united and these improvements were
obtained. Hon. Peter Hitchcock having resigned from the board, Hon. J. A.
Shank was appointed in his stead. In 1878 the Board of Trustees of the Asylum
for Imbeciles was reorganized and J. A. Lutz and Norton S. Townshend were not
reappointed, the latter after having served twentyone years. -
The year 1881 brought to the institution a severe expei-ience : on November
13 the central building took fire. The pupils were all promptly removed to
places of safety, but the fire was not extinguished until the main building had
been destroyed and other buildings considerably damaged. Many valuable
records and tabulated results of more than twenty years of observation, were by
this misfortune irretrievably lost. Fortunately no inmate of the institution was
injiii-ed. The repairs and reconstruction made nuccssarj- by the fire were
Institution for the Fkehleminded. 619
immediately (•nninuMic(_Ml, and included some needed improvements, one of which
was that of makin<>; tlic new building fireproof. Since 1881 the institution has
steadily increasrd in the number of its pupils, whicli at the present time (1890)
amounts to x'>- I'csiilcs many applications on file. Doctor Doreii cdutinucs to
discharge the duties of superintendent with marked success, and Miss I'm plo still
performs in an accc])tal)le manner the duties of matron. Four separate buildings
uow have each an assistant matron. Instead of one teacher, as at the beginning
in 18.")7. .Mrs. L. N. Dorun, ]3rincipal of instruction, has twentyone helpers, all of
whom find ]ileiity to do. Additional buildings have from time to time been
erected, inchuling lios]iilals, school rooms, workshops, engine and gas houses,
barns, etc. The location ol the institution is a most delightful one, sufficiently
elevated, not too near the city and eas^y of access.
Instruction tor imbecile' children" must necessarily he greatly varied. "While
all the pupils received are more or less below the nornitd intellectual standard, it
is not easy to classify them, scarcely any two being alike. Hence the necessity
for widely dilVereut methods anil means of instruction. The eye, the ear, the
hand and tlie powers of locomotion but especially the brain may need incitement
to activity. I'lay. woi-k, luilitarj' drill, gymnastics, and V(.)cal and instrumental
music are all employed tor this jiurpose. Little is learned from liooks; only
object lessons are fully appreciated by the pupils. Some of the studies of the
public schools are attempted; most of all, habits of cleanliness, neatness, selfhelp,
gentleness, kindness, good manners, and ideas of right and duty need to be incul-
cated. If from early disease or want of brain development it is difficult or impos-
sible to make scholars of imbecile children, it is nevertheless no small gain if they
can be taught some useful employment so that thej' will no longer be a tax upon
friends or "the jjublic. Experience has proved that the hand may be trained to
work skilfully even when the brain has less than normal activity. It may there-
fore be said that for the imbecile an industrial education is "the one thing
needful."
The Ohio Asylum for Imbeciles has now been in operation more than thirty
years. Some of the pupils who were received many years since and have profited
by its training, are now efficient workers, but because they have no friends and no
other home, still remain in the institution to the exclusion of younger and equally
needy applicants. The trustees and superintendent have for many j^ears been
asking the legislature to establish an industrial home to which some of the older
pupils may from time to time be transferred and where, under suitable guidance,
they maj' make a comfortable living without further expense to friends or the
public. A good farm, with gardens, would afford them exercise and employment
both healthy and profitable. If the legislature does not in the near future meet
this demand, what kindhearted philanthropist will make hundreds of poor unfor-
tunates happy by supplying th^ir greatest need ?
NOTES.
1. Note by the Author: A short time before the meeting of the General Assembly in
1854, Doctor Townshend, of the Senate, visited Governor Medill and inquired whether he
intended to recommend in his message the establishment of an institution for the training
of imbecile youth? The Governor said he had not thought of it, and added, ' if by
imbeciles you mean fools, what can we do for fools ?" The Doctor then stated what had been
done in France and also in this country, for the class of persons referred to. The Governor
appeared to be nmch Interested, and taking the manuscript of his message from a drawer
620 History of the City of Columbus.
said : " Here is the message already written." Then finding where he had referred to the
institutions for mutes and the blind he added: ''Here you may interline a sentence or
two." Doctor Townshend thanked him and inserted suggestions as to imbeciles which he
said be would enileavor to have referred to a committee the report of which he hoped would
justify the interest which the Governor had manifested Accordingly, after the message
had been read in the General Assembly, Doctor Townshend moved in the Senate that so
much of it as related to an asylum for imbei-iles be referred to a select committee. This
motion was approved and the committee named in this chapter was appointed.
2. Tliese removals were illustraiions of the partisan meddling which up to the present
time has been a standing curse to the public charities of Ohio.
CHAPTER XLl
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY,
Special education for farmers was one of the first subjects to engage their
organized attention in Ohio. At the organization of the State Agricultural Society
in Columbus on Januarj- 8, 1839, a committee was appointed to consider the pro-
priety of purchasing a tract of land for experiments, and establishing thereon an
agricultural school. Better facilities for the education of young men upon the
farm were demanded by the St.-ite agricultural convention of 1845. The introduc-
tion of agriculture as a study in the common schools was suggested hy the State
Society in 1854. Mean while a school in agriculture — the first of its kind in Ohio
— bad been established by Hon. N. S. Townshend at Oberlin.i In lieuof an endorse-
ment of this school, proposed at the meeting of the State Agricultural Society in
1854, a resolution was adopted recommending that schools in agriculture be per-
manently endowed by a congressional grant of public lands. Eight years later —
on July 2, 1862 — Congress acceded to this recommendation and passed an act
which granted to each State 30,000 acres of public land for each of its Senators
and Representatives then in Congress, the proceeds of said grant to be applied to
the endowment of at least one college the leading objects of which should be,
"without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military
tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the
mechanic arts."
At a special meeting held in November, 1862, the State Board of Agriculture
recommended that Ohio accept the grant offered her, and appointed N. S. Towns-
hend and T. C. Jones to memorialize the General Assembly on the subject. The
memorial thus provided for was presented, and on F'eliruary 9, 1864, its requests
were complied with bj' the ])assage of an act accepting the lands tendered, and
pledging performance of the conditions accompanying the donation. Pursuant to
this action certificates of scrip for 630,000 acres of land were received and placed
in the State Treasury, and on April 13, 1865, an act providing for the sale of this
scrip, and the disposition of its proceeds was passed. Immediately extravagant
hopes were raised as to the amount of money that would. be realized from the sale,
and applications were made by various institutions of learning in the State for a
share of the fund. In consequence of this, the General Assembly was vigorously
memorialized in behalf of two schemes, one of which proposed a division of the
fund among various existing colleges, wliile the friends of the other insisted that
the entire proceeds of the lands should be applied to the establishment of a single
institution. Chiefly owing to this difference of opinion, definite proceedings for
the establishment of the college were delayed for six years. From beginning to
[621]
622 History of the-Citt of Columbus.
end the State Board of Agriculture favored the application of the fund in its
entirelj' to the maintenance of one centrallj' located institution. Mo.st conspicu-
ous among the members of the board in advocating tliis jjolicj' and in securing its
final acceptance by the General Assembly, were Norton S. Townshend, Thomas C.
Jones, W. B. McClung and John M. Milliken. It was also actively favored by
Governor Hayes.
The sale.s of land scrip were slow, and in December, 1865, the commissioners^
reported that unle.ss they should be allowed to reduce its price below the minimum
which had been fixed, they could not sell the whole of it in less than ten j-ears.
An act of April 5, 1866, therefore removed the minimum restriction to eighty
cents per acre, and authorized the commissioners to sell the scrip for the best
price they could obtain. Thereupon the sales proceeded, for the most part, at the
rate of fiftythree cents per acre, and ultimately produced a fund of about
$500,000.
Pursuant to an act of April 13, 1865, Darwin Gardiner, David Taylor, Peter
Thatcher, 0. L. Poorman and Miles Greenwood were appointed commissioners to
receive propositions for the location of the college, and submit recommendations
as to its location, and also as to its organization. After visiting several places,
these commissioners, except Mr. Greenwood, recommended acceptance of a prop-
osition from Miami University ; Mr. Greenwood recommended one from the
Farmers' College. Neither proposition was accepted. By resolution of March
30, 1868, the General Assembly declared in favor of "one college," and provided
for the appointment of a joint committee to receive propositions for its location.
This committee was also authorized to receive donations for the iristitution and
proposals for the location of an experimental farm. After receiving numerous
propositions, a majoritj^ of the committee favored one from Wooster, tiie minority
one from Urbana.
After various additional measures of like purport and inefficiency the Gen-
ei'al Assembly, on March 22, 1870, passed an act by which something definite and
practical was accomplished. From this act the present Ohio State University
dates the beginning of its existence. Its initial words, following its enacting
clause, were: " That a college to be styled the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical
College is hereby established in this State, in accordance with the provisions of an
act of Congress passed July 2, 1862." This act vested the government of the
college in a board of trustees, comprising one member from each congressional
district, to be appointed by the Governor. U^Jon this board was conferred power
to make rules fbi' the government of the college, to apjjoint its president, to regu-
late its course of instruction, to manage its finances, to receive donations for its
benefit, and to fix its permanent location.' The board held its fir*t meeting at
Columbus on April 18, 1870, and elected Valentine B. Horton piv.i.l.iii . J! ('.
Anderson secretary and Joseph Sullivant treasurer. On May 11. l"-7ii. tlio<;<,'ii-
eral Assembly passed an act to authorize the several counties of the St;Hc to raise
money by taxation to compete, by donations, for the location of the college, and
on June 4 of the same year an address to the juMiplc wa- issued by the executive
committee of the trustees setting forth the character ami i)urposes of the institu-
tion, and inviting the counties to tender donations for its location and equipment.
In response to this appeal Champaign and Clark counties each offered ^200,000,
and Montgomery County offered 8400,000, all in eight per cent, bonds. In Pi'ank-
liu County, on August 13, 1870, a proposition to donate .'>:'>oo.(i(iO was suliiiiittcd to
a vote of the electors, and was ratified by over five hundi'v.i majority. AiMitional
donations were made by citizens of Columbus, and liy railways centering in the
eit}-, amounting to $28,000. The gift of the county was tendered in money or in
seven per cent, bonds, as the board of trustees might elect.
In October, 1870, the propositions of Franklin County were accepted, and the
board proceeded to select from numerous farms offered a site for the institution.
Ohio State University. 623
On October 13, 1870, the board voted, fourteen to one, in favor of tbe tract known
as the Neil t^arrn, Ij'ing on tlio Worthington Road, at that time al)ont two miles
north of<'i)luml:ius. The lands chosen were thus described in resolutions reported
to the board :
A tract held by R. E. Neil and William Dennison, in trust for Henry M. Neil, of 190
acres ; a tract of Adam Zinn of fifty acres ; a tract of Matilda Ellen Witt of twenty acres ; a
tract of William Dennison and wife of twentytwo acres and ninety poles ; a tract of J. J.
Rickly of ten and fivefeighths acres ; a tract of Isabella K. Phisterer of five acres ; a tract
of George Potts of six acres; and a tract of L. Humphreys of two acres; with all the
buildings and appurtenances thereunto helonging, containing in all oj7 acres, more or less,
. . . and all except the Zinn tract being a part of the old AVilliam Neil farm, and all lying in
a body adjoining each other; the board on behalf of tlie State agreeing to pay for the same
the sum of $115,950 out of the subscription made to the State for the benefit oi said college
by Franklin County ; the parties owning said land agreeing to receive in part payment of
said consideration a subscription of S;28,000 made by other parties to secure said location, or
to guarantee the payment of said lastmentioned subscription to the board within four months.
On January 6, 1871, W. B. McClung was appointed superintendent of the col-
lege farm, at a salary of §1,500. A site for the college building was selected, plans
for the structure were invited, and Jacob Snyder, of Akron, whose plan was
accepted, was appointed architect R. X, Jones, of Delaware, Ohio, was appointed
superintendent of cdnstruciiciii. The jircsidency of the institution was offered to
General J. D. Cox, of t'inciinKiii, Imt declined. General August V. Ivautz, of the
United States Army, aiijilii'd lor ai)i>ointnicul as military instructor. The course
ofstudytobe pursued in the iuslitution was the subject of much diversity of
opinion, but finally a curriculum proposed by Mr. Joseph Sullivant, of Columbus,
was adopted. The departments of study which this plan included were agricul-
ture, mechanic arts, mathematics and physics, chemistry, geology, niinino- and
metallurgy, zoology and veterinary .science, botany and horticulture, English lan-
guage and literature, modern and ancient languages, and political ecor^omy and
civil polity. The equipment of the laboratories and cabinets, lor which purpose
the sum of $25,000 was appropriated, was assigned to Mr. Sullivant. On October
10, 1872, Hon. J. W. Patterson, then a member of the National Senate, was elected
president of the college, but after considering the matter for some time Mr. Patter-
son declined the position tendered him. In January, 1873, the following members
of the faculty were chosen: Thomas C. Mendenhall, of Columbus, Professor of
Physics and Mechanics; Sidney A. Norton, of Cincinnati, Professor of General and
Applied Chemistry; Edward Orton, of Yellow Springs, Professor of Geology,
Mining and Metallurgy; Joseph Milliken, of Hamilton, Professor of English a^nd
Modern Languages; William G. Williams, of Delaware, Ohio, Profess7jr of the
Latin and Greek Langua-es : .\o,ion S Toxvnsliend, of Avon, Ohio, Professor of
Agriculture. All of these a(r,.|,i.(l exreiii ri'oiessor Orton who declined the chair
of geology, but accepted the \n;-su\rury ot the institution tendered him during the
ensuing April. Professor Williams was released on request of the trustees of the
Ohio Wesleyan University, with which he was connected. The chair of geology
was assigned to Professor Orton and accepted bv him in connection with the pres-
idency. During the summer of 1873 Professor R. W. McFarland, of Oxford Uni-
versity, was called to the departments of mathematics and civil engineering, and
John H. Wright, who had recently graduated from Dartmouth College, was chosen
Assistant Professor of Languages. In January, 1874, Professor Afbert H. Tuttle
was appointed to the chair of zoOlogy and Thomas Matthew, of Columbus, was
appointed Instructor in Drawing. In June, 1875, William Colvin, of Cincinnati,
was appointed Professor of Political Economy and Civil Polity, and Miss Alice
Williams was made an assistant in the Department of English and Modern Lan-
An act jjassed by the General Assembly April 29, 1872, provided that
624 History of the City of Columbus.
specimens of all the minerals, soils and fossils of Ohio collected in the geological
survey of the State should be classified, labeled and presented to the college. By
an act of Congress passed February 18, 1871, certain unsurveyed and unsold lands
in the Virginia Military District were ceded to the State of Ohio, and by act of
the General As.sembly, passed April 3, 1873, the title to these lands was vested "in
the tru.stees of the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College for the benefit of
said college."
On September ' 17, 1873, while the college building and its surrounding
grounds were still in a state of incompleteness, the institution was opened for the
reception of students. Between thirty and forty presented tliemsolves at the
opening, and classes were organized in nearly every department. The inaugural
address of President Orton was delivered at the Senate Chamber .January 8, 1874.
By an act of April 16 of that year the Board of Trustees was " reorganized,'"
and the number of its members fixed at five. A second " reorganization " was
effected by an act passed April 20, 1877, which fixed the term of service at sis
years, and increased the number of members to twentyone for each congressional
district. By an act of May 7, 1877, a school of mines andinining engineering in
connection with tiie college was provided for. In June, 1876, John H. Wright,
Assistant Professor of Languages, resigned, and Josiah K. Smith, A. B., then
teaching in the Columbus High School, was appointed in his stead. During the
same year, First Lieutenant Luigi Lomia, of the Fifth United States Artillery,
was, on request of the trustees, detailed by the Secretary of War to take charge
of the department of military in.struction. Military drill was required of all the
students except such as might be excused on account of physical disability or
religious scruples. On June 20, 1877, the tru.stees eliminated the department of
Political Econom}- and Civil Polity from the curriculum, and substituted that of
Minefs, Mine Engineering and Metallurgy. Henry Newton, A. M., M. E., was
appointed to this chair but died before he could assume it. William E. Guy,
E. M., of St. Louis, was appointed in lieu of Mr. Newton, but business engage-
ments prevented him from entering upon the duties assigned him. John A.
Church, E. M., was next appointed to the new professorship, and in January,
1878, entered upon its duties.
An act of the General Assembly passed May 1, 1878, "reorganized" the
Board of Trustees for the third time, and changed the name of the institution to
that of Ohio State University. The number of the trustees was fixed by this
statute at seven, to be appointed by the Governor, the full term of service' to be
seven years. On June 18, 1878, Professor T. C. Meudenhall resigned the chair of
Physics and Mechanics to accept a similar position in the Imperial University of
Tokio, Japan. His successor, appointed in July, 1878, was Professor S. W.
Eobinson, C. E., of the Illinois Industrial LTniversity. On June 19, 1878, the
fifth commencement was held, and the first class was graduated. It comprised
six young men, five of whom took the degree of B. S. and one that of A. B. At
the close of 1878, the productive fund of the institution, derived from the sale of
land scrip, amounted to $500,000, which fund constituted a part of the irreduci-
ble debt of the State, and bore interest at the rate of six per cent. The number
of students in attendance at the institution during the first year was 90; second
year, 118 ; third year, 143; fourth year, 254; fifth year, 309.
In 1879 a mechanical laboratory was erected and equipped. In June, same
year, a department of History and Philosophy was created, and was placed under
charge of John T. Short, of Columbus, as Assistant Professor. Professor Lomia,
in charge of the military department, was appointed Adjunct Professor in Mathe-
matics and Teaclier of Elocution. JST. W. Lord was appointed Assistant Professor
of Mining and Metallurgy. The honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred
on Allen G. Thurman and Morrison R. Waite. Of the farming land belonging to
Ohio State University. 625
the institution, 228 acres were brought under cultivation. On November 29, 187S,
11,903 acres of Virginia Military Laiids in Scioto County were sold on account of
the University for 86,500. The earnings of students by their labor on the farm
during the year 1879 amounted to $1,250.
A second course of popular lectures on agriculture was given in January,
1880.'' W. A. Mason was appointed In.structor in Drawing vice Thomas Mathew,
who retired. Professor Mendenhail, whose engagement in Japan was about to
terminate, was invited to resume the chair of Physics. In his annual report for
1880, President Orton recommended the construction of a chemical laboratory.
At the close of the collegiate year, in June, 1878, Professor Orton tendered his
resignation as President, but it was not at that time accepted. In 1881, he insisted
upon retiring,' and Walter Q. Scott, of Easton, Pennsylvania, was chosen in bis
stead. In addition to the presidency. Professor Scott took the chair of Philosophy
and Political Economy. Professor Orton retained the chair of Geology, to which
he desired to devote his entire time. In the same year. Professor S. C. Derby,
late President of Antioch College, was appointed to the chair of Latin and Greek
Languages, vice Professor Josiah R. Smith, who resigned ; and the new chair of
Horticulture and Botany was created under W. R. Lazenby, B. S., of Cornell
University. First Lieutenant George Ruhlen, of the Seventeenth Inftmtiy, was
detailed by the Secretary of War as militai-y instructor, vice Lieutenant Lomia,
whose term had expired. The net proceeds of the sales of Virginia Military
Lands to November 15, 1880, amounted to $17,134.71. In May, 1881, Professor
Jose])h Milliken retired Irom the chair of English Ijaiiguagc and Literature, owing
to infirmity of health. His duties were apportioned to other professors.
On March 31, 1882, the General Assembly made an appropriation of $20,000
for a chemical laboratory, and in the course of the same year the building was
erected. Three residences for professors, located on the grounds of the institution,
were also contracted for and built. An act of the General Assembly, passed dur-
ing the session of 1882, provided for the establishment of an Agricultural Experi-
ment Station on the grounds of the University.* It was placed under the super-
vision of Professor Lazenby. A meteorological bureau was established at the
University by an act passed April 17, 1882, under the management of Professor
Mendenhail.' An Agricultural and Horticultural Hall, for which the General
Assembly had appropriated $15,000, was erected in 1883. In June of that j-ear
Rev. William H. Scott, President of the Ohio University at Athens, was elected
President and Professor of Philosophy and Political Economy,* vice Walter Q.
Scott, who failed of reelection and resigned June 20. Various additional changes
in the faculty were made. Owing to painful illness, which resulted fatally. Pro-
fessor John T. Short retired from the chair of English Literature and History.
In June, 1884, Professor Henry A. Weber, of the Iiidusti-ial University at Cham-
paign, Illinois, was elected Professior of Agricultural Chemistry. During the
same year. Lieutenant A. P. Blocksom, of the Sixth United States Cavalry, was
assigned to the University as military instructor. Professor F. H. Eldridge,
Assistant Engineer in the tfnited States Navy, was transferred from the depart-
ment of physics to that of mechanical engineering. In December, 1884, Professor
T. C. Mendenhail withdrew from the University to accept an appointment as Pro-
fessor of Electrical Science in the office of the Chief Signal Officer of the United
States. Professor R. W. McFarland retired in 1885, to accept the presidency of
Miami University. In June, 1885, Benjamin F. Thomas, of the University of
Missouri, was elected to the chair of Physics; George C. Comstock, of the Wash-
burn Observatory at Madison, Wisconsin, to that of Mathematics and Astronomy,
and George W. Knight, of Michigan University, to that of English Language and
Literature, with A. II. Welsh, of Columbus, as assistant. C. Newton Brown, who
626 History of the City op Columbus.
had been an assistant to Professor McFarland, was appointed Assistant Professor
of Civil Engineering. At the beginning of the autumn term in 1885, a department
of veterinai'y science was opened under Professor H. J. Dotmers, of the Industrial
University at Champaign, Illinois. In 1886, Ernest A. Egger.s, of Michigan Uni-
versity, was appointed instructor in German. Miss Alice K. Williams was relainod
as instructor in French. During the year 1886, the University farm, under the
management of Professor Weber, became a source of revenue for the first time:
its net profits were $1,542.17.
At the close of the University year, in 1887, Professor George C. Comstock
retired from the chair of Mathematics and Astronomy, and was succeeded by Pro-
fessor E. D. Bohanan, a graduate of the University of Virginia. On July 1,
same year, Lieutenant A. P. Blocksom, whose term of service as military
instructor had expired, was succeeded by Lieutenant Charles E. Kilbourne, of
the Third United States Artillery. Alfred H. Welsh was made Associate Pro
fessor of the English Language and Literature. An act of Congress known as
the Hatch Bill, passed in 1887, provided for an annual appropriation of $15,000
to each State, to be used in agricultural experiments and investigations. As orig-
inally drawn this act was intended to supplement the land grant for agricultural
colleges, but as finally passed it provided that in any State containing an agricul-
tural experiment station .separate from the land grant college, the legislature
might place the fund partly or wholly under control of the agricultural experi-
ment station. It was so disposed of in Ohio by resolution of the General Assem-
bly.
At the close of the University j'ear in 1888 Professor Albert H. Tuttle retired
from the chair of zoology and comparative anatomy to accept that of biology in
the University of Virginia. D S. Kellicott, of the State normal school at Buffalo,
New York, was appointed his successor. In February, 1888, the Board of Trus-
tees, on motion of ex-President Hayes, adopted a declaration that " a thoroughly
equijiped department of manual training, for both young women and young men,
should be added to the existing educational features of the university as soon as
practicable." An appropriation by the General Assembly for the estublishment of
such a dejiartnient was requested. Exhibits illustrative of the different depart-
ments of instruction in the University were made at the centennial expositions at
Cincinnati and Columbus. The latter drew a silver medal.
In 1889 the University suffered a much-deplored loss by the untimely death
of Professor Alfred H. Welsh, Associate Professor of the English Language and
Literature. Although j'et young, Professor Welsh liad attained a wide reputation
as a writer of literary textbooks. James Chalmers, who had been connected with
the corps of instructors in the Eureka College, was chosen as his successor in the
associate professorship. John "W. Queen was appointed acting professor of His-
tory and Political Science pending the temporary absence of Professor George
W. Knight. B. L. Bowen occupied the chair of French Language and Literature
pending the temporary absence of Miss Williams. Lieutenant Alexander Ogle,
Seventeenth United States Infantry, was assigned to the University as military
instructor vice Lieutenant Kilbourne, whose term had expired.
On the morning of February 12, 1889, the chemical laboratoi'y building and
its contents were destroyed by fire. An appropriation of $5,000 for temporary
equipment and continuance of the departments using the laboratory was made by
the General Assembly, which also appropriated $40,000 for the construction and
equipment of a new building, contracts for the erection of which were awarded
during the ensuing month of July. The new edifice was jjlanned to accommodate
the departments of general and agricultural chemistry, mining, metallurgy and
pharmacy. An additional appropriation often thousand dollars was made for the
erection of a building for use in special instruction in electrical engineering. Dur-
Ohio .State University. 627
ing the year 1890 the laboratory building was completed, equipped and occupied,
and a building for the veterinary department was oi-ected.
On August 30, 1890, Congress passed an act of groat financial im])ortanco to
the Ohio State Universitj' and to all similar institutions. By that measure the
sum of 115,000 per annum, increased annually by an additional thousand for ten
years, and after that period the sum of $20,000 per annum, was appropriated from
the proceeds of public land sales, to be paid to each State and Territory for the sup-
port of "instruction in agriculture, the mechanic arts, tlie English language, and
the various branches of mathematical, physical, natural and economic science with
special reference to their application in the industries of life." This act, meant to
supplement the original endowment of agricultural and mechanical colleges, was
jiccepted by tlie General Assembly of Ohio on March 4, 1891. As in the case of
the original endowment, an effort was made to divide the fund, but it was unsuc-
cessful this time as before, and the entire apj)ro|irialion ajjportioned to Ohio went
to the support of the Ohio State University. This congressional benefaction was
worthily seconded by an act of the General Assembly passed March 20, 1891, pro-
viding fiir a levy of onetwentieth of a mill on the grand duplicate of the State, to
he known as the " Ohio State University fund." The passage of this act was
largely- due to its cordial recommendation and support by Governor James E.
Camjjbell, and to the active interest taken in it by Hon. JSl. R. Hysell, Speaker of
the House of Representatives. The Icv^' under this law is intended to supersede,
so far as it goes, the necessity for annual appropriations for the support of the
institution.
On October 14, 1891, contracts were awarded for the erection of a building
for the manual training school and one for the geological museum. Lieutenant
Eugene Wilson, First United States Artillery, was, in the same year, assigned to
the institution as military instructor vice Lieutenant Ogle, whom failing health
obliged to retire. Thomas F. Hunt, of Pennsylvania, was elected Pi'ofessor of
Agriculture in lieu of Professor Norton S. Townshend who, on account of his age,
had requested to be relieved, but was retained as Profes-<or Emeritus in the chair
which he had so long and so creditably filled. The department of horticulture
and botany was divided between two new chairs. I c i>f which, that of horticul-
ture and forestrj-, Professor W. R. Lazenby was ussI^mimI, and to the other, botany
and forestry, Professor W. A. Kellerman, of l\ans:is, was elected. In lieu of the
department of zoology and comparative anatomy, was created the chair of zoology
and entomology, to which Professor D. S. Kellicott was assigned, and the chairof
anatomy and physiology, to which Doctor A. M. Bleile, M D., of Columbus, was
elected. In the department of English Literaure the work was divided between
Associate Professor James Chalmers and Joseph V. Denny, called from the Michi-
gan University. The faculty was in various minor respects still further changed
and added to in the course of the year 1890.
In June of that year the trustees adopted a resolution establishing a law
department in connection with the University, and apjn-opriating for its support
the fees to be received Irom its students. President W. H. Scott and Messrs. H.
L. Wilgus and Paul Jones, of the Alumni Association, were appointed to make an
investigation and report as to the details and management of such a department.
This committee reported on July 21 , 1 SOI , presenting a ireneral plan of instruc-
tion, and recommending that tuition tiMs he charged, and a laiulu- i-hosen from
the Ohio bar. Hon. Marshall Williams. ( 'hiof Justice of the Siali' siiineme Court,
was chosen dean, and a faculty, consisting mostly of members of the Columbus bar,
was appointed. The use of rooms in the Courthou.se for lectures and recitations
was granted by the County Commissioners, and on October 1, 1891, the school
was opened with a public address by Hon. R. A. Harrison. The number of stu-
dents in attendance in 1891 was fifty.
628 History of the City of Columbus.
The collection of birds which was made by the late Doctor J. M. Wheaton,
M. 1)., and which contained about one thousand specimens, raostlj' taken in Ohio,
was purchased of Mrs. Wheaton in February, 1891, for SI, 000. In August, same
year, a collection of shells numbering about fifteen thousand specimens was pur-
chased of its owner and collector, Mr. Henry Moores, of Columbus, for $700.
The Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station took up its abidiiig place with the
University at the time of its organization in 1882, and conducted its experiments
and investigations in company with .similar ones conducted by the University,
until December 7, 1887, when an arrangement was made by which the station was
given full privileges on the University farm and full control of all the experiments,
with the understanding that the University profe.ssors might still use the grounds
for original investigation, and also that the students should be employed in the
labor of the station when practicable. In 1891 the station, under authority of the
General Assembly, accepted an offer of money and lands made by citizens of Wayne
County whither it has now been removed.'
The collegiate department of the University now (in 1892) eompri-cs idurs^cs
of instruction in agriculture, agricultural chemistry, astronomy. liotaii\-. > ivil rn^-i-
neering, drawing, electrical engineering, English and rhetoric, Fiyui L, -tiural
chemistry, geology, German, Greek, history, horticulture, Italian, Latin, mathe-
matics, mechanical engineering, metallurgy, mine engineering, military science
and tactics, pharmacy, philosophy, physics, physiology, political science, Spanish,
veterinary medicine and zoologj' and entomology.
Tlie principal building, and the one first erected, is the University Hall, now
containing the President's office and various museums, laboratories and society
and recitation rooms. The Mechanical Building, erected in 1878, and since much
enlarged, contains rooms, materials and machiner}" for mechanical instruction.
The Botanical Building, provided for by an appropriation made in 1883, contains a
lecture room, laboratory and other conveniences for instruction in botany and
horticulture. A botanical conservatory is connected with it. The Eleclrieal
Laboratorj-, a tvvostorj- brick building, was erected in 1889. It is well e(^uipped
with apparatus. The Chemical Building, completed in 1890, is two stories in
height, and cost, with its equipments, about $62,000. It is now occupied by the
departments of chemistry, mining, metallurgy and pharmacy. Orton Hall, now
in course of construction, is intended for the reception of the large geological col-
lection of the University, and for work and instruction in the department of
geology. It will also be the repository of the University Library. It will be two
stories in height, and fireproof Hayes Hall, a large building also in course of
construction, will be devoted to instruction and work in manual training. Its
central portion will be three stories in height, its wings two stories. The Vet-
erinary Hospital contains a veterinary museum and library, a dispensary, an
operating hall, and laboratories in bacteriology and microscop}'. Ot two dormi-
tories, distinguished as North and South, both on Neil Avenue, the first accommo-
dates sixt\-four and the last twentj- students. The Experiment Station occupies
several buildings. Of six dwelling houses on the LTniversity campus, one is
occupied by the President, and three others are the homes of professors. The
Law School is .still conducted at the Franklin County Courthouse. The Librarj-
contains about 12,000 volumes. A considerable portion of the technical library
of William S. Sullivant was presented to the institution by himself and his family.
It is known as the Sullivant Collection. The Deshler Collection comprises a con-
siderable number of rare and valuable works on entomology collected by Tudor
Pay and presented to the Librar}' in 1873 by the late John G. Deshler. A German
library, mostly presented by Germanborn citizens of Columbus, contains about
four hundred volumes. The catalogue of the Geological Museum, in which
species, not specimens, are generally enumerated, contains more than eight thou-
Ohio State University. 629
sand entries. The Zoological Museum contains the Wheaton collection of birds
and some thousands of other specimens. The Botanical Museum is extensive and
interesting.
The Faculty at present comprises the following corps of instructors :
Eev. William H." Scott, M. A., LL. D., President and Professor of Philosophy ;
Edward Orton, Ph. D., LL. D., Professor of Geology; Sidney A. Norton, Pli. D.,
LL. D, Professor of General and Applied Chemistry; Norton S. Townshend,
M. D., Professor Emeritus of Agriculture ; Stillman W. Eobinson, G. E., Professor
of Mechanical Engineering; Nathaniel W. Lord, E. M., Professor of Mining and
Metallurgy; Samuel 0. Derby, M. A., Professor of the Latin Tjunguagc and
Literature, and Librarian; William R. Lazenby, M. Agr., Professor of Horticul-
ture, and Superintendent of Grounds ; Josiah R. Smith, M. A., Professor of the
Greek Language and Literature; Henry A. Weber, Ph. D., Professor of Agricul-
tural Cheniistry; Benjamin F. Thomas, Ph. D., Professor of Physics; George W.
Knight, Ph. D., Professor of History and Political Science, and Secretary of the
University Faculty; Henry J. Detmers, M. V. D., Professor of \^eterinary Sur-
gery; E.' Daniel Bohannan, B. Sc, C. E., E. M., Professor of Mathematics and
Astronomy; David S. Kcllicott, Ph. D., Professor of Zoology and Entomology;
U. Newton Brown, C. E., Professor of Civil Engineering; Ernst A. Eggers, Pro-
.fessor of the German Language and Literature ; Albert M. Bleile, M. D., Profes-
sor of Anatomy and Physiology; Eugene T. Wilson, Second Lieutenant First
Artillery, U. S. A., Professor "of Military Science and Tactics; William A.
Kellerman, Ph. D., Professor of Botany and Forestry; Thomas F. Hunt, B. Sc,
Professor of Agriculture ; George B. Kauffman, B. Sc, Associate Professor of
Pharmacy ; Eev. James Chalmers, Ph. D., Associate Professor of English Litera-
ture ; Benjamin L. Bowen, Ph. D., Associate Professor of the Eomance Languages
and Literatures; Joseph V. Denney, B. A., Associate Professor of Ehetoric;
Marshall J. Williams, Dean of the Law School, and Lecturer on Pleading and
Practice ; George K. Nash, B. A., Lecturer on Torts ; David F. Pugh, Lecturer on
Equity Jurisprudence ; I N. Abernethj', Lecturer on Mortgages and Liens ; David
K. Watson, B. A., LL. B., Lecturer on Contracts; James H.' Collin.s, Lecturer on
Appellate and Federal Practice and Private Corporations ; Orlando W. Aldrich,
LL. L., D. C. L., Lecturer on Real Property; E. L. OeWitt, B. A., Lecturer on
Bills and Notes and Commercial Law; J. Paul Jones, B. A., Lecturer on Muni-
cipal Corporations and Wills and Administration; Thomas J. Keating, B. A.,
Lecturer on Evidence ; Emmett Tompkins, Lecturer on Agency, Partnership, and
Medical Jurisprudence; Cyrus Huling, B. A., Lecturer on Criminal Law;
Eutherford H. Piatt, B. A., LL. B., Lecturer on Pleading and Practice ; Jacob A.
McEwen, LL. B., Lecturer on Insurance Law; Benjamin Woodburj-, B. A., Lec-
turci- on Elementary Law ; W. P. Hunter, Lecturer on Sales and Bailments ;
Horace L. Wilgus, M. Sc, Instructor in Elementary Law, and Secretary of the
Faculty of theLaw School; Florizel Smith, B. A., Judge of Moot Courts; George
W. McCoard, M. A., Assistant Professor of Mathenialics ; Frederick W. Sperr,
E. M , Assistant Professor of Mining Engineering: .losoph N. Bradford, M. E.,
Assistant Professor of Drawing; Joseph T. Wliitney, Assistant Professor of
Physics; Rev. Geori;e P. Color, B. A., Assistant Professor of Philosophy;
Frederiek Keffer, E. M., Assistant in Chemistry; Olive B. Jones, Assistant Libra-
rian ; Charles W. Mesloh, B. A., Assistant in German ; Joseph R. Taylor, B. A.,
Assistant in Drawing ; William F. Lavery, D. V. M , Assistant in Veterinary Medi-
cine ; Alvin D. Haines, Assistant in Mechanical Laboratory; Charles L. Arnold,
B. Sc, Assistant in Mathematics; Charles B. Morrey, B A., Assistant in Latin
and Physiology; Clair A. Dj'c, G. Ph., Assistant in General Chemistry; Lloyd
M. BhDointield, B. Agr., Assistant in Agricultural Chemistry; William C. Werner,
Assistant in Botany; Prank J. Combs, Assistant in Mechanical Laboratory;
630 History of the City op Columbus.
Edward A. Kemmler, C. E., Assistant in Civil Engineering; Wilber H. Siebert,
M. A., Assistant in History and Political Science; Henry C. Lord, B. Sc,
Assistant in Mathematics and Astronomy; James E. Boyd, B. Sc, Assistant in
Physics; Harvey A. Surfiice, B. Sc, Assistant in Geology; Joseph C. MacAuliffe,
M. D., Assistant in French ; Martha M. Young, Assistant in French.
E. C. Anderson, the original secretary of the Board of Trustees, was suc-
ceeded by Joseph Sullivant, who served until 1878, in which year tlie board
elected as its secretary Mr. Albert Allen, who served until November 15, 1883,
when he was succeeded by the present secretary. Captain Alexis Cope.
1. Associated with Doctor Townshend in the pstabliphnient and management of this
school were President James H. Fairchild, Professor James Pasromb and Jolin S. Newberry..
The school wa.s first opened in 1854 at Oberlin, where it remained two years. After that
period it was removed to and continued at Cleveland for the space of another year.
2. The management of the sales was vested in the Auditor, Treasurer and Secretary of
State.
3. The members of the board appointed by Governor Hayes pursuant to this act, named
in the numerical order of their congressional districts, were Aaron F. Perry, Joseph F.
Wright, Richard C. Anderson, "William B. McClung, AVilliam Sawyer, James M. Trimble,
Joseph Sullivant, Thomas C. Jones, Warren P. Noble, James \V. Ross. Ralph Leete, Daniel
Keller, iNIarvin M. Munson, Norton S. Townshend, Valentine V. Horton. John C. Jamison,
Cornelius Aultman, John R. Buchtel, and Henry B. Perkins.
4 These were lectures on agriculture for the general public and were delivered during
the winter term, by far, the greater part of them by Professor Townshend, by whom they
were arranged. The first course was delivered early in the year 1879. These lectures were
maintained for six successive years. They were the precursojs of the faimers' institutes,
to which they led and by which they were replaced.
5. President Orton's resignation was accepted June 21, 1881
6. The location and management of the station were vested in a board of five mem-
bers comprising the Governor, three members appointed by him. and a director to be chosen
by the board for the general management of the experiments and investigations.
7. The act declared that there should be established at the State University at Colum-
bus '' a central office for meteorological observation, with the Professor of Physics of said
University, the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture and athird person tobeappointed
by the Governor as a board of directors," all to be commissioned by the Governor. The act
continued :
" The professor of pliysics of said university is hereby appointed president of the board,
and by and with the advice of the directors shall establish, if practicable, one volunteer
weatherstation in each congressional district, and supervise the same ; he shall receive reports
therefrom, and reduce the same to tabular form, and report the same monthly to the state
printer for publication as the Ohio weather report, and shall aunually make a rei>ort to the
Governor which shall contain a detailed statement of all exivpndituresmade during the year,
and a summary of the observations made at the various stntiims."
8. Professor W. H. Scott was first chosen Presidcnl ///- /. .../"./. , liut was soon afterwards
advanced to the full presidency. Owing to "representaliMns ' iiia<ie " by prominent citizens
and through the public press," the Board of Trustees was rt-que-sted by Governor Foster to
make a full statement of its reasons for declining to reelect Professor AValter Q. Scott to the
presidency, but replied that it would be difficult to place before the Governor " all the
causes wdiich resulted in such action." The board, however, significantly stated as one of
its objections to Professor Scott " that in public lectures at the University and elsewhere he
promulgated unsound and dangerous doctrines of political economy."
9. The new station comprises a farm of 450 acres, lying about one mile south of
Wfioster. It has been equipped with appropriate buildings, paid for from a fund amounting
to $85,000 donated for the jmrpose by Wayne County.
Church History.
PART II.
CHAPTER XLll.
CATHOLIC.
BY llEV. DENNIS A. CLARKE, A. M.
Earli/ Missions.— The very earliest records of the Catholic Church in Central
Ohio are'found incorporated in the history of French Missionary Fathers of the
Society of Jesus, familiarly known as "Jesuits." In pursuit of thoir sacred call-
ing they penetrated the thick forests of this State and adjoininEi; territory, and
amid untold dangers, in great suiferings and with many privations, converted
tribes of Indians'to the Christian faith.
Under the fostering care of the French Government these zealous missionaries
erected stations and gathered about them the children of a savage life, teaching
them the arts of peace under the benign influence of the religion of Christ. We
have no records, however, identifying the location of Columbus as a particular sta-
tion of these early Missionary Fathers, but we do know that they labored in vari-
ous portions of the State, their zeal carrying them beyond the paths of explorers
and the courses of streams navigable by the canoe. The "black gown" — the
Indian appellation of the Catholic priest— was very generally known and received
with great respect, and Ohio's dusky aboriginals have left evidences that the mis-
sionary's labors among them were not in vain. The languages of the different
tribes and the names of localities attest the fact that the French Jesuits bad
influenced their manners and customs and effected a deep and lasting impression.
With the advent of British explorers, however, the Catholic Missionaries from
France were compelled to i-elinquish their established stations, and Chiefs in the
interest of the English government exerted an influence that could not be over-
come by the weaker power. This circumstance did not, in the least, diminish the
zeal of the Jesuit missionaries, or lessen their labors of love in the cause of saving
souls, for they followed their subjects to further western points, continuing among
them those ministrations that had already borne such great fruit. But the work
begun where the Jesuits first planted the Cross must be continued, and hence we
find other missionaries soon following the paths of the earlier explorers. This
time, however, they do not belong to "any of the religious orders of the church, for
they are " seculars," no less zealous than their saintly and learned |)redecessors.
Among them were many apostolic men whose memories are still held in benedic-
[633]
034 History of the City of Columbus.
tion by the descendants of early Catholic immigrants who sought homes and for-
tunes within tlie present boundaries of our State.
The missions, or stations, in Ohio and adjacent territory eame under the juris-
diction of Archbishop Carroll, the first bishop in the United States, who as a
Jesuit, enthused his priests with the spirit that animated all the earlier mission-
aries. At stated periods of long intervals these stations were visited by the priest,
whose presence was ever a source of great joy to the few scattered Catholic fami-
lies, who were eager for the ministrations of their religion and the consolations
they afforded. With the increase of immigration the Catholic Church grew rap-
idly in all the territory west of the Alleghanies as far as the Mississippi River, and
the need of more missionaries and more direct episcopal jurisdiction became very
pressing. Bishop Carroll had long recognized the necessity for a bishop in this
vast region, and accordingly recommended the appointment of Rev. B. J. Flaget to
the see of Bardstown, Kentuckj^, then newly erected by Rome. Bishop Flaget
was consecrated in 1810, but did not make his visit to the missions of Ohio until
1812, having entered the State for the first time on the seventh of October of that
year, in company with Rev. Stephen T. Badin, who was the first priest ordained
in the United States. During this first journey through Ohio the good Bishop
and his companion cheered the hearts of a number of Catholics whom they found
in central and eastern portions of the State. Near Somerset, Perry County, con-
taining settlers from Pennisylvania and other eastern States, they discovered a
spot that Providence had evidently destined as the center of active missionary
labors in Ohio. The Catholic settlers of that region, strong in the faith and zealous
in its practice, as far as their forlorn condition would admit, made a deep impres-
sion on the Bishop and he promised them regular attendance of a priest as soon as
he could arrange for one.
The Dominican Fathers, composing an "Order of Preachers," founded in the
thirteenth century bj- St. Dominic, had already established a nursery of Catholicity
near Doctor Fiaget's see in Kentucky. Their active missionary life in that State
induced the Bishop to place the Ohio missions under their charge. Very Reverend
Edward Fenwick, then Provincial of the Dominican Order, resigned his ofiice to
comply with the Bishop's request, and repaired immediately to Perry County,
Oiiio, where he permanently founded the mission which became the " Cradle of
Catholicity " in the State. Here, in 1818, Father Fenwick had the happiness of
dedicating in honor of St. Joseph the first Catholic church and of establishing a
convent whence should go forth active missionaries to various parts of the State
and surrounding regions, ministering to the Catholic families here and there, as
they were to be found, and erecting at different places permanent missionary sta-
tions. Father Fenwick and colaborers visited the locality of the future capital
and prepared the way for the rapid growth of the Catholic Church in this city.
A witness of his great zeal and labors is found in the introduction to a baptismal
register preserved in his own handwriting in St. Joseph's convent:
In the years 1SI7-IS18, I baptized in different parts of Ohio State one hundred and
sixtytwo persons, young and old, whose names and sponsor.s cannot now be recollected, as I
was then an itinerant missionary and such persons were generally discovered and brought to
me accidentally. Rev. Mr. Young, during his journey to Maryland and back to Ohio, this
year of 18f8, baptized about thirty persons in a similar m inner. — Eilward Fenwick.
" Glory be to Thee, 0 Lord, and on earth peace to men of good will."
Father Fenwick's missionary zeal was everywhere attended by a renewal of
religious fervor among the Catholic settlers and by numerous conversions to the
faith. Father Dominick Young, of the same religious order, was his almost con-
stant companion on these missionary tours.
First Bishop of Cinrinntdi.— Tim increasing demands for missionaries and the
establishing of numerous stations by the Dominican Fathers throughout Ohio and
portions of Michigan and Indiana, urged upon Eome. through Right Rev. Doctor
Fhiget, the pressing need of a bishop to exercise jurisdiction over that large terri-
tory now grown beyond that prelate's possible attention. Accordingly, recogniz-
ing the labors, piety, and learning of Father Fenwick, Pope Pius VIIl, on June
19, 1821, named him Bishop, with Cincinnati as his see and Ohio as his diocese.
The ceremony of consecration took place in Bardstown, Kentucky, January 13,
1822, Bishop Flagct being the consecrator. Shortly after his installation at Cin-
cinnati, Bishop Fenwick repaired to Europe to obtain assistance in meeting the
requirements of his diocese, rapidly growing in importance. During his absence
the Dominican Fathers from St. Joseph's, Perry County, continued their labors on
the missions under the direction of Very Rev. Father Hill, Vicar-General of
the diocese. Among these Fathers we find the following frequently and promi-
nently named : Dominic Young, Thomas Martin and Vincent de Raymond. On
Bishop Fenwick's return from Europe, in 1825, he renewed his missionary life,
enthused and encouraged by his successful trip abroad. Providence, however, had
destined only a short cai-eer for the zealous Bishop. On his way home from an
extended visitation of the northern portions of his diocese, in the autumn of 1832,
he fell a victim to the cholera at Wooster, Ohio.
Bishop Fenwick was succeeded in the Episcopal office by Right Rev. John
Baptist Purcell, who was consecrated Bishop in the Cathedral at Baltimore, Mary-
land, October 13, 1833, by Archbishop Whitefield, of that see. Upon the death of
Bishop Fenwick and the installation of Bishop Purcell the manner of conducting
the missions of Ohio that were attended by the Dominican Fathers underwent
some modifications. These changes were to be expected, since the former Bishop
was not only a missionary in the parts over which he exercised episcopal jurisdic-
tion, but was a member of thg Dominican Order. Bishop Purcell on the contrary,
had no such experience on the missions of the West ; being yet very young, his
youth, at first, was strongly urged against his appointment as Bishop. He came,
moreover, from the ranks of the secular clergy, whose ministrations had been
confined to narrower limits, but would now be more extended.
The results achieved by the pioneer band of Dominican Fathers were appre-
ciated by the new Bishop, and to their assistance in continuing the missionary
work, he gathered about him a number of devoted secular priests over whom, as
their Bishop, he could exerci.se a more direct control on the nrissions and the
founding of new churches. With a truly apostolic zeal Bishop Purcell engaged
in his labors, visiting everj- portion of his large diocese, ministering in person to
the spiritual necessities of the people, and defending fearlessly in public places
the doctrines of his faith that had been assailed and often misrepresented.
The Columbus Mission. — The Dominican Fathers who had earl_y founded the
mission in Columbus had come into possession of a lot by donation, the conditions
being that a church be erected thereon within five years from date of the deed,
which was May 15, 1833. This lot is the present site of Holy Cross Church, on
the northeast corner of Rich and Fifth streets, the donors being Otis and Samuel
Crosby and Nathaniel Medberj-. Religious services continued to be held, as in
the past, by the Dominican Fathers from time to time, in different houses of
Catholics, among them being the residence of John McCarthy, on Main Street,
between High and Third. Mr. McCarthy was, at the time, an engineer on the Ohio
Canal and Columbus Feeder. Previousl}^ to this time Catholic services were held
in Franklinton, now the West Side, where a number of Catholic families had set-
tled. At such times the old courthouse — present location of the Franklinton
public school building — the hornet of Vincent G-rate and Henry Nadenbu'^ch, the
latter situated near the State stone quarries, were honored by having the Sacrifice
636 History of the City of CoLUMBrs.
of the Mass offered up under their roofs. Liiborors engaged in the construction of
the National lioad composed for a time the major portion of tiie cmigregutiou.
Among the permanent settlors, however, who constituted the jiimieor Catholic
cODgregatiou that was the nucleus of the future churches of the city, we find
record of the following : The families of Mrs. Eussell, Cornelius Jacobs, John
Jacobs, Michael Eeinhard, Anthony Clarke and Owen Turney. Later on, the
following Catholics settled in the city and added to the membership of the con-
gregation : John Ender, Clemens Baehr, J. Scherringer, P. Kehle, Jacob Zettler,
Peter Schwartz, Henry Lutz, Lawrence Beck, Joseph Wolfel, Senior, Joseph
Miller, Isidore Frey, Bernard McNally, John F. Zimmer, C. Kuhn, John Ury and
several others whose names are not on record.
As the number of families increased with the natural development of the
State, under the impetus given to immigration, and the prominence accorded to
Columbus as the capital of a promising great State, the Catholics felt sorelj* the
need of a church building and a resident priest. The Dominican Fathers in whose
name, under the corporate title of " Literary Society of St. Joseph," the lot for
church purposes above referred to was held, were solicitous for the spiritual wel-
fare of their struggling flocks, and earnestly strove to arrange for such a building.
Prompted by such a desire. Very Rev. N. D. Young, Provincial of the Dominican
Order, sought the advice and expression of the wishes of the Bishop in the matter,
by addressing him the following letter under date of January 16, 1835 :
We have a lot in Columbus. A church could, this year, by a little exertion be erected
on it. We ask your permission to do so. Father Martin occasionally visits Columbus. The
Catholics are suffering there a great affliction, and amongst them many sad evils occur in
consequence of having no regular attendance. With j'our consent we shall do our best to
supply ttiem. Should you object, we are willing to give up the lot and place our subjects in
other places.
On March 28, 1835, the Bishop replies to Father Young :
I earnestly wish that you undertake the erection of a church in Columbus on the terms
I proposed, viz., your having the completed church under your care so long as I live, and
thereafter as long as you could supply it with a pastor, if my influence, (by a written expres-
sion of my will) after my decease, will bind my successor. If the lot in Columbus has been
already deeded to you, the knot is cut and I agree to the erection of a church on it for the
good of the Catholic Congregation. You see how anxious I am to meet your views when I
see them conneiited with the best modes of advancing the kingdom of Jesus Christ. If
you cannot proceed to the building of the church, you will, of course, inform me and trans-
fer the lot.
Notwithstanding this very decided indication of the Bishop's desires, the
Dominican Fathers finally determined to place the lot at the disposal of the
Bishop, who would have his priests undertake the building of the first church in
('blumbus. The property, however, remained in the name of the Dominicans
until May 29, 1869, when the legal transfer and record were made.
First Catholic Church. — In June, 1836, Bishop Purcell came to the city, stop-
ping at Colonel John Noble's National Hotel where stands the Neil Hou.sc of
today, and on the Sunday following his arrival, June 5, celebrated his first Mass
in Columbus in the old Paul Pry House on Canal Street, between Main and
CheiT}^ .A.lley, then occupied by the family of George Studer. Mass had been fre-
quently celebrated in this house by the Missionary Fathers, and it continued to be
used for that purpose for some time, as it was the most convenient locality. After
divine services on the occasion above referred to, the Bishop announced the object
of his visit to be the consulting with the Catholics in reference to the building of
a church. For this purpose he asked all the men of the congregation to meet him
at the same place at a stated hour in the afternoon.
Agreeably to this request the mcetin-i' was held and attended hy nearly all the
moil of the little mission. Great inleresl was niaiiilcsied, yel tlir ctil husiasm was
somewhat dampened when the p.-. -uniary conditiDii ol' most (it the eoii^-iTi;-:it ion
was consi.kTeii, as the raisiiiij,- oltiie neressary funds to meet the estimated eost of
the linildinu' would lie an impossiliility at that time. The possession fif a lot was
a good heuinniiii;-, hut a roMiparatiwly small item in the .t^eneral exjieiise. The
meeting had ahont dLM-iilcd to post|iom' aelion for a year or two and eontinue in
the meantime the same arraiigeni.'iils as in llic past, when a member, .Mr. Mai'tin
Stafford, superintendent ol' tlie nia-omy ol' the newiy erected Penitentiary,
extended encouragement and e.xcilcd renewed interest in the ]5rqjeel by suggest-
ing a very feasihle plan whei'cby tlie cost could be gre:itl_y lessened. lie proposed
a structure of rough linu'sl.uii' o|' sm h proportions as to accommoilate the congre-
gation for the present and perlia|)s (or some j'cars to come, and stated that he was
assured most of the material could be obtained by donations, the money sub-
scribed to be used for other necessary expenses in the process of completion.
This proposition was well received and considered worthy a fair trial as it
involved no risk and met, too, with the willing approval of the Bishojj. Sub-
scription lists in (ierman and English were opened immediately, all at the meet-
ing giving in their names with generous amounts. The sums were to lie paid as
follows: Onehalf tlown, or as soon as needed and called for; the other halt not
to be paid until the structure should be under roof. At the suggestion of the
meeting the Bishop appointed a building committee who should have charge of
the work and receive the moneys subscribed. The committee consisted of Martin
Stafford, Charles Cross, George Studer, Jacob Scberringer and Cornelius Jacobs.
The organization of the committee was effected by electing Martin Stafford
president, Charles Cross secretary, and Cornelius Jacobs treasurer.
During his stay in the citj- the Bishop visited the different families and
ministered to the spiritual wants of the English-speaking Catholics. He
promised to send a German ]n'ie8t, as soon as possible, to do a like service to the
German Catholics, who were not familiar with the English language. In com-
pany with some members of the building committee, the Bishop visited the stone-
quarries west of the city and succeeded in making very satisfactory arrangements
with the lessee, Heniy Nadenbusch, by whom building material was to be fur-
nished at $1.25 per perch, delivered on the site of the new church. Mr. Naden-
busch afterwards donated a large amount of stone. Sand was donated by James
Fields from his bank on the east side of the Scioto JRiver, just north of the Broad
Street bridge, and was hauled by Joseph and Ziriach Wolfel in part payment of
their subscriptions. The committee mot with much discouragement in the collec-
tion of subscriptions and it soon hecanie evident that sufficient funds could not be
realized to jjlace the hnilding iimler cover. It was therefore detei'mined to sus-
pend further O]jeratioiis and pay for material, and settle all bills to date.
In the latter part of August, 183U, the Bishop sent Rev. Father SLahlis( h midt,
a German priest, to accommodate the German Catholics, who luul long been
deprived of the services of a priest of their own nationality. The Father
remained until the twelfth of September at the home of George Studer, celebrat-
ing Mass daily in Paul Piy Hall. Not until December following did the congre-
gation again have Mass, for on the twentythird of that month Ifev. Father
Hoffman, a Franco-German, arrived to spend the Cbristmas season with the
people. Paul Pvy Hall could not lie obtained at this time and, acconlingly, serv-
ices were held in one of the socalled Eight Buildings on West Town Street,
between Front Street and Fair Alley.
From this time until August 4, 1837, there is no record of any Catholic serv-
ices in Columbus. The Bishop recognized the necessity for a resident priesi now
more than ever, for the Catholics were increasing, spiritual wants were many and
fi38 History of the City op Columbus.
pressing, and a church was in progress of construction. Finally, on the above
date, the patience of the congregation was rewarded and the hearts of all glad-
dened by the arrival of Rev. Henry Daniien Juncker, who came with the author-
ity of Bishop Purcell as pastor of the Catholics of Columbus and Chillicothe, and
to build a church at each of these places. He was entertained at the residence of
George Studer. It was published to all Catholics that there would be Mass on
Sundays, August 6 and 13, and on every day intervening, on the second floor of
Henry Weiss's frame house, next south of the Paul Pry, which was engaged for
other purposes.
Father Juncker, as permanent pastor, and imbued with the zeal of a young
and fervent priest, applied himself to the task of building a suitable church.
The little congregation, almost disheartened at the poor prospect of having such
an edifice, rallied about their pastor and united hands and hearts again in the
undertaking. The former building committee gave Father Juncker the history of
their efforts thus far and the results, with the obstacles they saw in the way of
accomplishing their purposes. Many different plans were proposed but it was
finally determined to remove the material already at hand to the north end of
the lot, immediately in front of the present Holy Cross School, and to erect the
church thereon. A building of the following dimensions was planned and laid
out: Fifty feet long, thirty feet wide, fourteen feet from the floor to the ceiling
— eighteen feet from the base — and to have a small gallery for tlie choir. A
church of such a size, it was thought, would meet all the requirements of the
congregation for some years to come, and then when another church should have
been built on the other and more prominent part of the lot, this structure could
be used for a schoolhouse.
With renewed activity the building committee began work. New subscrip-
tion papers were circulated, more money was collected and some material was
donated. Having thus started the building, Father Juncker left, on August 15, to
attend to the interests of his flock at Chillicothe. The masonry was contracted
for with George Kannemaeher and Andrew Schott. The heavy carpentering was
done under direction of Jacob Schoeringer, and the joinerwork by Chnrles Cross.
Cornelius Jacobs was general superintendent. On October 13, 1837, Father
Juncker returned, and on the fifteenth had services in Bernard Burke's house on
South Street, now Fulton, between High and Third. Owing to the want of suit-
able accommodations, as well as to urge on the speedy completion of the building,
the pastor announced that no more public services would be held in Columbus
until the church was prepared for them. The masons had begun their work
without waiting for the ceremony of cornerstone laying. The joy and thanks-
giving with which the Catholic people saw their little church assuming shape can
be readily imagined. Father Juncker frequently visited the congregation during
the building, and on such occasions was given hospitality at the home of Charles
Cross.
<SY. Remigius's Church. — The process of construction went on as rapidly as
possible; the middle of December, 1837, found the building under roof, and by
the twentieth of April, 1838, it was in condition to be occupied, though not plas-
tered, painted nor seated. On the twentyninth of the same month Rev. Father
Juncker held services in the unfinished church, singing High Mass — the first ever
celebrated in Columbus — and placed the edifice under the patronage of St.
Remigius. Remigius, or Remi, was Archbishop of Rheims, France, and died a
holy death in the y&ar 533, after a reign of seventyfour years in the £])iscopacy
— the longest on record. Rev. Stephen Badin, the venerable missionary of, our
Western States, hajJi^ened en route through Columbus on the Sunday of the open-
ing of the new church, and, learning of the joyous occasion, stopped over, preach-
ing a learned discourse in English at the Vesper service in the afternoon.
Catholic. 639
In a few months the interior of tlie buildinfj was finished and the congrega-
tion was happy in the possession of a church that realized their fondest hopes.
They had a pastor too, but his time was divided between Columbus and Chiiiicolhe.
At intervals he visited tlie Catholics at Circleville, Waverly, Portsmouth, Delaware,
Marion and a few other missionary stations. It frequentlj' lia|)|H'ncil that Mass
was celebrated on occasions when the pastor could not be present, by priests pass-
ing through the city to other missions. Father JuncUer continued in charge of
the congregation until November, 1839, when the Bishop transferred him to
another mission. Some years later Father Juncker became Bishop of Alton, Illi-
nois. He was succeeded in Columbus by Rev. Joshua M. Young, in December the
same year. Father Young was a convert to the faith, and had been ordained only
a short time. As Columbus had no pastoral residence, the pastor made his home
at Lancaster, which, with Logan, Delaware and Marion constituted his missionary
field with this city ue, a centre.
On December 8, 1839, Right Rev. Bishop Purcell administered the Sacrament
of Confirmation for the first time in Columbus, and on the evening of that day
preached a sermon on the Holy Trinity in the Senate Chamber of the old State-
house, the only available hall at that time. In November, 1840, the Bishop again
visited Columbus, and on Sunday, the twentyfirst of that month, celebrated Mass,
gave an instruction at the Vesper service in the afternoon and lectured in the Hall
of Representatives in the evening. During the week he lectured each evening in
the Courthouse, which had been completed only a short time. On the following
Sunday the Bishop and Father Henni, afterwards Archbishop of Milwaukee,
officiated at the church, and in the evening the Father preached in German at the
Courthouse. Father Young, the pastor, having expressed a desire to reside in
Columbus if a house were built for him adjoining the church, the congregation
took prompt measures to comply with his wishes, and within one j'ear — that is
by April 1, 1843 — ^had a residence ready for occupancy.
Pint Resident Priest.— But Father Young was not destineii to be the first resi-
dent priest of Columbus, for on February 25, 1843, the Bishop sent Rev. William
Schonat, who had recently arrived in the diocese from Silesia, to assist the pastor
on his mission during lent. A few weeks after Easter, as Father Schonat was
about to return to Cincinnati, the congregation petitioned the Bishop to have him
retained as resident pastor, the labors of the mission really requiring two priests.
The prayer was granted and on May 10, 1843, Father Schonat took possession of
the j)a8toral residence.
First Catholic School. — Already the little church was found inadequate to the
needs of the rapidly growing congregation, and Father Schonat was obliged to say
two masses on Sundays and Holydays of obligation to accommodate all who
attended. The pastor was also solicitous for the spiritual condition of the children
of his flock, and was anxious to gatlier them under the shadow of the church
where worldly science could be taught in union with the science of God. One of
his first undertakings, therefore, was the building of a school. His efforts were
heartily seconded by the congregation, and in a short time he had a frame build-
ing erected on the church lot. It was the first parochial school in Columbus and
was taught by secular teachers.
Holy Cross Church. — Whilst Father Young retained charge of the missions
at Lancaster with his home at that place, Father Schonat attended Delaware and
Marion from Columbus. To the advantage of the English and German speaking
people these Fathers often exchanged places and thus labored together in a
manner that gave the greatest spiritual benefits to all. On June S, 1843, the
Bishop visited the city and administered confirmation to a class of fiftyfive
persons. Father Schonat was invited to accompany the Bishop on a visit through-
out the northeastern portions of his diocese, which as yet included the whole
640 History of the City of Columbus.
State of Ohio. The tour occupied three months and it was sometime in September
before Father Schonat returned to his charge, the congregation in the meantime
being attended, as necessity required, bj' Father Young and others.
It became evident that early steps should be taken towards the erection of a
larger church, and Father Sclionat so announced to his people. Monthlj- meet-
ings of the congregation were held and the subject was thoroughly discussed.
The lot already in possession was too small, and prcliminarj' measures were taken
CO purchase the adjoining property on Eiuh Street, which would give a total
length on that street of 125 feet and 187^ along Fifth Street. The negotiations were
successful and the additional lot was transferred November 10, 1845, by M, J. and
L. T. Gilbert to the Bishop of the diocese, in trust for the congregation, (lie con-
sideration being $600. Plans were prepared for the new church and Mil'inithd to
a meeting of the congregation presided over by Father Schonat, on Decinihcr 8.
It was decided to build in the Gothic style of architecture an edifice of brick,
plain and substantial, with stone foundation and trimmings, and good support-
ing buttresses. The dimensions were 115 feet by 62 with a height of 40 feet from
floor to ceiling. A building committee consisting of Maurice McGuire, John
Dutfy, Jacob Schoeringer, Fredolin Mutter, Anton liolling, Cornelius Jacobs,
Joseph Sattler, Peter Ury, John F. Zimmer and George Entered, was elected by
the congregation and urged to arrange for the commencement of the new struc-
ture in the early spring. The winter .season, then at hand, was suggested as the
best time to chop and hew the timber necessary. Mr. Zimmer and Mr. Lutz
donated the timber on their lands for the framing of the roof and the construc-
tion of the gallery; others offered to do the chopping and hewing, and those hav-
itig teams agreed to do the hauling. On an appointed day all met at two o'clock
in the morning and proceeded to the timber lands, and in the evening returned
with their wagons loaded.
On account of meager cash subscriptions available and the large number of
days' work subscribed, it was decided to have the excavating, masonry, bricklay-
ing, carpentering etc., done by the day and credit given accordingly to all who
made donations of the same. Joseph Salter was foreman of the stone and brick
masons, J. Schoeringer and F. Mutter directed the carpenter work, and C. Jacobs
was architect and general superintendent. During the winter the committee was
active in the preparations for the spring work, receiving estimates and bids, and
discussing the best means of raising the necessary funds. In tho.se days church
fairs, suppers, picuics and the like entertainments, had not yet been inaugurated,
and all who could assist religions enterprises did so most willingly and with heart-
felt thankfulness for the opportunity and the blessings that would certainly follow.
On April 28, 1846, contracts for the necessary brick, stone, and other mate-
rials were awarded and the work began with commendable earnestness. On Siin-
d;iy, May 18, the cornerstone was bles.sed and placed in position with the pre-
scribed ceremonies by the Bishop, Eight Eev. J. B. Purcell, assisted bj- Eev.
Fathers Schonat, Young and Juncker. The Bishop addressed the immense con-
course of people, speaking most eloquently and interestingly ou the Catholic
Church and her divine commission, for over an hour and a half He was followed
by Father Schonat, who spoke in German on the same subject. By the end of
the year the building was under roof and the doors and windows were closed
with boards. Owing again to the want of necessary funds the structure was left
in this condition, until the summer oC 1847, when work on the interior was
resumed and continued until it was ready for dedication, which took place Janu-
ary 16, 1848. Eight Eev. Bishop Purcell was the officiant at the ceremonies, being
assisted by the pastor. Father Schonat, and Fathers Young and Juncker, and
Fathers Wood and Hammer. Father Wood became Archbishop of Philadelphia
and Father Young died Bishop of Erie, Pennsylvania.
^-2
^^^^^^-^-^^^
Catiiomo. 641
Rev. Casper H. Borgess. — It was Father Junctker's desire that this new church
be dedicated to Almighty God in honor of the sacred instrument of redemption,
and hence it was named the Church of the Holy Cross. But the zealous pastor,
after witnessing the fruits of his anxieties and toils, was promoted by his bishop
to the charge of an imi)ortant congregation in Cincinnati. He sang his last High
Mass in Holy Cross Church on the first anniversary of its dedication and was
immediately succeeded by Eev. Casper Henry Borgess, the future Bishop of
Detroit. During the pastorate of Father Borgess the tower was completed
and the steeple built at a cost of about $7,000, and a chime of three bells, the
first in the city, was placed therein. A new pulpit, side altars, and a grand pipe
organ were also among the improvements made by Father Borgess. The old
stone church which had been converted into a tworoom schoolhouse, was enlarged
by a twentj-foot addition to the rear and a second story of brick, thus providing
a school building with four large rooms. In September, 1856, Father Borgess
obtained the services of the Sisters of Notre Dame from Cincinnati, and put
them in charge of the girls' school whicli had previously been taught by secular
teachers.
Eev. John B. Hemsteger. — For ten years Father Borgess administered the
afl'airs of the parish, assisted most of the time by his uncle Rev. Otto Borgess.
In May, 1859, he was appointed Chancellor of the diocese of Cincinnati, and was
succeeded as pastor by Eev. John Bernard Hemsteger, May 5. Father Hemsteger
had previously attended the missions at Piqua. Improvements commensurate
with the growth of the congregation, and according to the advancing financial
condition of the people, were continued under the administration of the new
pastor. He caused the old frame residence of the priest to be torn down, and in
its place erected the commodious house that the pastor at present occupies. Sev-
eral improvements were made in the church, among them being the reconstructing
and enlarging of the gallery, changing the slaii's thereto, painting the interior
and putting in new doorways. On March 28, 1866, the lot adjoining the church
property to the east, 31 feet on Eich Street by 1781 feet along the alley, was pur-
chased of Thomas Agnew for the purpose of enlarging the church building and
obtai ning more room (or a new school. The school was completed in 1870 and
was dedicated by Bishop Eosecranson August 20, that j'ear, with a grand celebra-
tion by Catholic societies. The building contains eight large class rooms and a
fine lecture hall. In 1874 a handsome main altar was erected at the cost of
$3,300.
On Sunday, June 3, 1877, after the services of the day were over commem-
orating the Golden Jubilee of Pope Pius IX, a fire originated at the High Altar,
which was completely destroyed, as was also the grand organ costing $3,000, and
the church was damaged to the extent of $1,500. The congregation set to work
with commendable zeal to repair their losses, and in the meantime services were
held in the school hall. The church, enlarged and improved under contract with
Valentine Merk, was dedicated on Sunday, December 23, 1877, Eight Eev. Bishop
Toebbe, of Covington, Kentucky, oflSciating and preaching the sermon. The
clergymen assisting in the ceremony and at the solemn High Mass were Very
Eev. J. B. Hemsteger, and Eeverends F. X. Specht, C. E. Ehoiie, G. H. Ahrens,
E. C. Christi, J. C. Goldschmidt and J. J. Jessing. In the afternoon Pontifical
Vespers were sung by Right Eev. Bishop Rosecrans assisted by Very Eev. J. B.
Hemsteger and Eev. E. C. Christi, C. E. Ehode and G. H. Ahrens. The Bishop
gave a short sketch of the history of the congregation. The music on the occa-
sion was under the direction of the organist. Professor H. J. Nothnagel. Father
Hemsteger, though a constant sufferer from an incurable ailment, worked unceas-
ingly among the people, who were devotedly attached to him, and contemplated
41*
642 History of the City of CuLUiMBus.
still further improvements in his church. But his declining health adinonislied
him to prepare for death, and on Friday, October 18, 1878, he passed away from
the scenes of his labors. No pastor was more deeply mourned. Father Hemste-
ger was born in the Province of Westphalia September 24, 1827. Beginning hi.s
studies in his native place, he came to this country and completed them at Mount
St. Mary's Seminary, Cincinnati, where he was ordained priest by the Most Rev.
Ai-chbishop Purcell on March 12, 1854. His first mission was at Piqua,this State.
In 1859 he was appointed pastor of Holy Cross Church, succeeding Father Bor-
gess. When Columbus diocese was formed in 1868, Eight Eev. S. H. Eosecrans,
the first Bishop, appointed him his Vicar-General, which office he held until his
death. Eight Eev. Bishop Toebbe, of Covington, sang the solemn requiem Mass
at the funeral and the Most Eev. Archbishop of Cincinnati preached the sermon.
Very Eev. Father Hemsteger was assisted during his pastorate of Holy Cross bv
Eev. Francis Karrell, 1859'-(i0 ; Eev. Casper Wiese, 186U-G1 ; Eev. Jacob Rosswog,
1861 ; Eev. Joseph Seling, 1861-62 ; Eev. F. X. Specht, 1864-68 ; Eev. G. H.
Ahrens, 1868-72 ; Eev. J. B. Eis, 1873-76 ; Rev. A. Weber, 1876-77 ; Eev. C. E.
Ehode, 1877-78.
jRev. George H. Ahrens. — In November following the death of Vicar General
Hemsteger, Eev. Father Ahrens was transferred from the Cathedral to the pas-
toral charge^ of Holy Cross where he remained until his death, which occurred
March 25, 1884. Father Ahrens was born in Cincinnati, in 1841. His prepara-
tory studies were made in his native city, and at St. Vincent's College, Westmore-
land Count}', Pennsylvania. He completed his studies at Mount St. Mary's Semi-
narj-, Cincinnati, where he was ordained by the Archbishop. He was sent to
take charge of the German congregation at fronton, but when the diocese of Col-
umbus was formed. Bishop Eosecrans appointed Father Ahrens Chancellor in
1867, and placed him as assistant at St. Patrick's Church, where the Bishop bad
taken charge as pastor pending the building of the Cathedral. In 1868 Father
Ahrens was se.nt as assistant to Father Hemsteger, where he labored with com-
mendable zeal for four years, much of the parish work devolving upon him owing
to the pastor's illbealth. The handsome and commodious school building was
erected under the supervision of Father Ahrens. On the opening of St. Aloysius's
Seminary, on the West Side, Columbus, in 1871, Father Ahrens was made a pro-
fessor in the institution and most faithfully discharged his duties up to the time of
the closing of the Seminary in 1876. He was then stationed at the Cathedral and
attended the Catholic prisoners in the Ohio Penitentiary, where he said Mass
every Sunday morning for nearly two years, when, upon the death of Father Hem-
steger he was appointed pastor of Holy Cross by the Administrator, Very Eev,
N. A. Gallagher.
Rev. Clement H. Eho<le. — Soon after the death of Father Ahrens, Eight Rev.
Bishop Watterson appointed Eev. Clement R. Ehode pastor, who continues the
good work inaugurated by his predecessors and enjoys the devoted love of a large
congregation. Many excellent improvements have been made in the church ; the
whole interior has been decorated in beautiful .designs and embellished with
numerous mural paintings. The exterior has also been tastefully painted. Sep-
tember 7, 1888, the congregation celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its founda-
tion. Solemn High Mass in the presence of the Bishop was celebrated by the
pastor, assisted by some of the city clergy. Eev. Joseph J. Jessing preached the
sermon. In the afternoon Bishop Watterson sang Pontifical Vespers assisted by
the same priests who were present at the morning service. Right Eev. Bishop
Watterson preached an eloquent sermon reviewing the growth of the church in
Columbus during the half century. As pastor Eev. Father Ehode is assisted by
Father Joseph J. Jessing, founder and director of the Josephinum, whose histor-
. Catholic. 643
ical sketch :ip])oars fiirtlier on. On July 1, 1892, the congregation bought apiece
of property mi Walnut Stirrt opposite the church site for $1,500.
St. Piitn'i-k'--< (7(///v//.— Holy Cross enjoys the distinction of being the mother
of the Catholic churches of Columbus. It was the first fully organized congrega-
tion with a resident pastor, at the time when services were held in the original
church of St. Eemigius. From Holy Cross congregation, composed of early
Catholic settlers and their families with many later accessions, were formed other
large and important congregations. The German element, which constituted
fully threefourths of the whole number of fiimilies, predominated and had contrib-
uted the greater amount towards erection of the church and support of the pastor.
As there was growing need of another church building. Holy Cross being too
small to accommodate the congregation, it was agreed, with the approval of the
Bishop, to build a church for the English-speaking Catholics of the city. These
latter were mostly of Irish descent, with a number also, of American families.
Accordingly, a separate congregation was formed in February, 1851, by Rev. John
Furlong, sent by the Bishop for that ])urpose. Father Furlong had many difficul-
ties to contend with, and made little progress in his mission. The congregation
formed under his pastoi-ate arranged the times for their services at Holy Cross
Church so as not to interfere with the congregation of the latter. This arrange-
ment was continued until the new church was ready for occupancy. After a year's
stay in the city Father Furlong was succeeded by Rev. James Meagher who
entered upon his labors with an enthusiasm that inspired his entire flock. Father
Meagher immediately began negotiations for the purchase of an eligible site upon
which to erect a church. His efforts were successful, and a lot 187 feet square on
the northeast corner of Seventh Street — now Grant Avenue — and Naghten Street
was purchased of Robert E. Neil for one thousand dollars. Holy Cross congrega-
tion contributed twelve hundred dollars towards the new church in lieu of paidup
subscriptions made by English-speaking Catholics to the old church.
The plans of a church 125 feet long and 52 feet wide, in the Norman style of
architecture, were adopted and the contract for erection of the building was
awarded to John D. Clarke and Michael Harding. The new church was placed
under the patronage of St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, and the cornerstone was
laid on Sunday, September 5, 1852, by Right Rev. Bishop Purcell, assisted by all
the local clergy, and in the presence of a large concourse of people. Father
Meagher well understood the magnitude of the work before him and he labored
zealously and with heroic courage to accomplish it. The obtaining of means was
a wearying task among the Catholics, who were generally in very poor circum-
stances. Here and there and everywhere along the lines of railroads, on the
streets, in the houses of rich and poor went this indefatigable worker collecting
money to pa}^ for his church. Within one year the edifice was sufficiently com-
pleted to be occupied, and on Sunday, September 25, 1853, it was solemnly dedi-
cated to Almighty God by the same Right Rev. prelate who had the previous year
laid its cornerstone. High Mass was sung by Rev. M. Blake, of Xenia, assisted
by Rev. Fathers Borgess and Meagher. The choir of Holy Cross Church, under
direction of Professor Kronenbitter, sang Buehler's Mass. The Bishop preached
an eloquent sermon on the occasion, alluding to the happy gi-owth of the Catho-
lic Church in this city. The following year a brick school building was erected
beside the church on Mount Vernon Avenue. In August, 1865, Father Meagher
engaged the services of the Sisters of Notre Dame, froni Cincinnati, who took
immediate charge of the girls' school. Lay teachers were emploj'cd in the boys'
school. These Sisters were the first religious community to have a convent home
in our city. A bell, noted for its sweet tones, was purchased and from the tower
of St. Patrick's was the first in the city to peal forth tlie joyous " Angclus " at
morning, noon and evening. A residence for the pastor was* begun in 1857, but
644 History of the City op Columbus.
was not quite completed by Father Meagher, though he occupied it prcviousl}- to the
appoiutment of his successor. Rev. Edmund D. Flaherty was sometime assistant
pastor.
Early in the fall of 1857 Rev. Father Meagher, much to the regret of his
devoted flock, was transferred to Cincinnati by his Bishop, and Rev. Edward M.
Fitzgerald was sent to take charge of the congregation. Father Fitzgerald had
just been ordained, and brought to this his first field of labor all the energy and
zeal of a young and fervent priest. In a very short time he had won the aftections
of the large and rapidly increasing congregation. His labors were signally suc-
cessful. He gave careful attention to the improvement of the school which had
already a good beginning, and introduced the Brothers of the Holy Cross from
Notre Dame, Indiana, who were put in charge of the boys' dejiartment. The pas-
toral residence was completed, making it one of the finest in the city, and an
addition was put to the school building just doubling its former capacity, provid-
ing for four rooms for the boys and as many for the girls. The structure was com-
pleted in 1864 and has supplied the school needs of the parish to the present time.
The interior of the church was beautifully fre.scoed, the walls disphying lifesize
representations of the apostles, which are still preserved. A pipe organ and new
altars added much to the embellishment and attractiveness of the interior.
Father Fitzgerald's pastorate extended through the trying and exciting
times of the Civil War, and he very emphatically testified his unflinching loyalty to
the government by floating the Stars and Stripes from the most prominent tower
of the church. Under his auspices the Irish-Catholic military company — ^ the
Montgomery Guards — was organized. He fostered the organization with a feel-
ing of laudable pride, and encouraged them to be among the volunteers to off"er
their services when the first call was made for defenders of the flag. He was a
frequent visitor to Camp Chase, located west of the city, where he ministered to
the sick and dying, whether Union soldiers or Confederate prisoners. In 1862-65,
the Sisters of the Poor of St. Franciis were struggling in the establishment of the
hospital which bears the name of their saint. Father Fitzgerald cooperated with
Father Hemsteger, pastor of the German Church, in assisting these selfsacrificing
Sisters in their great work of charity, and the result is known today by all our
citizens in the grand ho8i>ital which has done so much for suff'eriDg humanity.
It was owing to Father Fitzgerald's individual exertions, too, that the Sisters of
the Good Shepherd secured a permanent and beautiful convent home for their
charitable work in Columbus.
The present imposing Cathedral was the outgrowth of plans first devised by
the pastor of St. Patrick's, who wished to meet the demauds of increasing num-
bers of Catholics in the more central portion of the city. It had long been ])re-
dicted that Columbus would be a Bishop's see and thus it was anticipated that
the new church should become a Cathedral. Father Fitzgerald bent all his ener-
gies towards its erection. Having purchased the grounds on favorable terms and
proceeded with the ibundation, tiie cornerstone was laid in the fall of 1866.
Further jjarticulars of this event will be given in the historical sketch of St.
Joseph's Cathedral. But Father Fitzgerald was not destined to realize his hopes.
The hardworking and popular pastor found favor in the eyes of his ecclesiastical
superiors, who, appreciating also his deep learning and piety, called him to a
membership in the hierarchy of the Church in America. In December, 1866,
Pope Pius IX named Father Fitzgerald as Bishop of the see of Little Rock,
Arkansas. St. Patrick's congregation felt that they were about to sustain a great
lo.ss, though they rejoiced in seeing their pastor so much honored. Petitions
were circulated to have him retained in the city, which was about to become a
Bishop's seat. But their importunities were of no avail, and on Februarj^ 3, 1867,
Father Fitzgerald was consecrated Bishop of Little Rock by Most Reverend
Catholic. 645
Archbishop Purcell, assisted by Bishop Lynch, of Toronto, and Bisho]> Rosocrans
of Cincinnati. The sermon was preached by Rev. Patrick J. Ryan, now the
illustrious Archbishop of Philadelphia. The beautiful and impressive ceremony
of consecration was witnessed for the first time in Columbus by a vast congrega-
tion of people from the city and neighboring towns which filled all available space
in St. Patrick's Church and completely surrounded the sacred edifice during the
entire function. The young Bishop in taking leave of his flock, to whom he had
ministered for ten j-ears, was made the recipient of many testimonials of their
affectionate regard, and the citizens of Columbus, without regard to creed, joined
in expressing regrets at his departure. During the years of his pastoral charge.
Father Fitzgerald, or " Father Edward," as he was familiarly called, was assisted
by the following priests in succession: Rev. J. Coppinger, 1861-2; Rev. John B.
Murray, 1863-5; Rev. Joseph Fitzgerald, his brother, 1865 6; Rev. F. C. Mallon,
1866-7.
When Bishop Fitzgerald was leaving the city, in February, 1867, the diocese
of Columbus liad not vet been formally erected by Rome, though it was definitely
settled that this city should be a Bishop's see. The preliminary step in this direc-
tion was taken when Right Rev. Sylvester Horton Rosecrans, D. D., was transferred
to Columbus as pastor" of St. Patrick's, succeeding Father Fitzgerald. Doctor
Rosecrans was consecrated in 1862 as Bishop of Pompeiopolis, a forsaken see in
possession of infidels, to act as auxiliary Bishop of Cincinnati. He arrived in Col-
umbus February 28, 1867, and announced that he came simply as pastor of St.
Patrick's Church under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Cincinnati. The
Bishop continued to act in this capacity for over one year.
Diocese of Columbus.— In July, 1868, the Apostolic Letters creating the diocese
of Columbus were received by the Archbishop of Cincinnati. They prescribed
the boundaries and extent of the new diocese as follows: The territory of the
Archdiocese of Cincinnati is divided in such wise that the part of the State of Ohio
which lies between the Ohio River on the east and the Scioto River on the west,
with the addition of the counties of Franklin, Delaware and Morrow as far up as
the southern limits of Cleveland diocese, shall belong to the new division ; and the
rest of the State south of Cleveland diocese, including Union, Marion and Hardin
counties, remain in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. We will also that the see of the
new Cathedral be fixed in the city of Columbus and its diocese be called Colum-
.bonsis, and possess all the honors, rights and privileges which other Episcopal
sees possess and enjoy. These letters were dated at Rome, March 3, 1868, and
named Right Rev. S. H. Rosecrans as first Bishop of the new diocese.
Bishop Rosecrans remained at St. Patrick's as pastor, and with that church
as the pro-Cathedral, while St. Joseph's Churcii, now determined upon as the Cathe-
dral, was in process of construction. He was assisted in 1867-8 by Rev. George H.
Ahrens, Chancellor, and upon the latter's removal to Holy Cross, Rev. P. J. Daily
and Rev. F. Gouesse became assistants in 1868-9. During 1869 Rev. N. A. Galla-
gher, Rev. J. McPhilips and Rev. J. A. Rotchford, O. P., were also stationed at St.
Patrick's, attending parochial duties. Father Gallagher remained until the fall
of 1871, when he became President of St. Aloysius Seminary, just established on
the West Side, as a diocesan institution for the preparation of young men for the
priesthood. Father Rotchford continued to assist until 1872. Father Gallagher
was succeeded as assistant by Rev. Jeremiah A. Murray and later by Rev. William
T. Hawe.
In the meantime work on the Cathedral had progressed to such a stage that it
was ready for occupancy in December, 1872. Rev. Father Murray was then
appointed pastor of St. Patrick's. In 1873 Rev. J. A. Casella succeed Father Mur-
ray in the pastorate, having for assistants Rev. Henry Anderson in 1873, Rev.
Killian Coll, Rev. J. F. Bouiger and Rev. J. B. Schmitt in 1874. During the tern-
646 lIlSTuKY OF TEE ClTV OF CoLCMBL'S.
porary absence of Father Casella in 1874, Fathe Sfebmkt soliciloil funds and pur-
chased therewith the sweet-soundiug bell tliat now swings in the tower, the old
bell having become worthless by cracking. Rev. H. J. McDcvilt and Rev. Joseph
M. Toohey were assistants in 1875 and 1876, respectively. In July, 1876, Rev.
Father Casella returned to his native France to remain, and Very Eov. N. A.
Gallagher became pastor, the Seminary over which he presided having closed for
want of funds. Father Gallagher was assisted by Eev. J. M. Toohey and Rev. R.
J. Fitzgerald.
By this time obi St. Patrick's began to show the ravages of time and Father
Gallagher determined ujton making muchneeded repairs and improvements. In
the spring of 1877 the work of renovation began. The walls, which had begun to
weaken, were strengthened by buttresses, a wellhraced slate roof took the place of
the shingle one ; new staitied-glass windows with remodeled frames were put in,
and the whole interior was beautified. The contractors for these improvements
were John I). Clarke and Charles Wolfel. On Sunday, December 23, the building
was ready for rededication. The ceremony was performed by Right Rev. Bi.'^hop
Rosecrans, assisted by the pastor, Rev. M. M. Meara, Eev. E J. Fitzgerald, Eev.
T. J. Lane, and Seminarians. After the dedicatory ceremonies Solemn High
Mass, in the ])i-esence of the Bishop vested in Cope and Mitre, was celebrated hy
Very Rev. N. A. Gallagher, with Rev. T. J. Lane as deacon, Mr. L. W. Mulbaiie
subdeacon and Mr. John McGirk as master of ceremonies. Fathers Meara and
Fitzgerald assisted at the throne The Eight Eev. Bishop preached on the duty of
supporting the church and referred to the hardships and struggles of the early
Catholics in erecting this House of God. In the afternoon Bishop Toebbe, of Cov-
ington, Kentucky, who had officiated in the morning at a similar ceremony at
Holy Cross Church, sang Pontifical Vespers, assisted by the same clergymen who
were present at the morning services. The good Bishop spoke of the glorious day
just closing for Columbus Catholics — the dedication of two Churches. He paid a
fine tribute to St. Patrick and his children. Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
closed the day's exercises. The following societies were present in regalia:
Knights of the Bed Cross, St. Jo.seph's Benevolent Society, St. Patrick's Total
Abstinence Society and the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
Upon the death of Bishop Rosecrans in October, 1878, Father Gallagher
was appointed administrator of the diocese by the Most Eev. Archbishop of Cin-
cinnati. As soon as Eome had confirmed the .appointment, the administrator
entered upon his duties and to do so more advantageously took up his residence at
the Cathedral, leaving Rev. John Madden in tempoi-ary charge at St. Patrick's.
Rev. J. E. McGirk was appointed assistant in 1879 and remained until 1882. In
August, 1880, Right Rev. J. A. Watterson was consecrated Bisho]!, surcreding the
late Bishop Rosecrans, thus relieving Father Gallagher as adinini^irator, who
again assumed direct pastoral charge of St. Patrick's'Church, with' Fathers Mad-
den and McGirk as assistants. But other and higher honors awaited Father Gal-
lagher. Soon after Bishop Watterson's consecration, he was appointed Vicar-
General, which office he held onl}' a little over a year, when Pope Leo XIII named
him Bishop Administrator of the Diocese of Galveston, Texas, in December, 1881.
Thus was another faithful pastor called from St. Patrick's to receive the mitre.
For some months in 1882 Eev. T. F. Delaney was in temporary charge of the
congregation, and in the latter part of that year Eev. A. O. Walker was made pas-
tor. During Father Delauey's time the interior of the church underwent many
marked improvements under his supervision. The walls and ceilings were newly
painted in beautiful designs and with handsome representations of the jiiitrdii
Saints of the Church. During Father Walker's incumbency he was a]i])(iiiiti-.|
Vicar-General and continued pastor with Father Delaney as assistant until 18S5.
In the summer of 1885 the ])arish was given in charge to the Dominican Fathers
with Rev. P. C. Coll, O. P., as pastor, assisted- by Fathers McManus and Spencer.
Father Coll in 1886 had steam-heating apparatus put into the church and school.
Father Hugh Lilly, O. P., succeeded, Father Coll in the pastoi-ate in the fall of
1886 and continued in that position until May, 1888, when Father McManus, O. P.,
the present pastor, was appointed, Father Lilly being transferred to New York.
Father McManus has been assisted by the following priests in succession : Rev.
Fathers De Cantillon, Edelen, Leonard, Brewer, Towle, McGovern, Logan, Dunn,
Carr and O'Leary. Besides attending the parish of St. Patrick's these same
Dominican Fathers have, since 1886, ministered to the spiritual needs of the Cath-
olic prisoners in the Ohio Penitentiary and the patients of St. Francis's Hospital.
Besides many improvements in church and school, Father McManus has this year
purchased a magnificent new pipe organ.
St. 2Iary's Church.— lUhe division of Holy Cross congregation by the forma-
tion of St. Patrick's congregation in 1851 left ample accommodation for increasing
membership in the former for many years thereafter. As early, however, as 1863,
the Gerriian Catholics of the extreme southern portion of the city began agitating
foi- a church of their own, as Holy Cross was becoming crowded and was at an
inconvenient distance. With this object in view the present site of St. Mary's
Church was purchased in 1863, under the direction of the pastor of Holy Cross,
Rev. Father Hemsteger, and a committee selected for the purpose, consisting of
Louis Zettler, Peter Hinterschitt, John Ranft, Frederick Weber, Frank Wagner,
Peter Boehm and Cornelius Lang. Rev. Francis X. Specht, who came to the city
as an assistant at Holy Cross in March, 1864, became identified with the move-
ment to build a church and schoolhouse, and under his supervision the school was
first ejected at a cost of $9,000. It was ready for occupancy in 1865. Early in
1866, the church was commenced and in August of that year the cornerstone was
laid by Most Rev. Archbishop Purcell, assisted by Bishop Young and a large num-
ber of clergymen. During 1867 the edifice was enclosed, and in the following
year it was ready for dedication. On November 30, 1868, Right Rev. Bishop
Eosecrans solemnly dedicated the church to Almighty God, under the invocation
of St. Mary. Many priests were present at the ceremonies, and societies from the
city and neighboring towns gave a street parade. Bishop Rosecrans preached the
sermon. The church, which is of Gothic design, 62J feet wide, 140 feet in depth,
75 feet in height — 60 feet clear — is constructed with all the conveniences
found in Catholic churches, in a substantial and workmanlike manner. The walls
and ceilini; were richly frescoed and a main altar 45 feet high and 20 feet wide, of
Gothic design and finish and costing S2,500, was erected. An' elegant pulpit and
confessional of the same material, white walnut, were purchased at a cost of $1,170.
There is a seating capacity of about 1,000.
In March, preceding the church's dedication, Father Specht was duly
appointed its pastor by Bishop Rosecrans; he has continued in that position to
the present time, August, 1892 much to the satisfaction and happiness of the very
large congregation. A chime of three bells, costing $2,200, was hung in the tower
in 1870. A priest's residence, costing $6,000, was built in 1872, and a house for the
Sisters of St. Francis, who, in 1875, succeeded the Sisters of Notre Dame in charge
of the schools, was completed that year. A grand pipe organ was purchased from
a local builder in November, 1875, and was pronounced the best in the city at
that time. To meet the requirements of the congregation's steady growth it was
necessary to erect an additional schoolhouse in' 1887, thus providing ample accom-
modations for the children for some years to come.
March 12, 1889, was a glorious holiday for the people of St. Mary's parish, for
on that day their beloved pastor reached the silvery year of his priesthood. His
friends among the clergy and laity Joined in extending congratulations and
bestowing substantial testimonials of their regard. Though Father Specht has not
(348 History hf the City of Columisus
of late years been alone in his labors, being assisted by Rev. Father B. Horney
for some time past, still the burden of the large parish is cheerfully borne by him,
and in his labors in our city he has won the hearts of a host of friends and the
respect of all who have ever had the pleasure of his acquaintance. Upon the
retirement of Very Eev. Father Walker to the Dominican Monastery, and his con
sequent resignation of the office of Vicar-General of the diocese in 1885, the
Bishop appointed Father Specht to succeed him. In 1890 new stained-glass win-
dows were put into the church, adding^much to its interior appearance.
St. Joseph's Cathedral. — Causes similar to those which brought about a divi-
sion of Holy Cross congregation and the formation of that of St. Mary's con-
spired to produce the organization of a cathedral congregation, namely: Lack of
accommodations in the old church and a desire for a tiew one more centrall}'
located. In the summer of 1866 the matter assumed a definite and positive form,
and Rev. Edward M. Fitzgerald, then pastor of St. Patrick's, inaugurated
measures looking to the erection of a new church. Father Fitzgerald was greatly
encouraged by the generous subscriptions made, aggregating nearly $37,000 from
about 250 donors. From the more influential members of the congregation was
chosen a building committee, among the members of which were John Conahan,
Theodore Leonard, treasurer, John Joyce, John D. Clarke, Thomas Bergin,
William Naghten, secretary, John Caren, Michael Harding, William Wall, James
Naughton, William Riches, John McCabe, Michael Hartman, John Duffy, Martin
Whalen, Bernard NcNally and Michael Galvin.
These gentlemen heartily cooperated with their pastor in his efforts, and
under his direction labored commendably in procuring the necessary means to
assure a successful issue to the undeilaking. A subcommittee to act in concert
with Father Fitzgerald, was selected to examine and discuss favorable locations
for the church. Many eligible sites were proposed, but the prevailing desire was
to have the edifice erected on Broad Street, which was then assuming the beauti-
ful appearance which now makes it tlie pride of the city. Tiie present site of
the cathedral and the quarter square on the northwest corner of Broad and Fourth
streets were for some time considered, but the choice finally fell upon the lot first
named as the more advantageous, and through John Joyce land comprising two
lots with a total frontage of 120 feet on Broad Street and a depth of 200 feet on
Fifth Street was purchased of John Miller for S13,500. The deed was dated in
April, 1866. Mr. Miller afterwards donated the odd S500.
A beginning was thus made and a grand church that should be a monument
to the zeal and generosity of the Catholics of Columbus became an assured reality.
A large meeting of the men of St. Patrick's parish was held and di.scussed, among
other subjects, the name of the new church. The pastor left the choice to the
meeting, which, on motion of J. D. Clarke, adopted the name (vf St. Joseph.
Michael Harding, an architect who had been requested to prepare plans and speci-
fications, submitted them and they were adopted. They projected a church 193
feet long and 90 feet wide. These plans were somewhat modified as to the super-
structure as the work jjrogressed, but the ground plan remained unchaiige 1. Mr.
Harding staked out the foundation on June 6, 1866. and John McCabe, contractor,
immediately began the work of excavation, followed directly by John Stoddard
who had the contract for the masonry. Work continued on the foundation until
November, 1866, when everything was in readiness for the ceremony of corner-
stone laying, which took place on November 11. The Most Reverend Arch-
bishop Purcell and a large number of other distinguished prelates were expected
to be present on the occasion, but a previous appointment prevented the atten-
dance of the Archbishop and his place was sii]iplied by Right Rev. Doctor Rose-
crans, Auxiliary Bishop of Cincinnati.
Cathomc. 649
The day was beautiful but chilly. The procession of societies formed at St.
Patrick's at two o'clock p. m. with Captain William Eiches as chief marshal and
the following gentlemen as assistants : City Marshal Patrick Murphy, Thomas
Bergin, James Joyce, J. C. Nevill, Patrick Dunn, George Burke, John Howard,
William Naghten, John Caren. The procession moved in the following order :
Hemmerbach's Band, St. Joseph's Mutual Benevolent Society, St. Boniface's, St.
John's, St. Martin's, and St. Aloysius's societies of Holy Cross Church; subdeacon,
carrying processional cross accompanied by acolytes, twenty sanctuai-y boys in
cassock and surplice, carriages containing the bishop and clergy, Sodality
of the Blessed Virgin, Holy Angels' Society, the class of boys and girls who had
received First Communion and Confirmation in the forenoon of that day, St.
Patrick's Society from London, societies from Newark and Delaware, and finally
St. Patrick's Society of Columbus. The procession, displaying brilliant regalia
and beautiful banners, attracted large crowds of people as it moved to the site of
the new church by way of Seventh Street, now Grant Avenue, and Broad Street.
Arriving at the foundations, the societies formed a guard on the outer wall. The
windows of neighboring houses, the streets and every available portion of ground
for a considerable distance round about, were occupied by jjeople anxious to wit-
ness the ceremonies.
The stone was laid on the southeast corner of the building, at the intersec-
tion of Broad and Fifth streets, and in its cavity was placed the^ usual sealed tin-
box containing the name of the church, the names of the principal officers of the
National and State governments, copies of recent Columbus newspapers, the
names of the reigning Pope, Archbishop of Province, and pastor ; also the names
of the officiating Bishop and assistants and numerous other articles to serve as
mementos of the occasion. The bishop delivered an address from the temporary
])latform, and in eloquent and forcible language plead the divinity of the Catholic
Church.
At the conclusion of the sermon the Tf. Demi was sung, Hemmersbach's brass
band playing an accompaniment. The clergymen present were Eev. Father
O'Reilly, of Valparaiso, Indiana; Rev. John B.iVIurray, of Chillicothe ; Reverends
Louis Cartuyven and Daily, of Newark ; Rev. E. M. Fitzgerald, pastor of St. Pat-
rick's Church ; Reverends John B. Hemsteger and Francis X. S])echt, of Holy
Cross Church ; Rev. Father Hildebrand, Chaplain of St. Francis Hospital. Spe-
cial trains on different railways brought large delegations from adjoining towns,
the number in attendance being estimated at fully 6,000.
The cornerstone being laid the foundation walls were covered over for the
winter, the intention being to resume work on the building with the opening of
spring. In the meantime, however. Papal Bulls were received naming Father
Fitzgerald Bishop of Little Rock, Arkansas. He was consecrated in February,
1867, and was succeeded in the pastorate by Bishop Rosecrans, who in March,
1868, became the first Bishop of the new Diocese of Columbus. The Bishop
immediately determined to continue the work of building the new church which
was to be known as St. Joseph's Cathedral. Some changes were made in the plans
and it was decided to construct it of stone instead of brick, as originally contem-
plated. This necessitated firmer and deeper foundation walls in many places and
the old walls were torn down to build new ones in their places. Another change
made consisted in placing the tower and Baptistery in the southwest corner instead
of in the centre of the front. The original plan, however, was substantialv pre-
served.
The building is Gothic in architecture, and the outside finish is known as the
boasted ashlar, the chiseling of the stone relieving the dead appearance of a yel-
low stone wall. The stone, which possesses the property of hardening by expos-
ure to the air, was obtained principally from quarries in Licking and Fairfield
650 History of the City of Columbus.
counties. The dimensions of the building are ninetytwo feet fronting on Broad
Street and one hundred and eightyfive feet on Fifth Street. The outside walls are
fortytwo feet in height from the ground level and thirtyfour feet from the floor
line. The inside or clearstory walls have an altitude of seventy feet from the
ground and sixtytwo from the floor. The main walls are three "feet thick. The
clearstory walls, supported by arches, rest on clusters of Gothic columns, standing
on dressed limestone pedestals. Stone crosses surmount the outside walls at inter-
vals and give a decided relief to their otherwise dullness. The windows are cased
in freestone obtained in Pickaway County. The brackets are cut from Columbus
limestone and are about the only stone articles in the structure procured at home.
The seating capacity of the Cathedral is over two thousand. On Broad Street
there are three main entrances and on Fifth Street one. Entrance is gained to
the sacristies by a door at the rear on Fifth Street and froni the pastoral residence.
The arching of the windows and the supports of the clearstory carry out the direc-
tions of General W. S. Rosecrans, who, in the summer of 1870, spent some time
with hisbrother,the Eight Eeverend Bishop, assisting in the details of the construc-
tion. The windows, all donated, are of stained glass in beautiful designs. The
interior walla have only the sandstone finish, while the groined arches of the ceil-
ing harmonize with them, being penciled in imitation of a vaulted roof. When
the tower and spire shall have been completed they will attain a height of two
hundred and fifty feet. Rev. J. A. Murray, at the time pastor of St. Patrick's
Church, was of much service in the construction of the Cathedral. Being placed
in the position of general supervisor, he brought to bear upon the work the busi-
ness tact and shrewdness for which he was noted. He, more than anyone else,
carried out the plans and ideas of General Rosecrans, making only such changes
as were absolutely necessary in the course of construction. From 1870 until the
completion of the building Mr. Michael Fahey was the diligent superintendent.
In order to have the new congregation organized as well as to relieve the over-
crowded condition of the other churches that would contribute membership to the
cathedral, the Bishop decided to open a temporary chapel in a part of the city
convenient for mo.-st of the congregation. With this end in view Naughton Hall,
situated on the east side of High Street, between State and Town, was leased
early in 1870, for religious services until the cathedral should be in readiness.
The hall, after being arranged with altar, organ, seats and other furniture, had the
appearance of a comfortable little church with a seating capacity of over 500.
The bishop, assisted by Father J. A. Murray and other priests at St. Patrick's,
attended the chapel. The choir, a very good one, was under the direction of Mr.
M. Fahey, who has been connected with our Catholic choirs for more than thirty-
five years. A few months after its organization the cathedral chapel congregation,
as it was called, was placed under the care of Rev. J. F. Rotchford, O. P., whom
the bishop secured for a few years service, from the Dominican Fathers of New
York. In 1872, Father Rotchford was called by bis superiors to duties elsewhere
and the bishop, assisted by Rev. N. A. Gallagher, conducted the religious services
in the chapel until the occupancy of the Cathedral.
On Christmas Day, 1872, the Cathedral was in readiness for divine services
and Right Rev. Bishop Rosecrans had the happiness of celebrating Pontifical High
Mass for the first time in the grand and imposing structure. The Bishop was
assisted on tiiis occasion by many priests of the city. Though cold and disagree-
able the day, and quite uncomfortable within the edifice owing to some defects in
the steam fitting, a large congregation filled all the available space in the audito-
rium, remaining throughout the long and interesting service. Soon after the open-
ing of the cathedral a large and costly main altar was erected. It was built
mostly of marble donated by the late Cardinal McCloskey, from the quarries in
New York Slate where the handsome marble for the famous St. Patrick's Cathe-
Catholic. ■ 051
dial in New York City was obtained. The side altars were afterwards added.
They were of the same material.
The Right Rev. Bishop was liimself rector of the Cathedral, being assisted in
1873 by Rev. N. A. Gallagher and Rev. H. Anderson. As there was yet no resi-
dence for the BishoiJ and clergy at the Cathedral, they remained at St. Patrick's
rectory until, through the agency of Father Anderson, the Bishop purchased the
house of Joseph Gundersheimer on the south side of East Broad Street between
Sixth and Seventh. Generous subscriptions were taken up to pay for the new
pastoral residence and the furnishing thereof, and before ihe end of the year 1873
the clergy, with the Bishop, were comfortably located. But it was soon found to
be at an inconvenient distance from the Cathedral and the Bishop arranged for
the erection of a residence adjoining that structure. It was occupied by the
priests in 1875, the Bishop disposing of the former property and taking up his
own residence at the Sacred Heart Convent opened a few years previously at the
southeast corner of Broad and Seventh streets and conducted by the Dominican
Sisters. The following priests assisted the Bishop in the care of the largo congre-
gation : Rev N. A. Gallagher, present Bishop of Galveston, 1873 ; Rev. H. Ander-
son, 1873-1875; Rev. F.J. Campbell, 1873-1876; Rev. M. M. Meara, 18741882;
Rev. M. M. A. Hartnedy, 1875, and 1878-1879 ; Rev. J. Toohey, 1876 ; Rev. J. P.
Daly, 1870; Rev. J. A. Murray, 1876; Rev. J. Meara, 1877; Rev. G. H. Ahrens,
1877-1878; Rev. T. J. Lane, 1878; Rev. F. M. Woesman, 1878-1879.
Until the summer of 1878, the congregation used the Cathedral with its
interior in au unfinished condition, no plastering having yet been done. In May,
1878, John D. Clarke and Charles Nagel contracted as lowest bidders to erect a
scaffold and pat on a groined ceiling under direction of Rev. M. M. Meara. As
the Bishop witnessed the near completion of his grand Cathedral, he determined
to have it solemnly consecrated with all the pomp and ceremony of the Pontifical.
Acccii-dingly Sunday, October 20, 1878, was set as the day which should become
memorable in the history of the Diocese of Columbus, and preparations for the
consecration were made on a very elaborate scale. All the clergy of the diocese
were expected to assist at the sacred ceremonies and a large number of the hier-
archy of the United States accepted invitations to be present.
Consecration of the Cathedral. — The twentieth of October was an ideal autumn
day. The coolness of the advancing season was just sutflciently moderated by the
genial warmth of the bright sun to render the day all that could be desired for
the occasion so anxiously anticipated by thousands who came from far and near
to participate in it. The faultless arrangement of the committees having thcvai-i-
ous portions of the celebration in charge insured perfect success. The consecra-
tion ceremonies began at five o'clock in the morning and occupied nearlj- four
hours. The consecrator was Right Rev. Joseph Dwenger, of Fort Wayne, Indi-
ana ; Assistant Priest, Rev. J. B. Schmitt, Lancaster; First Deacon, Rev. G. H.
Ahrens; Second Deacon, Rev. H. B. Dues; Subdeacon, Rev. M. M. A. Hartnedy;
Chanters, Reverend J. B. Els, Rev. P. Kenmert ; Rev. F. Moitrier, Rev. P. Thurhei-
mer. Other offices were filled by seminarians and sanctuary boys. The beauti-
ful and interesting ceremony was carried out in its entirety under the direction of
Very Rev. N. A. Gallagher as Master of Ceremonies, assisted by Mr. L. W. Mul-
hane, now the Rector of St. Vincent de Paul's Church, Mount Vernon. The dec-
orations of the auditorium and the sanctuary were in keeping with the grand and
festive occasion and elicited the admiration of all.
At eleven o'clock the Pontifical High Mass was begun with the following
officers: Celebrant, Right Rev. Silas Chatard, Bishop of Vincennes, Indiana;
Assistant Priest, Rev. J. Donahoe; First Deacon of Honor, Rev. F. X. Specht;
Second Deacon of Honor, Rev. J. Jessing; Officiating Deacon, Rev. F. J. Camp-
bell; Officiating Subdeacon, Rev. D. B, Cull. The Most Reverend Archbishop
652 History of the City of Columbus.
Purcell, of Cincinnati, occupied tlie throne at the Gospel side, while Right
Reverend Bishop Rosecrans sat on another erected at the Epistle side. Right
Rev. Bishops Gilmore, of Cleveland, Toebbe of Covington, Dwenger of Fort
Wayne, Kain of Wheeling, and Spaulding of Peoria, assisted in the sanctuary, vested
in rotchet and cape. Seated within the sanctuary railing were about fifty priests.
After the first Gospel in the Mass had been sung, the Right Reverend Bishop of
Peoria ascended the pulpit and read from manuscript a very learned discourse on
Ceremonies and Symbols, in which he treated of their origin, nature and meaning
in religious rites. Immediately after Mass Bishop Rosecrans announced the hour
for Vespers in the evening and the funeral of the Vicar-General on Monday
morning. That good priest's body was then lying in state in Holy Cross Church.
The Bishop also stated that at his urgent solicitation the Archbishop would
address the people. The venerable prelate, "the Patriarch of the West," then
came forward to the sanctuary railing wearing his mitre and leaning on his
crozier. In a voice tremulous with emotion and from the weakness of his age,
nearly fourscore years, the Archbishop referred to the rapid progress of the
Catholic Church in Columbus, its beginning and growth in this city being coeval
with his labors in the priesthood. He heartily congratulated the Catholics of this
city upon the completion of the noble structure that had just been consecrated to
the service of God. This day is surely one that the Lord hath made. The build-
ing of a Cathedral that reflected so much glory upon the Catholics of Columbus
was one of the many admirable works that God had raised up Bishop Rosecrans
to accomplish. Who would have thought that so much could have been done in
so short a time? He referred to the fact that Bishop Rosecrans was born of
Protestant parents in Licking Countj' and raised, almost, among the people here.
The Archbishop sketched the early careers of the other Prelates present, stating
that he was acquainted with the father and grandfather of the celebrant of the
Mass, Bishop Chatard. The speaker contrasted the ceremonies of today with
those and the attending scenes of early times in Columbus, one occasion particu-
larly being recalled when he celebrated Mass in a place used as a saloon, down on
the banks of the Scioto, and the small apartment was so crowded that he begged
some of the people to go out lest he should smother. The case was entirely dif-
ferent today as the large and imposing building testified. The Archbishop con-
cluded his few remarks by urging Catholics to remain steadfast to that faith and
its practices which will bring them to their highest and best place of worship —
Heaven.
The musical portions of the Mass were rendered by a choir of fifty voices
selected from all the choirs of the city, with a few volunteer professionals under
the direction of Professor H. J. Nothnagel. The orchestral accompaniment had a
magnificent effect. It was the opinion of ail lovers of musical art that as a church
effort it was never equaled in the city. The Prelates were entertained at dinner
by the Right Reverend Bishop Rosecrans at Sacred Heart Convent. In the after-
noon a procession of the visiting and local Catholic societies took place. Forty-
four societies, accompanied by nine brass bands, were in line. It was the greatest
display that the Catholic societies ever made in Columbus, and the scene on Bast
Broad Street as the procession moved on that beautiful thoroughfare was such as
had never before been witnessed in Columbus. The handsome banners of gold,
silk and satin, worked with numerous elegant patterns, their glittering mountings
of gilded cross and golden cord and tassels, the many colored regalia of the dif-
ferent societies, the graceful plumes waving from burnished helmets, with here
and there at frequent intervals our national standard floating in the gentle
breeze, all conspired to present a spectacle which will long be remembered.
At the Citj' Hall tables were provided with generous refreshment for the vis-
iting multitudes. In the evening at half past seven o'clock Right Rev. Bishop
Catholic. 653
Chatard sang Pontifical Vespers and Ri<j;ht Kav. Bishop Kain, of Wheeling,
preached the sermon, taking for his sulijfii tliat most glorious of the prerogatives
of the church, the Bride of Christ, s|K'aking to tlie text : "Come with me and I
will show thee my spouse." It was cousidorud a masterly oration.
Bishop Boserratis ; his Life, Labors and Death. — The evening hymns of praise
and thanksgiving had not yet been intoned within the newly consecrated Tern
pie when alarming premonitions in the way of hemorrhages caused the Bishop,
on whom so many honors bad that day been bestowed, to retire to his private
apartments, whence ho was never to return. When the startling news ot Bishop
Rosecrans's death spread with lightning speed throughout the city and country oil
the evening of the day following that of his Cathedral's consecration, the feelings
which were everywhere aroused cannot be described. The Bishop had suffered
during the latter years of his life repeated hemorrhages from the stomach, but
each time the recurrence was attended with more alarming symptoms, and on
this occasion the severest of all. His condition during the day excited apprehen-
sions regarding his ability to endure so great a loss of blood, but when evening
came a violent hemorrhage completely prostrated him, and death seemed inevit-
able. The Bishop calmly prepared himself for the reception of the Sacraments of
Penance, Holy Eucharist and Extreme Unction, administered by Rev. J. B. Bis.
About the deathbed were gathered Rev. Fathers Eis, Gallagher and Lane, and
several of the Bishop's intimate friends amongst the laity, who had been sum-
moned by the reports of the Bishop's condition. When asked if ho had any last
requests to make or temporal affairs to be attended to he replied : — " My will is
made. All things, of course go to my successor, save any little personal articles
of mine, that the family may desire for mementos." At ten o'clock the death
agony began and in fifteen minutes the Bishop breathed his last. The manifesta-
tions of grief by the priests of the diocese who had learned to love Bishop Rose-
crans as a fiither, were everywhere visible. The Vicar-General had been buried
in the morning and now in the evening of the same day, the Bishop lay a corpse.
It was a sad moment for the diocese, and the priests and people experienced the
terrible bewilderment.
Arrangements for the funeral began. The prelates and clergy who had been
present at the Cathedral consecration tlie previous day and had departed from
the city, were summoned to return and attend the sad obsequies which would
take place on the following Friday, October 25. The festive decorations of the
Cathedral were replaced by the sombre black and purple of mourning, and the
remains of the beloved Bishop, that had rested since death in the beautiful little
chapel of the Convent, were, on Friday morning, tenderly borne to the Cathe-
dral, for the final services of the dead. At an early hour masses for the dead
were celebrated in the presence of the corpse by Bishops Dwenger, Foley,
Burgess, Chatard and Fitzgerald. At the Mass of the latter, the children of all
the Catholic schools were present. They were dismissed after viewing the corpse.
From early morning the Cathedral was jammed with people, and even in the
streets in front of the building large crowds waited anxiously to review the
remains. At half past nine o'clock the Office of the Dead was chanted in the
sanctuary by the Bishojis and priests, the Most Reverend Archbishop of Cincin-
nati presiding.
Immediately after the ofifice had been chanted. Solemn Pontifical Mass of
Requiem was commenced. Right Reverend Bishop Toebbe being Celebrant, Rev.
F. J. Pabisch, D. D., Assistant Priest, Rev. F. X. Specht Officiating Deacon, Rev.
D. B. Cull Officiating Subdeacou, Rev. J. B. Murray First Deacon of Honor, Rev.
M. M. Meara Second Deacon of Honor, Very Rev. JSI. A. Gallagher Master of
Ceremonies, and Mr. K. W. Mulhane Assistant Master of Ceremonies. Other
offices were performed by seminarians and sanctuary boys. The sombre color of
654 History of the City of Columbtts.
the vestments, the solemn dirge of the Requiem, the mournful trimmings of the
altar, the drapery of the entire building and more than all the presence of the
bodj' of the illustrious dead, guarded by the Knights of the Red Cross and of St.
George in their medieval costume, whilst the sanctuary contained the veneriible
Prelate of the West, Archbishop Purcell, seated on his throne, and eight Bishops in
the episcopal purple, all conspired to make a scene most solemn and impressive.
Mass being finished, the Right Rev. Bishop Foley, of Chicago, ascended the
pulpit and preached an able and touching sermon reviewing briefly the scenes
a;id anticipations of the previous Sunday, and commenting upon the life and
anxieties of a Bishoj) with special reference to the deceased Prelate and his
labors.
The sermon concluded, the Most Rev. Archbishop and Right Rev. Bishops
Toebbe, Fitzgerald, Gilmour, and Dwenger, receiving the black cope and mitre,
proceeded to give the last Absolutions, the Most Rev. Archbishop first performing
the ceremon}- and the others following successively. The remains were placed in
position to be viewed by the vast concourse of people anxiously waiting for that
privilege. Many however were sadly disappointed in not having an opportunity
of gazing for the last time on the countenance of their beloved Bishop. It was
fully half past one o'clock when the body was borne from the vestibule to the
vault which had been prepared under the sanctuary and directly beneath the
throne. The crowd was so dense that the Knights of St. George could only with
great difficulty clear the way and prevent a rush into the basement. OnU' a few
persons were admitted there, these being the clergy, the seminarians. Mother
Mary Agnes, the faithful attendant upon the Bishop; Mrs. Keep, several Sisters
from the Sacred Heart Convent; the Bishop's niece. Miss Mamie Rosecrans, and
her classmates dressed in white with black sashes and white garlands of flowers.
These, with two or three other persons whose service was necessary, were the
only ones who witnessed the blessing of the tomb performed by Rev. M. M.
Meara, and then all was over, and the mortal remains of Bishop Rosecrans
rested beneath the monument his hands had reared, there to await a glorious
resurrection.
Our historical sketches would be incomplete without at least a short biography
of the first Bishop of Columbus. The name Rosecrans, originally and etymologi-
cally Roseukrantz, literally signifies a garland of roses. It is also the word used
in German to designate the Rosary or Beads. As the name, then, indicates, the
ancestors of Bishop Rosecrans were Dutch. The family records show that they
came from Amsterdam and settled in Pennsylvania, in the neighborhood of Wilkes-
barre. In 1808, Crandall Rosecrans, father of the Bishop, came to Ohio and set-
tled in Delaware County but soon afterwards removed to Licking County. His
wife's name was Jemima Hopkins, a kinswoman of Stephen Hopkins, a signer of
the Declaration of Independence, and a daughter of a soldier in the War of Inde-
pendence. Although farming was the favorite and usual pursuit of Crandall Rose-
crans, his talent for engineering frequently led him to contract for the construc-
tion of public works. Thus the even tenor of his life went on, a strict observance
being made of the requirements of the Methodist persuasion, in who.se practice was
also raised a family of sons, the youngest being Sylvester Horton Rosecrans, the
subject of this sketch, born in Homer, Licking County, February 5, 1827. Homer
is a village of 250 inhabitants situated north of Newark and four miles from Utica.
Sylvester, when quite young, was placed by his father as a student at Kenj'on
College, Gambler, Knox County, Ohio. This institution has given several eminent
converts to the Catholic Church, among whom may be mentioned J. Kent Stone,
its former President, now a member of the Passionist Order. While the future
Bishop was studying at this seat of learning. General W. S. Rosecrans, an older
brother, graduated at West Point Military Academy and became a professor in
Catholic. 655
that institution. He was attracted to the Catholic faith and hecamo a convert to
it. Til is important step on the part of the General had an influence on the mind
ami heart of the j'oung Sj-lvester, who, after much thought and study, also
embraced the same faith. Some years afterwards both parents, who had been
Methodists, joined the Catholic Church and died in its fold. One year after his
baptism. Sylvester was placed by the General in the college of the Jesuit Fathers,
at Fordham, New York, where, in 1846, he graduated with distinguished honors.
Archbishop, then Bishop, Pureell, seeing every sign of a vocation to the priest-
iiood in the young man, sent him to Rome to prosecute his studies at the Propa-
ganda. At this famous school, where many hundreds from all parts of the world
are educated, he was known as a model student. He was the superior of all in
intellectual ability and application to study, yet he bore the honors that were
bestowed upon him with meekness and humility, prominent traits of his whole
life. He received the Doctor's degree in divinity at the end of a five years' course
and on the sixteenth of Julj', 1852, was ordained priest with over one hundred
others, among whom, as he often remarked with satisfaction, was a negro who
stood beside him. Doctor Roseerans, after making a tour of Ital}-, England, Ire-
land and France, returned to his diocese, and was appointed pastor of St. Thomas's
Church, Cincinnati. At the end of several months' pastoral duty, the Bishop,
desiring his able assistance at the Cathedral, made him one of the pastors of that
important congregation. For seven years Doctor Roseerans discharged sacerdotal
functions at the Cathedral, at the same time making daily trips to the Seminary
of Mount St. Mary's near the city, where he taught a class in theology. While
serving in this twofold capacity he employed his leisure time in contributing to
the editorial columns of the Catholic Telegraph. The fame of Doctor Roseerans
was spread throughout the country, but his characteristic modesty caused him to
shrink from public recognition of his merits. In 1859 the Archbishop opened a
college in connection with the Seminary and named Doctor Roseerans as its presi-
dent, which position he held until the beginning of the Civil War, when the insti-
tution was compelled to suspend. The learned doctor was now well worthy of
episcopal consecration, and the Archbishop desiring a Coadjutor, Pope Pius IX, at
the earnest request of the venerable Prelate and other admirers in the hierarchy
of the United States, nominated him as Bishop of Pomjieiopolis, in paiilhus infide-
lium, and Auxiliary Bishop of Cincinnati. He was consecrated by the Archbishop
in St. Peter's Cathedral, Cincinnati, March 25, 1862. For five years he labored
with zeal in all the works pertaining to the ofiice of a Bishop, rendering thus very
efficient aid in the government of the large and important diocese. While acting
in this capacity he laid the cornerstone of St. Joseph's Cathedral in this city.
The diocese of Cincinnati, which included nearly all the southern half of the
State, had grown in Catholic population and importance to such an extent that a
division of it was necessary to its better admini.stration. An occasion suitable as
a pi-eliminary step to such a division presented itself when Rev. Edward Fitzger-"
aid, of St. Patrick's Church, this city, was consecrated Bishop of Little Rock.
Bishop Roseerans was appointed to succeed Bishop Fitzgerald as pastor of St.
Patrick's Church, with the understanding that he was to be the first Bishop of Col-
umbus as soon as the Holy See should have approved of the division. The Bishop
arrived in the city February 28, 1867, the day following the departure of Bishop
Fitzgerald. He continued as simply the pastor of St. Patrick's until the arrival,
in July, 1868, of the Papal Letters erecting the new see and naming him as the
Bishop thereof, bearing date of March 3, 1868. He immediately entered upon the
work of organizing the diocese, having many discouraging difficulties to contend
with, but he conquered all by mildness, charity, generosity and determination.
The foundation walls of the new church which were covered over upon the depar-
ture of Bishop Fitzgerald, were taken up and reconstructed to better conform to
(556 History of the Citv op Columbos.
plans for a Catliedral. Besides the erection and completion of the Cathedral, the
material progress of the diocese in the building of churches, academies and schools
attested the work of the Bishop. His life was ever a busy one. In all his labors
as Bishop and pastor he found time to devote to teaching in St. Aloysius' Semin-
ary, Sacred Heart Convent, and St. Mary's of the Springs, and into this work he
brought his characteristic earnestness and love for children. As a preacher he
was inclined to be diffident, but his great simplicity, depth and originality of
thought were wonderful, while he always displayed a love of God and charity to
man that at once marked him as a true apostle. His memory will linger in the
minds of the Catholics of Columbus diocese for generations to come. His life in
Columbus was coeval with the building :ind finishing of his Cathedral, beginning
with its cornerstone and ending with its consecration.
On the death of Bishop Eosecrans, Archbishop Purcell, as the Metropolitan,
appointed Very Eev. N. A. Gallagher administrator of the diocese during the
vacancy. The appointment was afterwards confirmed by Rome. Father Galla-
gher, who was pastor of St. Patrick's Church, took up his residence at the Cathe-
dral in order to better direct the affairs of the diocese. Eev. M. M. Meara con-
tinued in the capacity of Eector of the Cathedral during the administration of
Father Gallagher, and was assisted in 1879 and 1880 by Eev. J. Kuehn, Eev. L.
W. Mulhane and Eev. F. M. Woesman. Eev. D. A. Clarke was also stationed at
the Cathedral from 1879 to 1884, not as assistant but as chaplain of the Catholic
prisoners in the Penitentiary, and to attend to the spiritual needs of the missions
attached to the Cathedral.
John Ambrose Wattersoii, D. D., Second Bishop of Columbus. — The diocese of
Columbus remained without a Bishop for over eighteen months, when finally
Eome named a successor to the lamented Eosecrans in the person of Eev. John
Ambrose Watterson, D. D., President of Mount St. Mary's Seminary, at Emmitts-
burg, Maryland. The Holy See made the appointment on March 15, 1880, but the
Papal Letters conveying the ofiicial information and necessary faculties were not
received until early in May. The Bishopelect shortly after assumed the govern-
ment of the diocese, as affairs of importance required almost immediate attention
by the exercise of jurisdiction not possessed by the Administrator. Very Eev.
Father Gallagher, who had labored faithfully- and untiringly in the office of
Administrator, had many difficulties to overcome but finally brought into almost
perfect system the temporal concerns of the diocese.
Doctor Watterson chose Sunday, August 8, 1880, as the day of his consecra-
tion. After spending a number of days in reti-eat and prayer at the Passion ist
Monastery of St. Paul, Pittsburgh, the Bishopelect was given a most heartfelt
reception by the Catholics of the city on his arrival od Wednesday, August 4, to
arrange for the solemn ceremonies of the ensuing Sunday. Never before was
there such a demonstration in honor of any ecclesiastical dignitary witnessed in
Columbus. The Bishopelect was escorted in a special car from Newark, by a
large delegation of priests and laymen, who had been several days arranging
the reception. At the depot dense throngs of people filled the immense building
and the space about the tracks in the immediate vicinity. A procession of all the
Catholic societies of the city, headed by a detail of police, marched to the music of
two brass bands and were followed by carriages containing Doctor Watterson and
Very Eev. Father Gallagher, committees of reception and arrangements and citi-
zens in general. The route of the procession up High Street and down Broad
Street was densely lined with people.
Arriving at the Cathedral doors, the Bishop was addressed by Mr. J. G. Gil-
more on behalf of the laity. The Bishop made a feeling and eloquent reply, where-
upon the doors of the sacred edifice were opened and a vast congregation filled
every available space. The hymn of praise and thanksgiving, " Holy God, we
Prai-so Th}- Naiiio," was sung b}- tlic choir as the procession of priests and llie
Bishop moved up the centre aisle. Within the sanctuary the Bishop was addressed
in words of cordial welcome to the diocese by the Very Rev. Administrator. Doc-
tor Watterson's response was characteristic of a minister of God, who felt the
responsibility ho was assuming on becoming a successor of the Apostles. His
words bespoke a fervent zeal for the honor of God and the salvation of souls. A
most favorable impression was made and all expressed admiration for the new
Bishop oC Columbus. The congregation was dismissed with the benediction of the
Bishop.
Preparations for the consecration of the Bishopelect on Sunday, August 8,
wore on a grand scale, and when the day for the great event dawned everything
was in perfect readiness for the imposing ceremonies. Societies from different
portions of the diocese and large delegations from various congregations accom-
panied by their pastors, who had provided early Masses for tlie people, arrived b}-
the morning trains and were escorted to their proper quarters. Nearly all the
priests of the diocese were ]ire-ont. Precisely at ten o'ci<irk- the imposing proces-
sion of Bishopsand jn'iests mnved from the pastoral resiiienro to (he front entrance
of the Cathedral, theme up the main aisle to the sanctuary where the celebrant
vested. The officiating ministers of the Mass and consecration were : Consecrat-
ing Bishop, Eight Rev. William H. Elder, Coadjutor Bishop of Cincinnati ; First
Assistant Consecrating Bishop, Right Rev. John G. MeCloskey, Louisville, Ken-
tucky; Second Assistant Consecrating Bishop, Right Rev. John M. Twigg, Pitts-
burgh ; Assistant Priest, Very Rev. Nicholas A. Gallagher, Columbus ; Deacons of
Honor, Rev. Francis X. Spccht, Columbus, and Rev. Nicholas E. Pilger, Delaware ;
Deacon of the Mass, Rev. Francis J. Campbell, Dennison ; Subdeacon of the Mass,
Rev. Richard J. Fitzgerald, Mcljuney ; First Master of Ceremonies, Rev. L. W.
Mulhane, Columbus ; Second Master of Ceremonies, Rev. John C. Goldschmidt,
Columbus; Third Master of Ceremonies, Rev. John McGirk, Columbus; Acolytes,
Messrs. Singleton and Cusack ; Thurifer, Mr. James Hartley; Bearer of Book
of Gospels, Rev. George J. Montag, Lancaster ; Chaplains to Bishopelect, Reverends
William F. Hayes and George H. Ahrens.
The following bishops were seated within the sanctuary rails during the
solemn functions: Most Reverend John B. Pureell, D. D., Archbishop of Cincin-
nati; Right Reverend Edward M. Fitzgerald, Bishop of Little Rock; Right Rev-
erend A. M. Toebbe, Bishop of Covington ; Right Reverend Silas F. Chatard,
Bishop of Indianapolis; Right Reverend Joseph Dwenger, Bishop of Fort Wayne.
Sixtyfive priests and a number of seminarians were present. The Mass and
ceremonies proceeded as far as the Gospel, when, after its singing. Bishop Fitz-
gerald ascended the pulpit and preached eloquently on the life, duties and respon-
sibilities of the priesthood and its complement, the episcopacy. Bishop Fitz-
gerald was formerly pastor of St. Patrick's Church and as such commenced the
foundation of the present Cathedral, as stated elsewhere in this historical sketch.
After the sermon, the sacred ceremonies continued in all their solemn character,
replete with beautiful significance and terminating with the installation of the
new Bishop at his throne.
In the afternoon a parade of the Catholic societies, local and visiting, took
place, the procession passing through the Cathedral and receiving the Bishop's
blessing. Bishop Watterson sang Pontifical Vespers in the evening and Bishop
Chatard preached learnedly and in a verj' interesting manner on The True
Church. Thus closed another memorable day in the annals of Catholicity in
Columbus.
On Sunday, August 15, one week from the day of his consecration, the Right
Reverend Bishop celebrated his first Pontifical High Mass at the Cathedral. He
(558 History of the City of Columbus.
was assisted in the sacred function by the following ministers: Assistant Piiest
Very Reverend N. A. Gallagher; Deacons of Honor, Rev. J. A. Zahra, C. S. C,
and Rev. D. A. Clarke; Deacon of the Mass, Rev. M. M. Meara ; Subdeacon of
the Mass, Rev. L. W. Mulliane; Master of Ceremonies, Mr. .Tames Hartley.
Father Gallagher preached the sermon.
Sketch of Bishop Wattersoti. — John Ambrose Wattorson, second Bishop of
Columbus, was born in Blairsville, Indiana County, Penn.sylvania, May 27, 1844,
and was the sixth child of John A. Watterson and Mary A. McAfee Watterson.
The father was engaged in the drygoods business and was possessed of consider-
able real estate, which, however, would not rank him among those considered well
off in the possessions of this world.
The children were given the advantage afforded them by the parochial school
attached to the church of Saints Simon and Jude, then under the pastoral care of
Rev. J. A. Stellinger, a most faithful priest, now many years deceased. It was at
tliis school of his native place that the future Bishop at an early age entered upon
the primary course of instruction that was destined to lead him up to the Altar of
God, and amongst the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in America. In his hum-
ble and happy home, about which shone the influence of pious and edifying par-
ents, the youthful John Ambrose experienced promptings of a grace that urged
him to become a Levite to serve God in the sanctuaiy of His Church. The signs
of a vocation to the priesthood were so decided that his good father and mother,
with the approbation, and recommendation of his pastor, and Right Reverend
Michael O'Connor, then Bishop of Pittsburgh, sent him to St. Vincent's College,
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, under the direction of the Benedictine
Fathers. Here, in an atmosphere of religious life, amid inducements to forsake
the world and its dangers and spend one's j'ears in the seclusion of a monastery,
the student was well tried in his vocation to the secular priesthood. Four years
of the discipline and study required at this seat of learning laid the foundations
for the exact student life that the young candidate for priestly honors is expected
to lead in order to become well versed in the science of sacred things. At the age
of seventeen he was well prepared to enter the advanced classes in that noted semi-
nary, Mount St. Marj-'s, Emmittsburg, Maryland, whence have gone forth so many
scholars in various walks of life. Particularly has this institution been noted for
the number of her sons who have worn the purple of the episcopacy. Step by
step was the young student led up to the realization of his hopes and aspirations^
The proud day of graduation came, and crowned with the honors that an idma
mater loves to bestow upon worthj- sons, he received the academic degree of
Bachelor of Arts. Before him yet lay the broad fields of the sacred sciences.
These must he traverse ere he attain his heart's desire. The theological and
accompanying studies engaged the earnest attention of the brilliant college gradu-
ate, until he was adjudged bj- the seminary faculty to be worthy of the crown of
priesthood, which he received at the hands of Right Rev. Doctor Dominic, Bishop
of Pittsburgh, of whom Father Watterson was a subject. The ordination took
place amid the scenes of early college life at St. Vincent's Abbey, August 9, 1868.
Soon after his ordination, the faculty of Mount St. Maiy's, who had knowledge of
his brilliant attainments, offered the young priest a position as professor in the
college, which, with the consent of his Bishop, he accepted. Moral theology and
sacred scriptures were the subjects which engaged his attention while employed
as a professor.
Rev. John McCloskej', D. D., President of the College, having resigned that
office. Father Watterson was selected in September, 1868, by the unanimous vote
of the Board of Trustees to succeed that learned and much respected officer.
Placed at the head of the oldest Catholic college in the United States, an institu-
tion, too, with a prestige most distinguished on account of the eminent ability of
Catholic. 659
ils alumni aud the fame of its founder, Most Rev. i>n,i,.r ('an-oli, of Baltimore, the
first American Bishop and a brother to Cliarles ('aii(iil, ot Carrollton, a signer of
the Declaration of Independence, Father Watlerson hfcanio known and respected
throughout tiie country. Iti appreciation of his learning and position of honor, the
faculty of Georgetown, D. C, University, at the annual commencement on June 24,
1869, conferred upon the _youlhful president the degree of Doctor of Divinity. It
was during his incumbency of the office of President that Doctor Watterson was
called by Pope Leo XIII to the Bishopric of Columbus in March, 1880. Prom that
time on the Bishop's life has been identified with the history of the Columbus dio-
cese, and everywhere wo find evidences of the progress, spiritual and material, that
characterize the reign of a devoted Bishop. The burden of a heavy debt was
placed upon the young Bishop's shoulders, and he immediate!)' inaugurated plans
to lessen it. The diocese was I'eorganizcd and business methods were introduced,
as required by the constantly increasing Catholic population.
A few mouths after his consecration the Bishop appointed Very Eeverend
N. A. Gallagher his Vicar General, and Rev. L. W. Mulhane Secretary. In
December, 1881, Father Gallagher was appointed Bishop to rule the see of Gal-
veston, Texas, in matters spiritual and temporal. The appointment was hailed
with great delight by everj-body. In April following his appointment, Father
Gallagher left the city to take charge of his diocese and in the following October
was succeeded in the office of Vicar-General by Rev. A. 0. Walker, who had pre-
viousl}' been placed as pastor of St. Patrick's Church, a position also held by the
Bishopelect.
Rev. M. M. Meara,who had been some years rector of the Cathedral, was, in April,
1882, transferred to the pastoral charge of the church of St. Joseph, Circleville,
and Rev. R. J. Fitzgerald, of McLuney, was made rector of ti\e Cathedral, assisted
bv Rev. L. W. Mulhane and Rev. J. P. White, the latter remaining at the Cathe-
dral until the fall of 1890. Rev. T. J. O'Reilly succeeded Father Mulhane as
Bishop's secretary in 1885, Father Mulhane being placed by the Bishop in charge
of St. Vincent's Church, Mount Vernon. Rev. J. McDermott, 1887-89, and Rev.
J. Cahalan, 1887-88, also assisted at the Cathedral. Father Fitzgerald was
appointed pastor of St. John's Church, Bellair, in 1888, and from that date to the
present writing, September, 1892, the Right Rev. Bishop has retained the title of
Rector himself, having Rev. James P. White 1890, Rev. Charles Mulhane 1889-93,
Rev. J. Weigand 1890, Rev. John S. Cawley 1890-92, and Rev. J. Mahoney 1890-92
as assistants. In September, 1889, Rev. Father O'Reilly was given the task of
organizing the new parish of St. Dominic, this citj', and Father Mahoney succeeded
him sometime later in the office of Bishop's secretary.
During the past ten years besides directing improvements of the diocese in
general, the Bishop has done much for the good of the Cathedral property and the
beauty of the building. On December 31, St. Sylvester's Day, patronal feast of
the late Bishop Ro.secrans, he blessed with all the solemnity of the ritual a large
sweettoncd bell for the tower of the Cathedral. At the time it was hung this bell
was the largest one in Ohio, its weight being over six thousand pounds. On
April 7, 1886, the Bishop purchased his present residence, thus completing the
halfblock on Broad Street and acquiring for the Cathedral a most valuable prop-
erty. The priests attached to the Cathedral remain at the old residence now on
the same premises, which afford commodious grounds. A lot immediately in rear
of the Cathedral, but across the alley therefrom, was bought in March, 1889, as a
prospective site for a school. A new pipe organ of grand compass and propor-
tions was built in 1889, taking the place of one that had long survived its useful-
ness. Within the last two years the interior of the Cathedral has been renovated
and further embellished by the adtlition of two handsome side altars, donations of
members of the congregation. A costly set of Stations of the Cross relieve the
6(in History of the City op Columbus.
cold, dull appcarnnec of the bare stone wails. Lifosized statues Irotn famous
ateliers in Europe are placed about the altars. The Bishop has also added a large
number of elegant vestments, rich ornaments for the altar, and many articles
required in the exact performance of solemn ceremonies.
In October, 1886, Bishop Wattcrson made a visit to Eome, to com|)ly with the
obligations a Bishop is under, to make decennial reports in person to the Holy
Father, stating the condition and needs of the Church within his jurisdiction.
The Bishop remained abroad until the summer of the following year, making a
tour of the Holy Land and visiting places of interest and famous shrines of
devotion.
Sacred Heart Church. — About the year 1852-53, when Columbus was yet
under the spiritual jurisdiction of Eight Reverend Bishop Purcell, afterwards
Archbishop of Cincinnati, William Phelan, of L:ineaster, Ohio, willed to the
diocese four acres of ground, the present site of Sacred Heart Church. The tract
of land forms a square bounded by Summit Street, First Avenue, Second
Avenue and College Street. In order to fulfil a condition in the will the land was
successively offered by the Archbishop to several religious communities for the
erection thereon of a charitable institution, but on account of its being outside
the city limits at the time, the offer was rejected by all. Situated in what is
called the Mount Pleasant Addition to the city, it came into the cor|")rati(in with
that addition and in 1875 was in the midst of a rapidly growing Catholic |Mi|]uhi-
tion which was seeking homes north of the Union Station. It was dctcrniiiied
by Bishop Eosecrans, trustee of the property, with the consent of the heirs at law,
to erect a school building which would serve also as a church. Accordingly, on
May 27, 1875, the Bishop commissioned Eev. John B. Eis, who had been assist-
ing at Holy Cross Church, to erect a suitable building for the accommodation of
the new congregation. After consulting with the Bishop and several of the best
business men of the city, Father Eis concluded to build a school with a large hall
to be used as a church, and with room to accommodate the Sisters who were to
teach. The contract for the building was made August 2, 1875, with John
Harding. The cornerstone was laid on Sunday, September 5, by Right Reverend
Doctor Eosecrans in the presence of an immense crowd of people. A parade of
Catholic societies took place. The Bishop addressed the assemblage a few words.
The structure was completed in the spring of 1876, and on Easter Sunday, April
16, Mass was celebrated in it for the first time, Eight Eeverend Bishop Eosecrans
performing the dedication. Only small congregations were present at the two
Masses. The school was opened the following Monday with eightythree children,
. divided into three rooms. Before the end of the term, that is, in three months,
the number of pupils had increased to 250. After the first vacation the school
commenced with 305 pupils in charge of five teachers. From that time it steadily
increased until at present there are over 600 children in attendance, with eighteen
Sisters in charge.
The continual and rapid increase in the congregation demanded a correspond-
ing increase in accommodations. Several additions were accordingly made to the
original building from time to time. In 1877 a pastoral residence was added on
the south side, and in 1886 a convent for the Sisters was built on the north end.
Finished as it is now, the building is over 175 feet long and about; 80 feet wide.
It is two stories high with basement and garret; the main hall used for church
purposes occupies the second story. There are 65 rooms and all apartments are
heated by hot water. The cost has been about $60,000. The crowded condition
of the schools has rendei-ed another addition necessary and at present writing it is
about ready for occupanc3^ Several priests acted temporarily as assistants to
Father Eis in the care of this large and important congregation. Not, however,
until March, 1890, was a regular assistant named and appointed by the Bishop
Gathulic. tJUl
who, ul tlnit liiiio, seut tho lievercnd Hugli Ewing. Fiither Ewiiig eoiUiiiuos in
the position to the present time. During sixteen years of its existence there were
1,423 persons baptized at the church, while 435 were buried from it, showing thus
a gain of nearly one thousand souls by natural increase. One hundred and
ninotj'oight couples were married during the same period. The number of Yearly
Communions increased from 2,430 in 1876 to 12,300 in 1891. Since the founda-
tion of the church, fifteen young ladies of the congregation joined different religi-
ous communities to devote their lives to works of charity and to Christian educa-
tion. There are a number of societies of men, women and children connected
with the church, the number of members in the aggregate being 400. Father Bis
has plans for a grand church edifice to be erected when funds at his command will
justify the undertaking of such a task. The congregation is composed principally
of English-speaking Catholics, but there is a large proportion of French and Ger-
man, and to these Father Eis addresses himself with equal ease in their own lan-
guage.
^ Hohj Family Church.— This church is situated in the oldest portion of the
city, known as Franklinton, in the early days of Columbus the seat of justice of
Franklin County. It now forms the West Side. The Catholic population of this '
seciion, however, consisted of onlj' a few families and, for a short time, a small
number of laborers engaged in constructing the National Eoad, now known as
West Broad Street. Mass was occasionally said by missionaries, as stated in the
beginning of this historical sketch, at the residences of one or other of the Cath-
olic settlers. The new and growing city of Columbus on the opposite bank of
the Scioto attracted those who camo to make their home in this vicinilj', and
naturally the Catholics found it more convenient to locate their first churches
there to serve the greater number.
The Sisters of the Good Shepherd had, in 1865, founded a convent on the
Sullivant property, southwest corner of Sandusky and Broad streets, and here
the Catholic services were regularly held, intended only for the members of the
community. The few Catholic fiamilies in the immediate vicinity enjoyed the
especial jirivilege of assisting at Mass in the private chapel on Sundays and
Holy Days of obligation, but for the regular services of a priest they were com-
pelled to a])ply to some one of the churches in the city to which they were sup-
posed to be attached. In 1871 a diocesan ecclesiastical seminary for the prepara
tion of young men for the priesthood was opened in property, also belonging to
the Sullivant family, opposite the site of the Convent of the Good Shepherd In
the chapel of the seminary daily Mass was offered, but this was exclusively for
the inmates, yet it is another indication that Catholicity was steadily on the
increase in this portion of the city. In a few years therefore we find preparations
making for the formation of a congregation who were eager for a church and
pastor of their own. The Sisters of St. Joseph, from Ebensburg, Pennsylvania,
at the earnest solicitation of Bishop Eosecrans, took possession of the -seminary
property in the spring of 1877, it having been found necessary to close the semi-
nary the summer preceding. The Sisters opened a day and boarding school for
young boys, and Reverend R. C. Christy, also of Ebensburg, who had lately been
received into the diocese, was appointed by Bishop Rosecrans in April, 1877, as
chaplain of the Sisters of St. Joseph and of the Convent of the Good Shepherd.
It was while serving in this capacity that Father Christy recognized the necessity
of a church for the increasing numbers of Catholics. A building on the premises
of the seminary was neatly fitted up to serve as a temporary chapel to accommo-
date the young congregation. For two months divine services were conducted in
this humble structure that had been formerly used as a barn, but the devout peo-
ple who remembered that the first chapel in which the Redeemer of mankind was
worshiped was also a cold, bleak stable occupied by the dumb brutes, were happy
C62 lllSTOKV OF THE OlTY llF CuMJMHUS.
iu their altendaiico here. Father Christy, who liad served ihroiig-h tiie C!ivil
War as a chaplain in the Army of the Cumberland, had tlie courage, energy and
ambition of a soldier, and determinedly overcame many difficulties that beset his
way in the organization of a parish.
After much trouble and negotiation the zealous pastor obtained possession of
the church formerly used by the United Brethren, situated on the corner of San-
dusky and Shepherd streets, adjoining the Seminary. A contract was entered
into for the purchase of the church but the legal transfer was never made owing
to a defect in the title, causing the property to remain in litigation for some 3-ear8.
In a short time Father Christy had the church remo leled and arranged according
to the requirements of a Catholic place of worship, and on Friday, June 8-, 1877,
blessed the church under the invocation of the Holy Family, and celebrated High
Mass in it for the first time. The following clergymen of the cit}- were present:
Very Eeverend J. B. Henisteger, V. G.; Eev. G.' H. Ahrens, Rev. F. X. Specht,
Eev. J. A. Maroney, Rev. J. C. Goldschmidt, Eev. P. M. Heery and Eev. C. Rhode.
The choir of Holy Cross Church furnished the music as a fitting tribute of the
oldest Catholic Church in the city to the youngest. In compliment to Father
Christy, who was a very warm friend of the officers of the United States Garrison,
the military ba<id stationed there discoursed appropriate music beft)re and after
the services.
Father Christy labored zealously and soon formed a large congregation, with
a school under the direction of the Sisters of St. Joseph. Failing health, however,
soon began to warn him that his labors were not to continue long, and after one
year's service as jiastor he was compelled to resign and seek treatment and care in
St. Francis Hospital, where he died October 16, 1878, a few days previous to the
death of Bishop Rosecrans. Father Christy was succeeded in June, 1878, by Eev.
T. S. Reynolds, who remained in charge until January, 1879, when Rev. W. E.
Hayes, formerly of Pittsburgh diocese, was appointed by the Ver}- Rev. Adminis-
trator, N. A. Gallagiier, as pastor. Father Hayes immediately recognized two
facts : First, that the congregation was the poorest in numbers and financial stand-
ing in the city, and secondly, that the present proj^ertj' could not be legally held
by the congregation and must be sold to satisfy the claims of former mortgagees.
The Catholics had as yet made no ])ayraents on the property but had spent much
money in improving it. At the sale made by order of court. Father Haj'es would
not bid bej'ond the offer made by a representative of the mortgagees, thus leaving
the church in the hands of that party. Arrangements were made to rent the prop-
evij and continue possession of it for church and school jnirposes until a new
building should be completed. An opportunity to purchase an eligible site for a
church presented itself, and on April 1, 1881, Father Ha3'es came into possession
of the property situated on the northeast corner of Broad and Skidmore streets
where now stands the present church. The purchase price was so low that the
pastor was congratulated on all sides for the favorable bargain made. Prepara-
tions for building a church to serve the purposes of a school as well were immedi-
ately begun and carried on as means allowed, tlie principal source of income being
derived from fairs and house-to-house collection. So interested in the work was
the ]iastor that he labored day after daj' alongside tiie workmen in excavating for
the foundation and laying the same. His heart was in the enterprise and by his
example he desired to win tlie conperation of his parishioners.
On September 17, 18Si', the (M.nur.stone was laid by Eight Eeverend Bishop
"Watterson in the presence of an inuMciise concourse of people. It was truly agala
tiay for the Catholics of the West .Side, (or never before had Catholicity made such
a demonstration iu that part of the city. The undertaking was a hazardous one
but the undaunted pastor zealously labored on to complete the foundation, and
when his brave struggles were finally rewarded with success, he covered the stone
Catholic. ti(J3
walls tu awaiL inoro pros].icrous times among his people for uoutinuaiiue of the
cciiistruciidii. While the prospective church was in this condition Father Hayes
built iqi his scluHil, taljing a very laudable pride in thus laying the foundations of
a future coiinTegation to occupy the church that would some day compare most
favorably' with other tike edifices in the citj-.
The Bishop saw a wider and better field for the exercise of Father Hayes's
abilities and transferred him to the pastorate of St. Francis de Sales's Church at
Newai'k, Ohio, where he remained until his death, which occurred in Juno, 1892.
Father Iluycs was succeeded as pastor of Holy Family Church in October, 1884,
b3- Kev. Dennis A. Clarke, who had for some years been stationed at the Cathe-
dral. After High Mass on Sunday, November 16, following his appointment, a
meeting of the men of the congregation was held in the basement of the old church
in response to a call made by Father Clarke. James H. Pender was made secre-
tary of this meeting, the object of which was stated by the pastor to be to devi.se the
best means for prosecuting construction of the new church, the foundations of which
had lain covered over for nearlj' two j^ears. Many suggestions were offered and a
spirit was manifested which greatly encouraged the new pastor. On motion, a com-
mittee to act with the pastor in an advisory capacity was elected as follows:
James H, Pender, James Clahane, William T. Molloy, Martin Whalen and William
Walsh. Michael Harding, who had drawn the plans for the basement, was invited
to pre]iare plans and specifications for the superstructure complete.
During the winter and sjjring of 1884-5 the committee met occasionally at the
call of the pastor to consult on plans and to receive bids. Slight changes were
found necessary to be made in the foundations, and the plans for a plain, substan-
tial church building to serve the needs of the parish were adopted and approved
by the pastor. The contract for the carpenter work necessary to enclose the
building was awarded to Michael and Thomas Harding and that for the brick
work to Patrick Call, who were the lowest bidders. In May, 1885, the foundations
were put in readiness and the bricklaying began. It was determined to finish the
basement, which is airy, light and commodious, for a temporary chapel, with class-
rooms separated from it by the main hallway running full length of the building.
The upper part or main auditorium was floored and enclosed. Under the superin-
tendence of W. T. Molloy the basement was plastered by the contractor, Charles
Moellor, and everything was made ready for divine services, which were held in
the basement for the first time on Sundaj^ March 7, 1886. Eev. Father Clarke,
the pastor, sang High Mass and Eev. Father White of the Cathedral preached an
apjaropriate sermon. At the end of Mass Father Clarke congratulated the congre-
gation upon having their own church and urged them to continue their efforts
until the structure should be finished. The basement chapel continued to be used
until summer, when the church proper was arranged with an altar, chairs and
otiier fixtures, and services were held in it during the warm weather. In Sep-
tember, 1886, the Eedemptorist Fathers gave a very successful Mission in the
church. A system of monthly collections in sealed envelopes was iiuxugurated
and this has been the source of means to continue the work of finishing the
building.
In the autumn of 1888 contracts for -plastering the church and putting in a
steel sheet coiling with galvanized arches were made and the work of completing
the whole interior went steadily on during the winter. Beautiful stained glass
windows representing, on one side of the church, the Twelve Apostles, and on the
other the principal patron saints of the societies, etc., were put in and hardwood
finish in oak was used throuf^hout. The window sills are of dark red marble. The
Gothic style of architecture prevails and the harmony of all the parts is very
marked The dimensions of the church are: Length 135 feet, widtli 55 feet. The
gallery has a seating capacity of one thousand. The tower has been completed
GG4 IIlSTCJKY OF THE ClTV OB' CoLU.MBUS.
but tho plans provide for a steeple to surmount it. Whether the sjiire will ever be
built remains for time to determine.
On entering the church the visitor's attention is attracted b}- the beautiful
finish ol the vestibule with its ceiling in richlj- decorated steel panels, its walls of
soft tints and its varnished hardwood wainscoting and casings. The sanctuary
forms a Gothic vault. faced with a lofty arch upon which is inscribed the song of
the seraphim and cherubim: "Holy! HoljH Holy! Lord God of Hosts ! " The
ceiling is painted in azure blue which gradually fades away into the delicate gray
of the dawn. The ceiling is of the l)a8ilican style, handsomely paneled in steel
and artistically decorated in blue, gold and terracotta. Fourteen columns sup-
port arches which reach to the ceiling of the centre nave, and others that meet
between the columns. In the clearstory which restsupon these columns are twelve
small stained glass windows corresponding with tho lower and larger ones. The
columns and arches are beveled in gold which adds greatly to the rich appearance
of the interior. The altar, of Gothic design, is richly carved wooil and emliel-
lished with numerous pinnacles and crockets. It is painted in a rich cream color
with gold leaf adornments. The railing is a very handsome design carved in the
natural white walnut.
Thus fiir completed, without side altars or pews, chairs taking the place of the
latter, the edifice was solemni}- dedicated to Almighty God on Sunday, June 2,
1889, hj Right Rev. John A. Wiitterson, Bishop of Columbus. Alter the dedica-
tion, solemn High Mass was sung in the presence of the Bishop bj- Rev.
William F. Hnyes, Rev. C. Rhode being Deacon, Rev. B. Horney Subdeacon, and
Rev. A. A. Cusii Master of Ceremonies. The Bishop preached a sermon bearing
on the celebration of the da}', spe:iking at length on the holiness of ihe Christian
Temple. The choir sang Leonard's Mass in E flat in a most pleasing ami devo-
tional miinner. In the afternoon the Catholic societies made the demonstration
customary on such occasions, marching, in uniform and regalia, with brilliant
banners and starry- flags to the music of several bands, to the chuich and back to
their halls. Solemn vespers were sung at three o'clock by Rev. Father Hayes,
assisted by the same Mini.sters who ofiiciated at the morning services. The Bishop
again preached a long and interesting discourse on the general plan of the
Catholic Church, concluding with words of instruction and earnest exhortation to
the children who wei'e about to be confirmed. After Confirmation, Benediction of
the Blessed Sacrament concluded the services.
In August, 1890, handsome redoak pews were placed in the church, side altars
to harmonize with the general design were erected, and a gi'and pipe organ was
built at a cost of 14,000. The organ has been pronounced the best and sweetest
toned in the city. It is pumped by waterjwwcr. It is contemplated to heat the
church by steam, and plans to that end have been made, but the financial condi-
tion of the people will scarcelj' admit of the necessary outlay at this time. There
is an excellent parochial .school attached to the church, with an attendance of
about three hundred, tauirht by the Sisters of St. Joseph, which community has
had charge of the Holy Family School almost continuously since the foundation
of the parish. A convent for these Sisters was built on the church premises in
1888 at a cost of 83,000.
St. Vincent de Faul'-s CIiKirh.—The Orphan Asylum of St. Vincent de Paul is
situated on East Main Street, corner of Rose Avenue, and has always had a
chapel connected with it for the use of the inmates and such Catholics of the
vicinity as could not attend Mass elsewhere without great difficulty. The limited
space of the chapel and the growing wants of the increasing Catholic population
prom])led the Right Rev. Bisliop Watterson to authorize the erection of a chuix-h
on the asylum ground, which would at the same time serve as a chapel for the insti-
tution and a parish church for the people. The coruerstone of the new sti'ucture
Catholic. 6Gb
was laid by Eitcht Reverend Bisho]) Watterson on Sunday, July 27, 1884.
A largo number of the clergy of the city were present. The Bishop preached an
earnest and practical sermon on the charity which on that daj^ appealed to their
hearts. All the societies of the city were present, the entire assemblage number-
ing about 2,000.
Eev. John C. Goldschmidt, the chaplain of the Asylum and rector of the new
Church, struggled earnestly and zcalouslj' in this new undertaking and finally
saw his labors crowned with success when the neat little edifice was solemnlj-
dedicated to God on Sunday, August 9, 1885, by Right Reverend Bishop VVatter-
son. High Mass was sung by Father Goldschmidt and the address was
eloquentty delivered by Rev. J. Larkin, Ph. D. The church is complete in all its
parts and presents a very neat appearance, enjoying the distinction of being
the next oldest Catholic Church in the city which possesses a spire surmounted
by a cross. The windows are of tasteful patterns of stained glass, with polished
marble sills. Tlie interior decorations are chaste and appropriate to a convent
church.
St. Dominic's Church. — In the northeastern portion of our city there has been
a rapid growth of population bringing with it all classes and creeds — manufact-
urers, artisans, laborers, Catholics and Protestants. The Catholics found St. Pat-
rick's Church with its ministering clergy at too great a distance, and the advan-
tages of a Catholic school had, to a great extent, been denied them, as the distance
to Sacred Heart or St. Patrick's school was too great for their little ones. To sup-
ply these wants, it had long been the desire of the Bishop to establish a parish in
that remote section of Columbus. A suitable location for a church and school
was finally settled upon and on April 9, 1889, the Bishop purchased six lots on the
corner of Twentieth and Devoise streets. But as it would require the organization
of the parish previous to undertaking a building and collection of the necessary
funds, the Bishop awaited the opportunit}- when he could appoint a priest whom
he considered equal to the task. In September of the same year, to the great
consolation of the people who would constitute the prospective congregation,
Rev Tliomas J. O'Reilly, who had served as secretary to the Bishop since 1885,
was appointed ]ia8tor of the new church to be placed under the jiatronage of St.
Dominic. The name was very appropriately' chosen, for the major portion of the
new parish was cut off from that of St. Patrick's, which is in chargeof the Fathers
of St. Dominic, and it will be the nearest church to the wellknown Academy of
St, Mary's of the Springs under the control of the Sisters of St. Dominic.
Father 0'Reill3''s first efforts were directed towards procuring a suitable
place in which to assemble the congregation for divine service. Benninghoflf
Hall, located in the third storj' of the large brick block at the southeast corner
of Twentieth Street and Hildreth Avenue, was finally decided upon as the most
eligible place for the church, school and pastor's apartments, and a lease of it was
made for those purposes. The Sisters of Notre Dame donated an altar and the
hall was otherwise furnished with articles necessary and suit;ible to a place in
which to celebrate Mass. On Sunday, September 1, 1889, Father O'Reilly said
Mass at six o'clock in the morning for the first time in the new parish and at nine
o'clock sang the first High Mass. At both Masses Father O'Reilly stated the
plans and hopes that he entertained and feelingly encouraged the congregation
to persevere in building up both the S])iritual and temporal edifice of the parish.
A large congregation was present at both Masses. At the High Mass St. Patrick's
choir, under the direction of Professor J. Seipel, furnished the music and Rev.
Hugh F. Lilly, O. P., pastor of that church, preached the sermon, alludina: to the
work to be accomplished bj' pastor and people and wishin;; them Godspeed in the
grand untlertaking. The church began with about 125 families composed of
Americans, Irish, Germans, French and Italians. The Sundayschool opened in
66*3 History of the City op Columbus.
the afternoon of September 1, with 125 pupils. On Monday morning, September
9, the parochial school was opened in this hall, used on Sundays for services, with
a large attendance of children. The Sisters of St. Josej)h, from Ebensburg, Penn-
sylvania, have charge of the schools.
On August 17, 1890, the cornerstone of the new school building to be also
used for church purposes, was laid by the Right Eev. Bishop assisted by nearly
all the city clergy and witnessed by an immense concourse of people. The Bishop
delivered the sermon in his usual forcible style, pleading eloquently for Christian
education. Within one year the building was ready for occupancy and divine
services were held in the large and couveuicnt secondstory, while the ground
floor was used for schoolrooms. Father O'Eeilly has purchased several other lots
adjoining the original property and now has commodious grounds for school,
church, pastor's residence and convent for the Sisters in charge of the schools. All
these will come in time as the people are generous and anxious to have the parish
work go on to completion. The schools have increased in attendance so that
extra teachers have been engaged and the hall in which services are held is well
filled at both Masses on Sunday.
Church of St. Francis of Assissi. — When the parish of the Sacred Heart was
organized, it properly included all the Catholics in what is known as the North
End. It was the intention of Bishop Rosecrans to divide the parish by forming
another one in that portion of the city Ij'ing between the Whetstone River and
High Street, north of the Union Station. This section was familiarly known as
" Fly Town." The formation of a parish was attempted in 1875 and Rev. Simon
Weisinger, now of Straitsville, fitted up a small hall on Goodale Street and named
it St. Pius Memorial Chapel. The attendance did not justify its continuance, and
moreover, the Catholics of that part of the city could not support a pastor and
church at that time. The chapel was discontinued and the people remained under
the care of the pastor of Sacred Heart Church.
During the past few years the necessity for a church there became more evi-
dent, and in February, 1890, six lots on the corner of Buttles Avenue and Harri-
son Street were bought for the Bisho]3 of Robert E. Neil. They afford a verj'
suitable site for church property, being 240 feet on Buttles Avenue and 140 feet on
Harrison Avenue. In June, 1892, the Eight Rev. Bishop appointed Eev. A. M.
Leyden first pastor of St. Francis's Parish, transferring him from Toronto, Ohio,
where he had most faithfully served the mission for some years. Father Le3'den
was not without experience in such circumstances and possessed courage and
energy in a high degree. The task of building up the parish was entered upon
with all the zeal of a young priest. Neil Chapel, southwest corner Neil Avenue
and Goodale, hitherto used as a Methodist Church, but for some time abandoned,
was rented by Father Leyden, as was also a neat and comfortable pastoral resi-
dence furnished in great part by himself On Sunday, June 19, 1892, the church
was ready for Catholic services and Father Leyden celebrated High Mass in it for
the first time on Sunday, June 19. The Eight Rev. Bishop was present and
addressed earnest and encouraging words to the large congregation which com-
pletely filled the building.
It is intended to begin soon the erection of a large school with a hall to be used
for divine services for the present. Before many years the Catholics of the north-
eastern portion of the city will have all the requirements of a wellregulated parish,
and the Bishop predicts that it will become one of the largest and most important
parishes in Columbus. There is record at present of over 250 Catholic families.
Subscriptions have been taken up and collections of monej- made with which to
begin the building.
Although St. Franci.s is the youngest church in the city, it seems not
destined to remain .such for anj' length of time, as the Bishop has in contempla-
Catholic. GG7
tiou the establishineiit of a parish in the southeastern part of Columbus, in the
vicinity of St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum. When this shall have been done, the city
will possess ten Catholic churches, four of them having been erected under the
direction of Bishop Watterson during the twelve years of his episcopate. There
are many other places in Columbus where Mass is celebrated at lea.st once in a
week, but they are private chapels for the use of the hospitals, convents and
academies.
Catholic Institutions, Charitable and Educational. —The Catholic Church in
Columbus, as in other centres of Catholicity throughout the world, has not only
struggled successfully in establishing and maintaining houses of diving worship in
which the Sacrifice of the Mass is daily offered, but has also founded institutions
for the exercise of a practical religion. Hospitals for the care and treatment of
the sick and unfortunate; asylums for the orphans and forsaken little ones; houses
of refuge for fallen and frail women and for girls in danger of acquiring vicious
habits; convents and academies in which youthful minds are trained in the
science of true morality and religion ; parochial schools to receive the young chil-
dren and lead them to the practice of morality by instilling into their minds the
wholesome truths of their faith ; all these are objects of the Church's earnest solici-
tude, and hence we find them all here in our own city, flourishing with the evi-
dent blessing of God's providence.
>SY. Francis Hospital. — P'amiliar to all the citizens of Columbus for the past
thirtj' years, St. Francis Hospital continues today the .same work of cluiiity. Its
foundation was a heroic undertaking hj a little band of pious women known as
the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis. Emptyhanded they arrived in our city in
January, 1862, when the great struggle for our Union was at its bloodiest period
and the sweet mission of mercy of the Sisters of Charity was repeatedly witnessed
amid scenes of carnage on the field of battle or about the couch of suffering in the
hospital wards. They were not surprised when some of our citizens, not recogniz-
ing their mission, failed to greet their arrival with the generosity that these same
parties afterward delighted to bestow upon them. The Sisters entered upon their
work of charity in a small dwelling situated on East Rich Street, about opposite
to the Roly Cross Church. Accommodations could be provided for only t\venl\-
four patients and thus the Sisters were limited in their ministrations to the sick
and suffering who often sought and were refused admission because there was no
room. Until 1865 the Sisters were thus impeded in the great work that lay before
them. Early in 1864 three lots were purchased on East Friend, now Main Street,
and upon these it was proposed to erect a hospital, trusting to the offerings of tlie
charitable for means to complete it.
Doctor Starling Loving, who was then and has ever since been one of the
attending physicians of the hospital, kindly undertook to solicit subscriptions
among the more wealthy citizens. In consultation with Doctor J. W. Hamilton,
also one of the physicians who gratuitously attended the sick under care of the
Sisters, that gentleman mentioned the Starling Medical College, on the corner of
State and Sixth streets, with which he was at that time connected, as having been
founded to serve also as a hospital, and urged the Sister Superior to apply for it,
as he believed she could obtain it with less difficulty than she would experience in
the building of a new one. The idea was a good one and the Sisters took steps to
obtairi a portion of the college. Some opposition was i-aised when it was known
that the Sisters had applied for one of the most beautiful and statel}' buildings in
the city to be used for hospital purposes. Many objected to such an institution in
their neighborhood as it would disturb their ease of mind to be so near to scenes
of suffering and would, as they believed, depreciate the value of their real estate.
Time has shown that these apprehensions were groundless.
668 History of the City of Colombus.
When urged by their friends to make reply to the charges and objections of
tlie local press, the Sisters simply said: " If it is God's will that we should get it,
we certainly will succeed." Unknown to the Sisters a Protestant gentleman by
the name of Gilmore defended the justice of their cause and thus silenced the pre-
judices expressed by the newspapers. When all the preliminaries had been com-
pleted, a special meeting of the College trustees was called at the residence of
Mr. William Sullivan. The Provincial Superioress and the Sister Superior of the
ho.spital as well as several members of the faculty of the College were present.
The trustees laid down the following conditions upon which the Sisters could
establish their hospital in the College : The Sisters to pay 316,000 for a lease of
ninetj-nine years, which amount was then an incumbrance on the building; the
jjart which the Sisters thus leased to be used for hospital purposes only and not
for a school or a home for the aged, which limitation as to the old was afterwards
modified so as to allow a few invalids to be admitted; if for urgent reasons the
Sisters were to leave the institution, the money was to be refunded. The trustees
retained the right to remove the Sisters should they fail in this latter condition as
to the patients, the sum agreed upon for the lease to be refunded to the Sisters
should they be thus required to leave.
When the final contract was closed, the trustees accepted the house on Eich
Street which they were then using as a hospital, in payment for $6,000, receiving,
however, only $5,500 for it, thus requiring the Sisters to supply the balance of
$500. The amount asked for the lease was afterwards reduced to $10,000, leaving
only $4,000 to be made up. Through the kindly interest of Rev. Edward M.Fitz-
gerald, pastor of St. Patrick's Church, and Eev. John B. Hemsteger, pastor of
Holy Cross Church, the only Catholic churches then in the city, a grand union
fair was held in the old theatre on State Street and something over $4,000 was
realized for the benefit of the hospital, thus enabling the Sisters to meet their obli-
gations. The enthusiasm and kindly interest of the citizens in general were now
aroused in behalf of the new hospital. Prejudice against the institution had nearly
died away. Old battlescarred soldiers were returning from the war and they told
of the wt)rk of the Sisters of Charity in the face of danger to life and limb. Their
heroic sacrifice appealed to the generous American heart and the ladies of the
difi'erent religious denominations united in a grand fair for the hospital. The sum
of $3,000 was realized, and with this the Sisters hoped to pay for necessary alter-
ations in the building and for furnishing the 'wards. The lots on Friend Street
were sold, small payments only having been made on them, and on February 17,
1865, the Sisters moved into the handsome college building which they today
occupy.
In 1875, the medical stafl:'of the College, appreciating the crowded condition
of the hosjjital, granted the use of some of their apartments and one large lecture-
room which was converted into two commodious and airy' wards. A few j'ears
later the numerous friends of the institution contributed means to put in an eleva-
tor by which the sick and lame could be carried from floor to floor. Improvements
have thus been gradually made, and in 1891 the interior underwent a thorough
change. The apartments of the Sisters were so arranged as to improve their san-
itation, which had been so imperfect heretofore as to cause much suffering and sev-
eral deaths among the Sisters. A new chapel was fitted up in the second story, as
the former one on the first or ground floor was too small to accommodate the Sis-
ters and patients during divine service. An addition was also built in 1891, on
the west side of the building.
The number of sick yearly treated has steadily increased from about five
hundred in the beginning to 1,200 in 1891. These have been cared for in very
great measure bj' the charitable offerirjgs of our citizens without regard to race,
creed or nationality, and dailj' the meek and humblyclad Sisters of St. Francis
Catholic. G69
can be seen soliciting from house to bouse, from store to store and, in the market,
from stand to suuul tiie nourishment and means necessiuy for the care of the
destitute sick. Tlic Sisters have appreciated the kindness of heart manifested
toward their labors and those for whom the_y have labored.
Mt. Ciinnrl //'-Ny-/7,//.— With the founding of the Columbus Medical College
canie the necessity fur another hospital in this cit}', with advantages not less than
those enjoyed by the Starling Medical College. Doctor W. B. Hawkos, one of the
trustees of the Columbus Medical College, who died in 1884, willed to the institu-
tion a tract of ground 150 feet square, situated on an elevation at the corner of
Slate Street and Souder Avenue, west side, on which should be erected a hospital
for the use of the College. Doctor Hawkes also devised $10,000 toward the con-
struction of the building. Under the superintendency of Doctor William D.
Hamilton, plans were drawn for the new hospital and were accepted bj' the board
of trustees. Work on the building began in the spring of 1885, but the funds gave
out and only as donations and subscriptions to a limited extent were received did
the work of completion proceed during the fall and winter of that year. But a
hospital building without the competent persons to care for it a_nd properly direct
its management would be entirely useless. Hence, even before it was ready for
occupancy, the trustees appreciated the necessity of placing it in the hands of
those who were to have its entire control in order that it might be completed
according to the latter's desires and convenience. It was decided, with the con-
sent of the Bishop of Columbus, to place its management under some one of the'
religious communities of Sisters in the Catholic Church, and Doctor W. D.
Hamilton finally succeeded in inducing the Sisters of the Holy Cross, from Notre
Dame, Indiana, to accept it. Their lease amounted to almost a sale and the
Sisters, under the direction of Mother Angela, immediately went to work to com-
plete and furnish the building, for which purpose manj^ prominent and wealthy
citizens, both Catholic and non-Catholic, made handsome donations of money and
useful articles.
On July 16, 1886, the first patient was received though the hospital was not
fully prepared for the reception of the sick until some months later. The success
attained by the Sisters in their careful nursing, the excellent hygienic surround-
ings, the pleasant situation and the fame acquired by the medical staff in the
treatment of very difficult cases, soon crowded the hospital, which was rather lim-
ited in space; consequently the Sisters began preparations for enlargement of the
institution by purchasing, in 1887, the adjoining property to the east, thus giving
a frontage from Souder Avenue to Davis Avenue and affording a very beautiful
site for the new building, the foundations for which were laid in the spring of 1891.
On May 31, in the same year. Eight Eev. Bishop Watterson bles.sed the corner-
stone and placed it in position. The ceremony attracted a large crowd of people
and was accompanied by a parade of the Catholic societies. The platform at the
site of the cornerstone laying was beautifully decorated with American and Papal
colors, and upon it were seated Bishop Watterson, Fathers Logan, Moitrier, White,
Eeilly, Mulhearn, Goldschmidt, Clarke, O'Eeilly, Ehode. Horn and Cush, Governor
Campbell, Mayor Karb, Judge Nash, Judge Gillmore, Hon. H. J. Booth and others.
Addresses were made by Bishop Watterson, Governor Campbell, Mayor Karb and
Hon. W. J. Clarke, the latter speaking for the Board of Trustees of the Medical
College. During the past year and a half the work of finishing the grand and
imposing structure has gone steadily on, and today it stands as one of the most
attractive improvements of the West Side. The front on State Street is 201 ieet
with a depth of 80 feet. The buildings contain 70 rooms and three large wards,
all comfortably and some of them luxuriantly furnished. On the fourth or top
floor is a wellarranged amphitheatre for surgical operations. It will accommodate
300 persons Apparatus for hotwater heating has been put into all the apart-
G70 History ok the City of Columbus.
inents, and is accompanied by a perfect sj'stem of ventilation. A beautiful little
chapel occupies a quiet and secluded portion of the building. Rev. F. Moitrier is
the cliai)lain.
St. Anthony's Hospital. — The central and consequently very convenient loca-
tion of St. Franci.s Hospital caused it to be generally known and recognized as the
refuge of all emergency cases and ])articularly of the victims of accidents. The
patrol wagon daily unloads the suffering and the dying at its doors. In such circum-
stances room must be made for the unfortunate persons who have nowhere else to
look for attendance and succor. Indeed the object of the Hospital was primarily
for such as could be relieved or cured and was never intended as a refuge for the
incurable or a home for the friendless. The conditions of the lease plainly indi-
cated as much, yet the Sisters, in the charity which they always exercise, were from
time to time compelled to admit such. This was the origin of the St Anthony's
Hospital erected and controlled by the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis. It was
to be used mainly for the treatment and care of incurables, while St. Francis will
receive the accident and acute cases. Situated on Mann Street, corner of Taylor
Avenue, in the extreme eastern part of the city, it p08.ses8es a location far removed
from the bustle and excitement of city life, with abundance of pure air, so great a
desideratum in the care of the invalid. St. Anthony's partakes of the nature of a
sanitarium.
The first portion of the propertj' was bought in March, 1889, and additions were
made thereto in 1890, during which latter year plans and specifications were adopt-
ed, and the work of excavation began in June. The building was enclosed before
winter of 1890 and by October of the following year it was completed. The dedi-
cation took place on Sunday, November 22, Right Rev. Bishop Wattei-son offici-
ating. The Catholic societies celebrated the occasion by a parade. The Hospital
is three stories in height, has a fine architectural appearance and contains about
one hundred rooms. The tract of eight acres upon which it is located furnishes
ample ground for the openair enjoyment of the patients. The cost of the estab-
lishment will reach 8100,000, most of which will be met by donations and other
charitable offerings by our churches and individuals. Several business firms have
furnished wards or rooms. The first patient was received December 7. 1891, and
up to September 30, 1892, three hundred and eightysix were treated. The Hospi-
tal has already proven its necessity and usefulness.
Con rent of the Good Shepherd. — The Sisters of the Good Shepherd were first
established in the city of Caen, France, in 1851, and received the cordial approval
of the Popes. Their object is to establish and sustain houses of refuge for penitent
fallen women and girls of all ages, to rescue female children from dangerous occa-
sions of crime and to train and instruct them in useful employment. The mother
house of the order is in Angers, France, where the Mother-General resides and
where, at intervals of three years, the general council of the order, composed of
delegates from all their convents throughout the world, meet to deliberate upon
the welfare of the order and the best means to carry on the great work of charity.
One portion of the community is strictly cloistered and not permitted to go beyond
the prescribed convent enclosure unless for some extraordinary reason. Other
members of the order, however, have the rule so modified that they are required
to attend to the outside affairs of the convent.
The early history of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in this city indicates
the spirit of selfdenial that pervades the order in general and, indeed, of all the sis-
terhoods in the Church. They came from Cincinnati, a little band of them,
with Mother Gertrude MoUoy at their head, in May, 1865. Rev. Father Fitz-
gerald, the i^resent Bishop of Little Rock, urged their coming and secured for
them a rented dwelling on East Spring Street. Their mission was little known
at fir.st and therefore inappreciated. The accommodations were limited and the
Catholic. 671
growth of the institution was held in check and suffered much inconvenience.
As the}" subsisted by the work of their own hands and made no appeal for char-
ity they were soon compelled to obtain more commodious quarters in which to do
the sewinu. laiiry nredlewurk and laundry service that was required of them
by tlu'ir InfiiiU a'lid |iatr.ins. 'Piin.uo-h the kind offices of Father Fitzgerald the
Sisters purcliascd tlif elenant property of the SuUivant heirs situated on Sandus-
ky and Broad streets, West Side, where they have built up a beautiful convent
home. Every year srnce 1866, when the Sisters came into possession of this
property, they have added improvements to it. New and substantially constructed
houses have been built for the different classes and departments, anmno- those
added structures being a neat and handsomely decorated little chapel wluMe the
entire community of Sisters and children daily congregates. The insi ii iitioii sup-
ports itself almost entirely by the work of its inmates, all the childieu being
employed at some useful occupation when not engaged \n recreation or at school.
The good work accomplished is continually manifested by the numbers of former
inmates who are now leading useful and happy lives rendered so by the benign
influence exerted over their early years when the world threatened to lead them
astray.
The Sisters feel a great reward in the gratitude of these children who visit
the convent at frequent intervals. Mother Gertrude was, up to ISlHi. the iniieh-
loved Superior who came with the community and lived with them, diieeiinu-
them through the trying years of their foundation and the difficulties enedimioied
in subsequent times. The people of Columbus and vicinity had learned to vene-
rate the good Superior for her many qualities of heart and mind. It was no won-
der, then, that her transfer by her superiors in March, 1891, was deeply regretted.
Just realizing the fruits of a life of sacrifice and struggle, she meekly and cheer-
fully obeyed the call and entered upon the more responsible duties of Mother Pro-
vincial of the houses connected with the order in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The convent has a resident cha]>lain, the present one being Reverend F. Moitrier,
who also attends to the spiritual need of Mount Carmel Hospital.
St. Vincent's Orphun Asylum..— Oi all the charitable and educational institutions
of the Catholic Church in Columbus only one is strictly diocesan, that is to say,
directly controlled by the Bishop. The others are conducted by the individual
religious communities to which they belong, subject, however, to the authority of
the ordinary of the diocese. St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum is a purely diocesan
charity, founded on the needs of the Church in the diocese. It is controlled b}"
the Bishop. In a letter published in the Columbus Westbote, July 19, 1874, Very
Reverend J. B. Hemsteger, Vicar-General at the time, said :
A Catholic Orphan Asylum has been a longfelt want in the diocese of Colurabas. Cir-
cumstances favor the foundation of such an institution at present. Tfie Superior-General of
the Sisters of St. Francis visited this city some time ago with the object of fimling a refuge
for her Sisters persecuted and exiled from Germany by Bismarck. Last year they taught
7.800 children. Their institutions extend as far as Brazil and Java. Right Rev. Sylvester
Rosecrans has received them into this diocese and commissioned them to found an orphan
asylum in this city. Thus the main point of this enterprise is determined. A suitable place
for the institution has also been secured. Louis Zettler has sold to the Right R^v. Bishop
his residence with surrounding grounds on East Main Street for the sum of $25,000.
Of this sum he has since donated $10,000 for the benefit of the orphans. The residue
of $15,000 is payable after ten years, with interest at five per cent. It will be easy to
comply with these conditions if all the parishes of the diocese help generously. The
Eight Rev. Bishop has therefore ordained to have a collection made in all the churches
of the diocese on Christmas Day for the orphans and to continue this collection as long as
the institution shall be in need of it. The Sisters expect to open the asylum next Christmas.
As it is necessary to prepare the institution for the reception of the orphans we hereby
request the Catholics of Columbus particularly to contribute towards furnishing the chapel
and schoolrooms, the dormitories and the kitchen. A special committee will be selected
from the different societies to represent their fellow members in the interest of the orphans.
ti72 History of the City of Colltmbus
This letter introduces the Or]ihan Asylum and the plans bj' which it was
begun and will be continued. Contrary to expectation, the institution was not
forinallj opened until February 2, 1875, when the Eight Rev. Bishop Rosecrans
solemnly blessed it and dedicated it to the purpose for which it was intended.
On this occasion the Bishop was assisted by Very Rev. J. B. Hemstcger,
y. Ct., Rev. J. B. Eis, who was in temporary charge as chaplain and owing to
whose exertions the asylum had its beginning; Rev. J. Cosella, pastor of St.
Patricks, and Rev. M.. M. Meara, of the Cathedral. All the seminarians were
present and the societies marched to the grounds in uniform and regalia. The
opening was very auspicious.
In a few months Rev. John C. Goldschmidt was appointed the chaplain and
director, Rev. Father Eis having been authorized by the Bishop to organize the
new parish of the Sacred Heart. Father Goldschmidt has remained to the present
time. Year by year the institution grew rapidly until additions were necessarj'
to accommodate the orphans and to make their home comfortable and convenient.
Father Goldschmidt has devoted his best energies to the good work, succeeding
admirably in not only keeping up the running expenses of the institution but
also in defraying the cost of new buildings and many great improvements. Four
hundred orphans are now inmates, besides a number of Sisters who care for them
with the solicitude of mothers. The revenues of the asylum are derived princi-
pally from the Christmas collections throughout the diocese, the annual picnic and
volunteer offerings of the friends of the institution. A new chapel to serve also
as the church of the parish was dedicated some years ago and a very comfortable
residence for the chaplain has been erected.
St. Mary's of the Springs.— This academy for young ladies, situated northeast
of the city, near Alum Creek, on the Johnstown Pike, is conducted by the Sisters
of St. Dominic. This community of nuns is an outgrowth of the religious order
of priests founded by St. Dominic in the thirteenth century. The Fathers came
to this country at the beginning of the present century, the small band of them
directed by Rev. Edward D. Fenwick. Bishop Carroll had then episcopal juris-
diction over the entire United States and adjoining territory. Under his direc-
tion the Fathers were sent to the West to engage in active missionary life.
In 1806 Father Fenwick purchased with his own patrimony land in Washing-
ton County, Kentucky, and established thereon the first Dominican convent in
the United States, naming it after the first saint of the Dominican order in America,
St. Rose of Lima. From St. Rose's as a centre the Fathers extended their mission-
ary labors in several directions, particular attention being given to Kentucky and
Ohio. In 1818 St. Joseph's Convent, at Somerset, this State, was established by
the Dominican Fathers on lands donated by Mr. Peter Dittoe, of that place.
St. Joseph's was the Ohio centre for Catholicity. As the Fathers had now firmly
established themselves, it was desired that the Sibters of the same order be founded
in this country to assist in the woi'k of education and charity. Rev. Thomas "Wil-
son was the Provincial of all the Dominicans in the United States and received
authority from the Master-General of tbe order to establish the Sisterhood. When
this became known a number of ladies applied for admission as candidates. The
first convent of St. Catherine was erected about a mile from St. Rose's and soon
gained prominence as a Catholic School. Miss Mary Sansberry, a native of Mary-
land, was among the first to enter the community and under the name of Sister
Angela became the first Prioress. The first mission from the convent was at
St. Mary's, Somerset, near the vicinity of which the Dominican Fathers had
founded a house. Four Sisters, by request of Bishop Fenwick, who was also Pro-
vincial of the Dominicans, arrived at Somerset on February 5, 1830. School was
opened in a small house in the April following with forty pupils in attendance.
^i^/
a'
Catholic. 673
St. Mary's Convent increased in usefulness and popularity and ad<lition8 were
constantly made to the property. In the midst of its prosperity-, during the year
1866, a disastrous fire destroyed all the buildings and rendered the inmates home-
less. The Dominican Fathers tendered the Sisters the use of their novitiate,
sending their novices to St. Eose's, Kentucky. In this building the Sisters con-
ducted their school for two j'cars. Shortly after the fire Mr. Theodore Leonard,
of this city, learning of the destitute condition of the community, offered them
a tract of land containing thirtythree acres, the present site of the Academy, and
a munificent donation of building material if they would remove to Columbus.
The proposition was accepted, and in the fall of 1866 the foundations for the new
structure were laid. The building was 150 feet long by sixtj' feet in width ; its
height was four stories of twelve feet oiich. The interior was arranged with the
requisite conveniences for a lai-ge boarding school with accommodations for about
two hundred pupils. On September 7, 1868, the building was ready for the
school term which opened on that day, the Sisters having taken possession a few
weeks previously. Mr. Eugene Mageveny. of Memphis, Tennessee, supplemented
the donation of Mr. Leonard with $10,000, much of which w;is used in furnish-
ing the interior. Sister Rose LjMich, known in iifter years as Mother Rose, at
present with the Dominican Sisters at Galveston, was the first Superior. Addi-
tion.s have been made to the oi-iginal building during the ])ast twenty years, and
the landscape so beautified by nature and art that St. Mary's of the Springs has
become one of the most charming sites for an academy to be found in Ohio.
Under the fostering spiritual care of Bishop Watternon the Dominican Sisters
have greatly extended their influence as attested by the number of schools in the
diocese supplied with Sisters as teachers, who own St. Mary's as their home. At
present another large addition is being built, which, when completed, will give
increased facilities for carrying on an institution of learning that our citizens will
feel proud of It is patronized extensively by non-Catholics and it frequently hap-
pens that over half of the pupils are daughters of such parents. Mother Vincen-
tia is at present Superior.
)St. .Joseph's Academy. -This wellknown institution, situated on East Rich
Street, between Sixth and Seventh streets, was founded b\ the Sisters of JNotre
Dame at the earnest solicitation of Bishop Rosccrans and a number of prominent
citizens. It is a day school tor j-oung ladies in which all the branches of a
thorough academic course are taught. The Sisterliood of Notre Dame was insti-
tuted in France in 1751 and introduced into this country in 1840 by Most Rev.
Archbisho)) Purcell, of Cincinnati, who engaged them in several schools of his
diocese. From Cincinnati a small community of the Sisters was brought to
Columbus in August, 1855, by Rev. James Meagher, pastor of St. Patrick's Church,
where they were employed in teaching the parochial schools. Thus they were
the first Sisters to establish a home in this city. Their first residence was on Oak
Street, between Fourth and Fifth. The cornerstone of the present academy was
laid by Very Rev. J. B. Hemstcger, V. G., on April 15, 1875, Rev. Fathers Eis
and Goldschmidt assisting at the ceremony. The building was erected as rapidly
as possible and on September 6, 1875, opened with an encouraging number of
pupils. From that time on the attendance has steadily increased, necessitating
additions to the building until it is now one of the largest and most popular of
the educational institutions of our diocese. Music and the fine arts receive par-
ticular attention, and the young lady that graduates either in music or the English
course has indeed earned the honors. The twisters of Notre Dame belonging to
this house teach in the parish schools of St. Patrick's and Holy Cross.
Cemeteries. — The Catholic Church consecrates the ground in which are placed
the remains of its faithful members, ami wherever it can possiblj- be done land is
674 History of the City of Columbus.
set aside for that purpose alone, and wherever there is a Catholic Church there is
also a Catholic burial ground. Prior to 1845 the Catholics of Columbus, consti-
tuting onlj- one congregation, that of Holy Cross, had no cemetery of their own.
The priest accompanied the remains to the graveyard and blessed the grave. In
January, 1845, Samuel Brush conveyed to Peter Ury and wife a tract of land con-
taining three acres and a quarter, situated in the northeast part of the city and
now known as the " Old Catholic Burial Ground." The consideration was six
hundred dollars. This property Mr. Ury held in trust for the Catholics until
September 11, 1848, when he deeded it ^o John B. Pureell, Bishop of Cincinnati,
for the same consideration of $600. The burialground was at that time just
■within the city limits ; in time, however, the cemetery was nearly filled and the
City (Council, moreover, prohibited by ordinance further burials within the cor-
poration. This measure, long anticipated, urged the Catholics to tlie purchase of
other grounds for cemetery purposes.
Ciilvary Cemetery. — Through the agenc_y of John F. Zimmer, a tract contain-
ing twentyfive acres, lying some distance beyond the city limits, on the Harris-
burg Pike, was purchased in 1865, and additions thereto in 1866 and 1869. The
parties conveying the property to the Bishop were Jacob Gall, Philo N. White
and John F. Zimmer. The ground is slightly undulating and has been vastlj^
imin-oved by shrubbery and the erection of handsome monuments. The cemetery
was opened for burials in 1867 and up to the lime of its solemn consecration
November 2,1874, over fourteen hundred interments had been'made. The great
privilege of placing their dead in consecrated ground had by necessity been denied
the Catholics of Columbus. But now the time had come when they were
possessed of ground free of incumbrances and prepared to receive consecration.
A procession of all the Catholic societies moved from St. Joseph's Cathedral to the
cemetery, where an immense crowd of people had gathered to witness the imposing
ceremonies so filled with consolation to those whose beloved ones' remains were
there reposing. Previous to the consecration Bishop Eosecrans, from the foot of
the large cross erected in the centre of the ground, addressed the people a few
words in which he dwelt upon the very solemn character of the ceremony about
to be witnessed and exhorted all to pray for the dead without ceasing. In the
sacred function the Bishop was assisted by Eev. N. A. Gallagher, Rev. G. H.
Ahrens, Eev. H. Anderson, Very Rev. J. B. Hemsteger, Rev. J. Casella, Rev. J.
Baumau, Rev. M. M. Meara, Rev. J. B. Eis, Rev. H. B. Dues, and a number of
seminarians and altar boys. The ceremony occupied some time and at its conclu-
sion the pontifical blessing was given.
At the time of the abandonment of the old burial ground the remains of the
dead were removed by friends to the new cemetery and efforts were made to dis-
pose of the property. The title of the land has been contested by Peter Ury's
heirs who claim it by reason of its ceasing to be used for burial purposes. The
inferior courts have decided that the Bishop holds a clear title and can dispo.se of
the property. The case has been appealed to the Supreme Court, and it may be
some time before the final decision is reached.
Our historical sketch ends here. As this is the first compilation of the history
of the Catholic Church in this city except the very creditable attempt in Studer's
History of Columbus, the writer feels that some inaccuracies may, in the light of
further investigation, be found in the course of the sketch. If such there be, he
will feel grateful to have them indicated so that proper correction can be made
in the future. To Mr. Alfred E. Lee the author feels under obligations for per-
mitting recourse to compilations of church news made by that gentleman in the
preparation of this gi-eat work. To the clergy and superiors of religious com-
munities thanks are returned for favors. Studer's Columbus and John Gilmary
Shea's Histoi-y of the Church in the United States have furnished some important
items connected with the early history of the Catholic Church in this city.
CHAPTER XLllI,
A P T I S T.
BY OSMAN C. HOOPER,
Thrfre are nine Baptist churelios in Columbus, five of white and four of col-
ored membership. The former, in the order ol their orjjranization, are: The First
Baptist Church, the Russell Street Baptist Church, the Hildreth Baptist Church,
the Memorial Baptist Church, and the Tenth Avenue Baptist Church. The organ-
izations of colored Baptists, considered similarly, are the Second Baptist Church,
Shiloh Baptist Chnrch, Union Grove Baptist Church and Bethany Baptist Cliurch.
All of these organizations trace their history back to February, 1823, when Elder-
George Jeffries came to Columbus from Marlboro, Delaware County, Ohio. He
had received ordination as an evangelist in the church at Marlboro and, after his
location in Columbus, began preaching in his own hou-ie. As a result of these ser-
vices Sarah Garrison and Alphous Tolle professed conversion and were baptized.
Eight other persons who had previously been converted to that faith and had
moved to Columbus were found, and it was resolved to organize a church.
At the request of Elder Jeffries and his fellow-Baptists, a council met in Col-
umbus, May 15, 1824, to consider the propriety of instituting a church. The
members of that council were : Elder Jacob Drake, Deacon Leonard Munroe and
Brethren Daniel JSIettletOM and Charles Watters, of Liberty Church ; Elder James
Fetters, Deacon John Swisher and Brother William D. Hendron, of Bethel Church ;
Deacon John McLeod, of Harlem Church, and Elder Pleasant Lemay, who was
invited by the others to a seat. The council organized by electing Jacob Drake
moderator and William D. Hendren clerk. The reasons for the establishment of
a Baptist Church in Columbus were stated by Elder Jeffries to the satisfaction of
the council which adopted a resolution that those who desired to become members
of the church should present their letters. Those who responded and thus became
the original members were as follows: George Jeffries, who presented a letter
from the church at Marlboro; Elijah Tolle, from Maysville, Kentucky ; William
Whittimore and his wife, Leah Whittimore, from Daughty Fork, Coshocton
County, Ohio; Patty Booker (colored), from Petersburg, Virginia; Mary Brod-
erick, from Washington, Kentucky ; Lydia Jones (colored), from Kentucky (name
of church not on record) ; George Butcher (colored), from Petersburg, Virginia ;
Eosanna Bolin, from Virginia (church not stated); Sarah Garrison and Alpheus
[675]
67G History of the City op Columbus.
ToUe, of Columbus, both of whom had been converted and baptized under the
ministration of Elder Jeffries.
After due deliberation, the council resolved to " fellowship the above named
brethren aud sisters as a church of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.' Elder
Jeffries, having been appointed as a representative of the new church, answered
the necessary questions put by the moderator. Elder James Fetters addressed the
church and gave the right hand of fellowship, and Elder Jacob Drake followed
with remarks emphasizing the importance of the engagement into which they had
entered. The council session closed with a prayer and praise service opened by
Deacon John McLeod. The timestained record of the proceedings is concluded
with this sentence: " We can but hope the Lord was with us and that He will
bless this little vine and cause it to become a thousand.''
The organization was called " the First Baptist Church of Columbus ; ' a
covenant and articles of faith were adopted aud the little church of eleven mem-
bers, three of whom were colored, began its career, which was for some years of
doubtful outcome. Meetings were held at the houses of various members and
Elder Jeffries from the first performed the duties of pastor, though he w:is not
formally called to the pastorate until April, 1825. Communion service was
observed quarterly, but how often there was preaching is not certain, since Elder
Jeffries had engagements to preach elsewhere. On July 31, 1824=, nine other per-
sons had been admitted to membership, and the first election of officers occurred.
Daniel Huddleston was chosen Deacoji, and Elijah Tolle Clerk and Treasurer. At
this meeting also, application was made by the church for admission to the.Colum
bus Baptist Association. Bliler Jeffries was chosen to write the church letter and
at a subsequent meeting this letter was approved and Elder Jeffries, Alpheus Tolle
and Elijah Tolle were selected to bear it to the Association.
The calling of Elder Jeffries to the pastorate did not have the result of confin-
ing his ministrations to the Columbus Church. He continued, as did other minis-
ters in the association, to visit other churches and preach. This arrangement was
in accordance with a resolution adopted by the Association and approved by the
Columbus church, the necessity being due to the small number of ministers and
the meager support that any of the churches was able to give to a pastor. The
poverty of the Columbus church is shown by the minutes, in which it is recorded
that after several ineffectual efforts to get from the members a definite statement
as to the amount to be given the pastor for his services, four members responded
at the meeting of December 7, 1825, with promises to give twentyfive cents each
monthly. At this meeting, too, the first proposition to buy a lot and build a
church edifice was made and the members were asked to consider the matter and
decide on a course of action. Elder Jeffries, in the following August, reported to
the church that he had found a suitable lot, but, although all seemed desirous of
having a meetinghouse, there were not enough responses to justify definite action.
Li April, 1828, he made another report to the church to the effect that he had
bought a lot which might become the property of the church, if the members
would assist in paying for it. This proposition met with no better response than
the preceding one, but the pastor was undaunted and erected a small building for
the church, on the south side of Mound Street between High and Front streets.
The minutes of the business meeting of January, 1830, show that eleven persons
contributed S4.93 and 2| days' work " toward fixing the school house built by K..
Jeffries for the purpose of having meeting in." The effect of being provided with
a regular jjlace of worship seems to have been quite as good as Elder Jeffries had
expected. In the following April, he was requested to devote the whole of each
Sabbath to the services of the church and he consented, withdrawing all appoint-
ments at other places.
Baptist. ti77
On March 31, 1831, the church resolved to buy lot number 222 on Front
Street just north of Mound, and Elder Jeffries, E.Davis, S. M. Martin and D. Green
were appointed a conimittie to attend to the purchase and secure subscriptions to
the purchase jirice. On April 30, this committee reported that they had bought
the lot for $175, paj'injf $60 in cash and two of them giving their notes for the
i-emainder to run for three years, with interest. It was decided to build and a build-
ing committee was appointed. A year was consumed in the work and the new
building was occupied for the first time on May 6, 1832 This structure sttll
stands, though it was long since abandoned as a house of worship. It is a plain
MUST BAPTIST MEETING HOUSE, EKECTED IN 1831.
onestory brick- building and after the church had abandoned it in 1837, it was used
■Vty Doctor Curtis us a medical college and later as a residence. The capstone bear-
ing the inscription, The Rrguhir Buptist Mrding House, Erected A. D. 1831, was
taiien down when the building fell into other hands and is preserved as a relic in
the present structure of the First Baptist Church. At the first meeting in the new
church, Rgv. O. Owens and Rev. Mr. Jowett, of Granville, and Eev. M. Potter, of
Canaan, were pi'esent and preached, morning and evening. The occasion was
further signalized by one admission to membership, whereupon the church "imme-
diately repaired to the water where the candidate was baptized before a large and
678 History of the City of Columbus.
orderly congregation." On June 2, 1832, the church considered for the first time
as far as an}' record can be found, a proposition to establish a Sabbathschool, and
decided to inaugurate that kind of effort on Juno 10. There is no record of the
organization of the Sabbathschool, but it is probable that it was organized and
that the Sabbathschool work of the First Baptist Cliurch dates back to that time.
The record of the meeting of December 1, 1832, shows that the time of holding
Sundayschool was fixed at two o'clock in the afternoon.
The organization of the Baptists had no formal legal recognition until
February 13, 1833, when the legislature passed a bill, granting to George Jeffries,
James Turner, William A. Morse and their associates the right to incorporate ihe
First Regular Baptist Church of Columbus, and constitutini; the men named the
first Board of Trustees, to serve until their successors were regularly elected
according to the constitution of the society. The act is signed bj' David T.
Disney, Speaker of the House, and Samuel R. Miller, Speaker of the Senate.
Although the church was now in its own building, it did not thrive to that
extent which had been expected. This was partly due to personal dissensions
amons the members. It was in the fiill of 1833 that a number of Welsh Baptists
organized a church under the leadership of Eev. John Harris, who had recently
come from Newport, England. Mr. Harris preached at first entirely in Welsh,
but afterwards, in recognition of the number of English-speaking Baptists who
had come to them, sermons were occasionally delivered in the English tongue.
Both the English church under Eev. Mr. Jeffries and the Welsh church under
Eev. Mr. Harris, were weak. They felt the need of the strength which comes of
union, and in the fall of 1834, prominent members of each organization met at the
house of Rev. Mr. Harris and decided to ask the American Baptist Hume Mis-
sionary Society to send to Columbus a preacher under whom the two churches
could consolidate. The society responded favorably and, in June, 1835, Eev. T.
R. Cressy arrived in Columbus to begin work on the new basis. There was still
some indisposition on the part of some of Mr. Jeffries's church to consent to the
proposed union, but those who had decided on that course went boldly ahead and
were on the point of organizing separately when the members of Rev. Mr.
Jeflfries's church met and voted that to hold out further was useless. That meet-
ing was held August 1, 1835. The record states that "on a representation being
made to the church by Elder Jeffries of the agreement made with certain of the
Baptist brethren in Columbus who expected this day to have been constituted
into a church, the church voted that,^f said brethren choose to attend this even-
ing and join this church, according to that agreement, thej- will be received."
Elders Drake and Carr, of Granville, were appointed to inlorm the others of the
church's action. There is nothing to show what the precise terms of this agree-
ment were, but the principal feature was the retirement of both Eev. Mr. Jeffries
and Rev. Mr. Harris, and the union of the Baptists in the old house of worship
under tiie pastorate of Rev. T. E. Cressy.
The proposed meeting of that evening (August 1, 1835) was held, The union
under the agreement was approved bj' all and the following named persons who
would have constituted the new church were received as members of the old :
Rev. John Harris, Mrs. Mary Harris, E. Davis, Mrs. Elizabeth Rees, Mrs. Eliza-
beth Willi;ims, Rufus Bixby, Mrs. Lucj' Bixby, Tunis Peters, Mrs. Nancy Blake,
William Richards, Mrs. Mary Richards, John B. Wheaton, Joseph West, Miss
Dinah Davis, Mrs. Sally Weaver and Mrs. Jane Eoberts. An invitation was
unanimously extended to Elder Jeffries to retain his membership with the church,
but it was declined and then a letter ot dismission was unanimously voted to him.
John B. Wheaton was clerk of this memorable meeting and was subsequentlj-
chosen clerk of the church, a position which he occupied without interruption
fur nine j-ears. For his excellent care in recording the ])roccedings of the
Baptist. 679
cliiiri.-li in tliiit vital pei'iod, tlie Columbus Byptists of todiiy arc greatly indebted
to liim.
Writing in 18H7 of the evenis just described, Elder Jacob Drake, who was a
member of the council that instituted the church in 1824, and who also jilayed a
prominent part in the consolidation of 1835, says : " It soon became evident to
the discerning and attentive, who w ere deeply interested in the Baptist cause in
the metropolis of the State, that however pious or zealous Brother Jeffries might
be, it was vain to hope that our doctrinal sentiments and peculiarities could ever
successfully compete with the Peiloba]itists, under tlie ministiy of Brother Jef-
fries. Baptists were continually coming into the city who kept themselves
aloof from the church. The Welsh Baptists formed a little church separately,
but neither tiitl this succeed. What can or shall be done? was the leading ques-
tion. After considerable anxiety and delay. Brother Cressy, from Massachusetts,
cunie on. in 1835, under the patronage of tlie A. B. H. M. Society. In a little time
it was thought advisable to form a second church in the city. A council was
called for that purpose when, after mature deliberation, it was decided that cer-
tain proiiositions by Brother Jeffries should be complied with, by which Brother
Uressy ami the mernbei's with him came into possession of the meetinghouse,
togetlier with all the members of the old church that were willing to come under
the [lastoral care and administration of Brother Cressy. Brother Jeffries took
his letter of rt-ciimmendation and dismission, and the cause, under Brother Cressj^'s
labors, has jirosjiered and is prospering."
A change of location and the erection of a new church building occupied the
attention of the church soon alter its reorganization. A committee to choose a
site and present a plan for the building was appointed as follows: Rev. T. R.
(dressy, E. Bixby, Tunis Peters, Isaac Cool and Ira<Trovcr. On October 9, 1835,
they reported two sites, one at the corner of Town and Third and the other at the
corner of Eich and Third streets, their preference being for the first named. Plans
for the building and for raising the necessai-y money were also then presented.
The lot on the northwest corner of Eich and Third streets was, however, chosen.
This site was then in the outskirts of the town and was, together with adjoining
lots, enclosed with a rail fence of black walnut and devoted to the raising of corn
and potatoes.
A building committee composed of John Harris, Eufus Bisby, Thomas Worth-
ington, J. B Wheaton, Isaac Cool, Ira Grover and Jonathan L. Peters was
appointed. Rev. T. E. Cressy was granted a leave of absence and went East to
make a small loan to aid the church in its building project. He succeeded in mak-
ing arrangements with a number of men in the East by which they were to invest
84,000 in Western land to be chosen by Mr. Cressy. In addition to that amount
they were to advance 10 per cent, or 1400 to be used in erecting the Baptist
Chui'ch here. At the expiration of a year, the land thus purchased was to be sold
or ap]>raised and from the amount of such sale or appraisement, the whole amount
of money advanced with lawful interest added, was to be deducted an,d onethird
of the residue was to be paid to Mr. Cressy for the benefit of the JSaptist Church
of Columbus, with the distinct understanding and agreement that the said church
should ])ay over the same in equal instalments, in two, three and four years
thereafter, to T. E. Green, William Winterton and C. Eoberts, to be by them
invested and employed at their discretion for the erection of Baptist meeting-
houses in the valley of the Mississippi. This rather complicated financial
arrangement was endorsed by the church and the responsibilities assumed by the
same.
The work of erecting the building was begun, but the financial resources were
insuflicient to justify the completion of the structure and it was decided that the
basement room only should then be completed. This course was jjursuod and
(j80 History of the City of Columbus.
the first service was held in the lower room of the new structure, April 4, 1837.
It was the animal business meeting at which officers were elected. The church
worshiped in the basement for three and a half years, and when the building was
completed according to the origintil plans in 1840 it had cost $14,000. Rev. Mr.
Cressy's pastorate, which extended over a period of seven years, was most success-
ful. One hundred and thirty memliers were added to the church during the first
j-car of his ministration. In 1840, the membership was 203 and in 1842, when he
lesigned, it was 210. During his pastorate, the unfortunate differences between
the church and Elder Jeffries were continued and were several times the subject
of consideration at business meetings. Elder Jeffries associated with himself a
orgar
Baptist Church and apparently soon expired.
The first step toward the separation of the colored from the white Baptists
was made early in June, 1834, when it was voted " that the colored brethren have
liberty to bo set off as a branch of this church and transact business for them-
selves except in the final reception or exclusion of members, which must be done
by this church." The organization of the colored branch, thus authorized, did
not take place until January 7, 1836, when a committee consisting of Messrs.
Peters, Harris, Bixby, Wheaton and Smith, Eevs. Fields and Cressy, met in the
capacitj' of a church council. Messrs. Nickens and Watkins, of Cincinnati, and
Elder Jeffries were invited to seats in the council. The colored Baptists reported
that they bad chosen Rev. Ezekiel Fields as pastor and Pleasant Litchfield as
deacon. The liberties granted to the branch were explained, the choice of pastor
and deacon was approved and the branch was formally recognized. Eev. Mr.
Nickens delivered the charge to church and pastor and the council adjourned.
On October 18, 1839, this ors^auization was, by vote of the First Baptist Church,
granted an independent existence. It lives today as the Second Baptist Church.
Rev. T. R. Cressy's pastorate continued until September 8, 1842. He died in
Iowa City, August, 1869, after a long and faithful service as missionary and pas-
tor. The church was without a pastor until July 25, 1843, when Rev. I);iniel
Eldridge was called and accepted. His service continued without special incident
until April 14, 1846. The records show that the church was in financial straits;
it was difficult to raise the $600 salary of the pastor and when he resigned, the
latter was a creditor of the church, not only for a part of his salary, but also for
money loaned. This indebtedness was cleared up and the church continued with-
out a pastor until January 3, 1847, when a call was extended to Rev. D. B Cheney,
of Norwich, Connecticut. He accepted and assumed his duties in the following
April. The American Baptist Home Missionary Society had been appealed to and
had responded witli a subscription of $300 to the. pastor's salary for the flr.st year
and an allowance of $75 for the pastor's traveling expenses from Norwich, Con-
necticut. This annual aid was continued until April, 1852, when the church,
with thanks to the Home Mission Society, relinquished the assistance and set out
on a career of self-support. Owing to ill-health, Rev. Mr. Cheney resigned the
pastorate, October 12, 1852, and his resignation was regretfully accepted by the
church in resolutions which recorded the appreciation of his " successful efforts to
promote the temporal and spiritual prosperity of this church." Rev. Mr. Cheney
subsequently held a pastorate in Boston.
On November 7, 1852, a call to the pastorate was extended to Rev. Henrjr
Davis, of New York, who entered on the discharge of his duties in February, 1853,
but resigned March 5, 1858. Rev. Mr. Davis's pastorate was marked b}' dissen-
sions which culminated the week following the pastor's resignation in the request
of fifty-seven members to be dismissed for the purpose of organizing a new church.
The request was granted and on May 12, 1858, the following persons were dis-
missed for the purpose named: Rev. O. Allen, Mrs. A. J. Allen, Amelia A. Allen,
Georgiaiiii Allen, Amelia Case, William Field, Mrs. S. A. Field, Thomas G. Field,
George B. Field, Maiy Eoth, Rev. F. Stanley, Mrs. Mary Stanley, Joshua Vance,
Mrs. Harriet Vance, Henry Howson, Sarah Howson, -Mr. E. M. Wh eaten, Mrs.
Elizabeth Wheaton, John B. Wheaton, Elvira Williams, Hannah E. Say, Anna
Say, O. P. Hines, Mrs. Mary Hines, Eev. Henry Davis, Mrs. E. H. Davis, Joseph
Hall, Mary Hall, Frederick Halley, Mrs. Sarah Halley, John Bagshaw, Mrs. Jane
Bagshaw, Bryant Headley, Mrs. 'B. B. Headley, Elizabeth Syfert, James Kin<r,
James Stevens, Rachel Crawford, James Scott, Virginia Scott, John Moccabee,
KUSSELL STREET BAPTIST CHURCH.
Ruth Moccabee, Margaret Moccabee, Mary Jane Moccabee, Ann McElhaney, Sarah
E. Everett, Israel Lyon, Theodosia Lyon, Charlotte Rakestraw, Josephine Rake-
straw, Elizabeth Peckhani, Dolly Chambers, W. W. Warner, Elizabeth A. Warner,
Lovilia Ackerman and J. N. Farmer. These, with the single addition of Mrs.
Sarah S. Hapgood, who had not been a member of the First Baptist Chinch, organi-
zed the Central Baptist Church which sustained a feeble existence only for about
three years. Services were first held in the chapel of Starling Medical College,
but in' November of the same year, the old High School building on Town street
682 History of the City of Colujiisus.
between Fitlli aud Sixth streets, was rooted and worship seems to have been held
there until the abaiidoDuient of the effort. Eev. John Burke was the first pastor
and was succeeded by Eev. O. Allen, the latter serving without salary. The fail-
ure of the effort is thus accounted for bj' the Eev. Thonias G. Field, who was church
clerk : " A perfect procession of removals from the city, with several serious
inroads by death, rapidly reduced our numbers to decimation. A deplorable begin-
ning led on to a disastrous ending, in which the verj' flower of the Baptist force
seemed to be sacrificed for naught." After the Central Baptist Church had dis-
banded, those who remained in the city returned separately to the parent church.
Eev. Henry Davis on retiring from the pastorate in 1858, reentered the Home
Mission work in which he had been before engaged ; subsequently became pastor
of the Baptist church in Rock Island, Ills., .and died there in August, 1869. He
was succeeded in the pastorate here by Rev. D. A. Randall, at first only by tem-
poi-ary arrangement. On April 3, 1859, Doctor Randall was formally invited to the
pastorate, accepted and served till Julj', 1865, during which time he made a trip
to the Holy Land. During his pastorate, too, the church building was repaired
to a considerable extent under his supervision and as a result of his untiring
energy. Doctor Randall's resignation as pastor was formally presented to the
church April 12, 1865, but was not accepted till several months later.
In 1866, Rev. G. S. Chase was invited to the pastorate and accepted July 24,
that year. He resigned December 7, 1867, his communication to the church indi-
cating that he believed his work here a failure. The church building had, how-
ever, been renovated at a cost of $1,000, and the membership had not diminished.
Complimentary resolutions were passed by the church in accepting the resigna-
tion. Rev. J. W. Osborn was the next pastor, serving from February 27, 1868, to
June, 1871. The church was again repaired at a cost of about 88,000 in 1869-70.
The remodeled audienceroom was dedicated Sunday, June 12, 1870. Rev. Mr.
Oshorn's pastorate was marked by the first successful mission effort — that on the
North Side. The mother church contributed laborers and financial support, and
assumed guardianshij) of the Sundayschool which a committee established, until it
grew to be the Russell Street Baptist Church.
From June, 1871, the church was without a pastor until August 14, 1872,
when a unanimous call was extended to Rev. I. F. Stidham, of Philadelphia.
Rev. Mr. Stidham began his duties in the following October. The first year of his
pastorate was marked by a revival which brought many additions to the member-
ship. The church flourished, the mission effort on the North Side was prosecuted
with vigor, and on January 19, 1881, thirtyeight members were dismissed to
organize the new church. The mission work on Twentieth Street, and afterwards
on Mt. Vernon Avenue, flourished and gave promise of a similar issue. In 1884,
however, after a pastorate of twelve years, Rev. Mr. Stidham, feeling that a change
might increase the efficiency of both pastor and people, tendered his resignation to
accept a call to the First Baptist Church of Cincinnati. The resignation was
regretfully accepted and highlj' commendatory resolutions regarding the retiring
pastor and his work were passed by the church. Rev. Ira J. Bailey was pastor of
the church from March 1, 1885, to July 18, 1886, when he was compelled by ill-
health to resign. It was during his pastorate, in the latter part of August, 1885,
that eighteen persons were dismissed from the membership to organize the
Ilddreth Baptist Church, the outgrowth of the Twentieth Street mission work.
Rev. Mr. Bailey died of consumption soon after leaving his work in this city.
Rev. George B. Simons was pastor from November 1, 1886, until October, 1890,
when he resigned and accepted a call to Zancsville. The following month, the
present pastor. Rev. B. F. Patt, began his labors Under his direction, the condi-
tion of the church, both temporally and spirituallj^ has been improved. One of
tlie tir^t things to which he turned his attention was the liquidation of the debt
Baptist. 683
created by repairs on the church building in 1885 and 1889. As a result the
church is now absolutely free from debt and is contributing more money to the
various branches of religious work than it ever did. Successful mission work has
been prosecuted on Parsons Avenue near Livingston Avenue, and on Ohio Avenue,
near Oak Street. A lot has been purchased and a bouse of worship will soon be
erected for the accommodation of the former.
The Predestinarian branch of the Baptist Church had a weak though .some-
what protracted existence in this city. Tunis Peters was the leader of the move-
ment. He was one of those who were instrumental in bringing Rev. T. R. Cressy
to this city as the pastor of the Regular Baptist Churcli in 1883, but a few years
afterward became alienated from that church and in common with others who
believed in an uneducated ministr}- and a full reliance on the Spirit without resort
to what were characterized as purely human agencies, began late in tlie thirties
holding meetings in a buildingon the site of the old South High Street enginehouse.
About 1840, Tunis Peters erected a building on the northeast corner of Scioto and
Mound streets which served both as a residence and a church — a dwelling with a
large hall on the second floor. There he and his associates in belief worshiped
until his death in 1855. The services were conducted by him and such ministers
as could be secured for occasional duty. Rev. Mr. Davis and Tunis Peters, a
nephew ofthe other bearing the same name, preached. The elder Tunis Peters, at his
death, sougiit to will the use of the room to the church which he had established,
but the wording was faulty and the bequest was lost to them. The membership
appears to have been large at no time, it being fourteen in 1855 and fifteen in 1856.
The last ministers to preach to the church, so iar as information can be obtained,
were : Rev. Mr. Klipsline, of Virginia, in 1854; Tunis Peters and A. \V. Taylor, in
1855, and Tunis Peters, in 1856. The church soon afterwards lost its oi'ganiza-
tion and the building has long since been torn down.
The earliest work done by the Baptists in the northern portion of the citj-
was in 1866 when Thomas Humphreys, Henr}- Field and Miss Lou Bowman began
holding Sundayschool in the old frame depot. They conducted the school about
a year when the departure of Mr. Humphreys from the city and other circum-
stances made necessary a change and the work was surrendered to the Presbyte-
rians who prosecuted it successfully. Three years after the termination of this
effort, or in 1870, the Fii'st Bajjtist Church ap]iointed a committee consisting of
B. J. Loomis, Lanson G. Curtis and William Wallace to locate a mission on the
North Side. They, in connection with others, prominent among whom were
Charles R. Dunbar and John Evans, established a Sundayschool at the home of
William WallaOfe on Summit Street. Mr. Dunbar was the first superintendent and
B. J Loomis was assistant. The school grew and in October, 1870, was removed
to a room in the Courtright block on North High Street. Mr. Loomis became the
superintendent and continued, as he had been from the first, to be the princijial
moving spirit. He gave his time, energy and money whenever and wherever
there was need. In the spring of 1871 it was decided to buy a lot, and the late
Rev. Dr. D. A. Randall and Mr. B. J. Loomis chose a lot on Russell Street, just
east of High. It was bought for $800 in the name of the Trustees of the First
Baptist Church. One third was paid down, of which Rev. D. A. Ilainl.-ill sub-
scribed $100, Mr. Abel Hildreth $100 and various smaller eontribuior.s made up
the remaining $66. The notes for the unpaid balance were signed by the trus-
tees of the First Baptist Church, viz. : L. L. Smith, A. Hildreth, B. J. Loomis,
J. M. Wheaton, C. B. Batterson, L. D. Myers and E. W. Simmons. A frame
structure was immediately erected at a cost of $1,200 which wa.s subscribed
in small amounts by a great many persons. Services in the new structure
were begun in June, 1871. An effort was made in September of that year to
organize an independent church, but it was thought inadvisable and the mission
G84 lllSTUKY of THE ("iTY OF Cdl.U.MBUS.
work wa« continued until January 19, 1881, when the following persons were
dismissed from the membership of the First Baptist Church for the purpose of
organizing the North (now Eussell Street) Baptist Church : John J. Evans,
Harriet E. Evans, Mrs. W. M. Powell, Harriet S. Carter, Joseph Woodward, Mrs.
E A. Woodward, Miss Lovina Zinn, Thomas Humphreys, Mrs. L. F. Hudson,
W. E. Downe.y, Mrs. S. M. Babbitt, A. P. Babbitt, A. C. Zinn, Mrs. A. C. Zinn,
Ro.sa Baker, Emma M. Boyle, Mrs. Emma Denune, David Davis, Mrs. David
Davii;, Mrs. Say, Emma L. Northciitt, Leah Thomas, Anda Morin, A. T. Stevens,
John S. Eoberts, William J. Evans, E. O. Spring, Helen G. Spring, Ann Richards,
Lizzie Thomas, Mrs. A. H. EUwell, Mrs. Elizabeth Wallace, Lizzie Wallace, Jessie
Jones, Kate VVhorle}', Mrs. Nancy A. Woolard, Sarah E. Northcutt, Edward
Evans and Josie L. Downey.
Other Baptists in that section of the city joined these and the church was
organized January 24, 1881. The first officers were: Deacons, John J. Evans,
William Dowue}', Thomas Humphreys; trustees, Nathan Wright, John S. Eoberts,
William D. Maddox, William Downey, Thomas Humphreys ; clerk, A. T. Stevens;
treasurer, C. F. Hecker. The council for the recognition of the new church met July
19, 1881, the delegates being Eev. A. Owens and Eev. H. L. Gear, Granville ; Eev. A.
W. Yale, Alexandria : Eev.'j. V. K. Seeley, Sunbury ; Eev. L F. Stidham and E. T.
Eawson, of the First Church, Columbus. The first pastor of the church was Eev.
A. L. Jordan who resigned in November, 1882, and was succeeded by Rev. Frank
G. McFarlan. During the latter's pastorate, in 1884, the work of erecting the
present handsome edifice was begun. The building committee was composed of
the following : Thomas Humphreys, chairman ; Harriet S. Carter, treasurer ; John
J. Evans, C. Westerman, E. A. Littell and Mrs. Maria Heckler. Under the ener-
getic direction of this committee, the work was prosecuted in the face of many
difficulties; the original frame structure was moved to the rear of the lot and a
building costing in money and contributed labor and material not less than
$15,000 was erected. Eev. P. J. Ward succeeded Mr. McFarlan in the pastorate
in 1888 and served until 1891, when he resigned to accept a call to a church in
Southern Ohio. The present pastor is Eev. J. L. Smith.
The Hildreth Baptist Church had its origin in a Sabbathschool effort begun
in 1870 by a number of members of the First Baptist Church in a little brick
schoolhouse north of the site of the present church structure. Prominent among
these workers were Mrs. Abel Hildreth, Mr. and Mrs. R. R. Hooper and Mrs. Wil-
liam Field. Mr. Hooper was superintendent of the Sabbathschool and the ladies
were teachers. The effort was persistent in the face of many adversities and
although little progress was made for several years, the workers were encouraged.
The neighborhood was continually growing more populous, and a few Baptists
were moving into the territory to help in the work which had been begun by
tho-se who had to go out from the city every Sunday afternoon for the service. In
1884, Mr. and Mrs. Charles McLeod moved to the city from Central College, Ohio,
and built a storeroom and residence on Mt. Vernon Avenue near Eighteenth
Street. They were strong Baptists and willingly gave their aid to the struggling
Sabbathschool. Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Roberts, members of the First Baptist Church,
had also moved into the neighborhood and they, too, gave needed assistance.
The meeting-place of the Sabbathschool was changed from the schoolhouse on
Twentieth Street to tlie room over Mr. McLeod's store ; Mr. Roberts was chosen
superintendent and the work took on new vitality. The talk of a church building
which had been indulged in for some time received a new impetus from the prop-
osition of Mr. Abel Hildreth to erect such a structure on a lot owned by him at
the corner of Twentieth and Atcheson streets. He carried out his proposition and
erected a handsome brick church, which, together with the lot, he gave to the
Fir.-l Bajilist Church in trust for the Hildreth Baptist Church and to be trans-
Baptist. 6B5
ferred to llio latter wlien it sliould be organized. Tlie church was orgaiii/Aul, the
building was dedic-ateii, and the first pastor, Rev. J. S. Cieveiaiui, was (iniaincd on
the same daj', August i-'."i, ISSf). At the time of the organization, the iiunihcishi|)
coDHisted of the folhiwing, all of whom liad been dismissed from the firsi liaplisi
Church to unite with the new one: Cvrus M. Roiierts. Mrs Cjrus M. Roberts,
Giaco T. Roberts, Mary W. Roberts, R. R. Hooper, Mrs. R. R. Hooper, Simeon H.
Hooper, Anna B. Hooiier, Mrs. D. L. Auld, Mrs. Rose A. Moore, William T. Rob-
bins, Charles L. Dolle, Sophia R. Russell, Nellie C. Russell, Mrs. C. Moores, Mrs.
A. J. Bidlcman. Soon afterward, their number was increased by the admission
in a similar manner of George A. Quimby, Mrs. George A. Quimb}-, James Titnins,
and Mrs. William Brain. The first deacons were R. R. Hoo|)er, George A. Quimby
and C. M. Roberts. The first board of trustees was com]iosed of E. A. Hildreth,
Charles Ateheson, William T. Robbins, C. M. Roberts and George A. (Quimby.
The first church clerk was Osman C. Hooper. Rov. Mr. Cleveland continued as
pastor for about four years, being succeeded in October, 1889, by Rev. J. A. Snod-
grass, who was in turn succeeded in 1891 by Rev. Adam Fawcett, the present
pastor.
The Memorial Baptist Church, which now occupies its own edifice at the cor-
ner of Sandusky and Shepherd streets, West Columbus, had its origin in mission
eftbrt put iorth b_y the First Baptist Church. The earliest result of this elfort was
the establishment of a Sundayschool which was organized on Sunday afternoon,
October 18, 1885, in an upstairs room of a frame business house on West Broad
Street, known as the Telephone Building. Prominent among those who helped
to organize this school and gave to it their efl:brts during its early existence were :
Mrs. M. Bickner, who was at that time the regularly emf)loyed city missionary of
the First Bapiist Church ; Mr. Brice Ellis, who was the first superintendent of the
school; Miss Lillian J. Wood, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Brown, Mr. Z. P. Gilmore
and Mr. W. J. Dawson.
The school soon outgrew its quarters and a larger room in the same building
was secured and occu^iied until the heat of summer made it untenable. Then tlie
school was a second time moved, this time to a large and wellventilated storeroom
on the ground floor. This change proved to be a wise one, for increased comfort
brought a larger number of persons to the services and encouraged the older work-
ers in a longcherished ambition to found a Baptist Church' on ihe West Side. In
furtherance of that jjlan, Sunday evening services were begun and conducted for
several months with good results. These were finally abandoned, however,
because ot the large amount of labor they entailed upon a few workers. In the
fall of 1888, Rev. C. C. Haskell came into the work and conducted the services
during that winter. Another effort was made to organize a church, but the num-
ber of jjersoiis who could be counted upon to give it support was still small and
the organization was postponed. After the dep;.rture of Rev. Mr. Haskell, the
services were continued afternoon and evening under the leadership of Mr. Z. P.
Gilmore.
In July, 1889, the Telephone Building, in which the services had been hold
continuously during the four years since the organization of the Sundayschool
mission, was destroyed by tire. The Methodists, who had erected a temporary
building which they called the Tabernacle further west on Broad Street, tendered
the use of their edifice to the homeless mission. The offer was gladly accepted
aud the Tabernacle was used for preaching and Sundayschool services until the
organization of the Memorial Baptist Church and the occupancy of the structure
at the corner of Sandusky and Shepherd streets, which was the gift of Abel Hil-
dreth iu memory of his deceased wife, Elizabeth Williams Hildreth. This building
is a substantial one of brick which had been erected a number of years before by
the United Brethren. That society became financially embarrassed and the build-
686
History op the City of Columi
ing passed into private hands. It was for a time used by the Catholics and was
afterwards vacant until purchased by Mr. Hildreth and given as previously
stated. The building was renovated, remodeled to some extent and made practi-
cally as good as new. In the wall of the church near the pulpit has been placed a
tablet inscribed to the memor}' of the good woman whose life in domestic and
church relations had prompted the benefaction.
The meeting for organization of the Memorial Baptist Church was held
October IS, 1889, on the fourth anniversary of the founding of the mission Sunday-
school. Rev. C. C. Haskell presided and Z. P. Gilmore was chosen clerk. On the
call for membership, it vas developed that the following persons held letters of
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
dismissal from the churches named to the Memorial Baptist Church : From the
First Baptist Cliurch, Columbus, Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Dawson, Howard 0;iwson,
W. Ellsworth Dawson, Sarah Eitter, Susie Ritter, Mrs. Flora Williamson, Mrs.
George H. Moores, Bifie Beckett, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Brown, Florence Cook,
Grace Upton, Katie Schwartz, J. N. Young, Mrs. J. N. Young, J. P. Gilmore,
Susan Schwartz, Edith Gray, and Mrs. L. S. Upton ; from the North Baptist
Church, Mrs. Clara Showers, Myrtle Showers, Mrs. Lizzie Myers, Bertha Myers and
Etta Schaifer; from the Baptist Church, Zion Hill, Texas, Rev. and Mrs. C. C.
Haskell.
BAr-nsT. 687
After adoption of the covenant and articles of faitli, officers were elected as
follows: Deacons, W. J. Dawson, Z. P. Gilmore and Thomas Brown; trnstee,
W. J. Dawson ; treasurer, VV. Bllswortli Dawson ; superintendent of the Siunhiy-
school, Mrs. M. Bickiier. At a subsequent meeting other officers were chosen as
follows : Trustees, Thomas Brown, Z. P. Gilmore, L. S. Upton and George U.
Moores; auditor, Mrs. George H. Moorcs, thus completing tlie tirst roster of offi-
cers of the new church.
At a business meeting held November 13, 1889, a c ill to the pastorate was
extended to Rev. H. A. Nixon, his services to be continued after January 1, 1.891),
if the church should be successful in its effoi'ts to obtain aid from the Ohio Bap-
tist Convention. The call was accepted and, under the direction of the pastor,
arrangements were begun for the dedication of the remodeled church edifice.
These services were held Sunday December 8, 1889, at 2:30 o'clock p. jr. Rev.
George B. Simons, of the First Baptist Church, by invitation, preached the dedi-
catory sermon ; others, including the new pastor, spoke, and a large male chorus
under the direction of Prof J. F. Ransom, sang. The attendance by Baptists
from all parts of the city and by the people of the immediate vicinity was very
large, and the occasion was a marked event in the history of the West Side.
The Council of Recognition of the new church convened at the church build-
ing, Thursda}-, December 19, 1889. The delegates were as follows : Rev. J. S. Goff
and Doctor J. H. Gearheart, Sunbury ; Deacon George A. Bockoven, Berlin ; Rev.
J. V. K. Seeley, Central College and Jersey; Rev. J. C. Baldwin, Granville ; Dea-
con John Evans, North Baptist Church, Columbus ; Rev. G. B. Simons and Deacon
E. D. Kingsley, First Baptist Church, Columbus; Rev. J. A. Snodgrass, Hildreth
Baptist Church, Columbus. Rev. G. B. Simons was chosen moderator of the coun-
cil and Z. P. Gilmore, clerk. In the evening the concluding exercises were held.
Rev. il. A. Nixon served as moderator. Rev. J. C. Baldwin preached the recogni-
tion sermon. Rev. J. V. K. Seeley offered the prayer of ciedication. Rev. G. B.
Simons delivered the charge to the church and Rev. J. A. Snodgrass the charge
to the pastor. Rev. H. A. Nixon continued as pastor until June, 1892.
The first missionary effort of the North (or Russell Street) Baptist Church
was made in 1890 when a Sundayschool was established in a vacant storeroom
at 1547 North High Strc.a, near'Tenth Avenue. The school grew so rapidly that
it was decided late in the year to organize a church, and the meeting for that
purpo.se was held on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 1890. E. F. Roberts pre-
sided and F. W. Sperr was Secretary. The constituent members, most of whom
had been dismissed from the Russell Street Church, were as follows: Mrs. Abby
Bunker, Miss Kate Bunker, Miss Addie Bunker, Mrs. Cora Coulter, Dolly Engle-
hart, Mrs. W. F. Englehart, Mrs. Lucy Englehart, Travis Bnglehart, Gertie Engls-
hart, Edwin C. Green, Mrs. Allie M. Green, George Gibbs, John Grove, Mrs. Susie
Grove, Lemmit Gilmore, J. H. Good, Mrs. Emma Good, Charles Gilmore, Mrs. L.
B. Hayward, Charles M. Ja3mes, Mrs. Harriet M. Jaj-nes, Carrie Knight, Grace
M. Knopf, James Kennen, Mrs. Mollie Kennen, Catharine Lynas, Nina Long,
Rose A. Moore, Maud Moore, Mrs. Mary Maxfield, Miss Anna B. Mehurin, Miss
Ella G. Mehurin, S. B. Nichols, Mrs. Jennie Nichols, Harry Nichols, Mrs. Clemen-
tine Ogle, Mrs. Nancy Outcalt, Mrs. Alice Robinson, Wm. H. Robinson, Miss
Florence Rees, Daniel G. Snj'der, Henry Snyder, Mrs. Ann Snj^der, Mrs. Anna C
Snyder, Mattie B. Simpson, F. W. Sperr, Mrs. Julia S. Sperr, Mrs. Francis L.
Stephens, Miss Sarah Throckmorton, J. D. Warner, Mrs. Laura Warner, Hayward
Warner, Mrs. Mary Williams, Kittie Williams, Mrs. Emma Williams; — total,
fiftyfive.
The council for the formal recognition of the new church was held January
20, 1891. In that bod)- there were pastors and delegates representing the Baptist
churches of Columbus, Delaware, Central College and Sunburj- ; Rev. J. Hawker,
(588 History of the City or Cohimbus.
J. B. Schaff, J. S. Wrightnour and George E. Leonard, of the State Convention
Board ; Rev. T. G. Fielii, District Secretary of the American Baptist Missionary
Union, and Mr. B. J. Loorais, of Jefferson, Oliio, one of the founders of the Rus-
sell Street Mission. The Council organized by the election of Rev. Mr. Wright-
nour as moderator and J. S. Gough as clerk. After the usual formalities of exam-
ination, a resolution of recognition was adopted. Rev. J. Hawker extended the
hand of fellowship to the church, and Mr. E F. Roberts, the prospective pastor,
responded on behalf of the church. Rev. G. E. Leonard delivered the charge to
the church. Other participants in the exercises were: Rev. H. A. Nixon, Rev.
P. J. Ward, Rev. C. H. Haas and Rev. J. V. R. Seeley.
The first officers of the church were as follows: Trustees, Theophilus Reese,
S. B. Nichols, C. M. Jaynes, D. J. Burnett, D. G. Snyder, J. D. Warner and F. W.
Sperr; treasurer, P. W. Sperr; clerk, C. M. Jaynes; deacons, J. D. Warner, E. C.
Green and D. G. Snyder. Mr. E. F. Roberts, who had decided to enter the min-
istry and who had been working for some time with the mission, was called as
pastor, March 22, 189L In the following June, Mr. Roberts was ordained and
formally entered on the discharge of his duties as pastor. The ordination services
were held in the Russell Street Baptist Church, Rev. B. F. Patt being moderator
and Rev. H. A. Nixon clerk. The other ministers participating were. Rev
J. V. K. Seeley, Adam Fawcett, Dr. Colby, George E. Leonard, P. J. Ward, C. H.
Haas.
About this time a room for services was leased at 1413 North High Street,
a short distance south of the first site, and there the church is still worshiping,
while awaiting the completion of its edifice on Tenth Avenue, a short distance
west of High Street. At the end of his year's pastorate. Rev. Mr. Roberts
declined to be a candidate for reelection and on May 11, 1892, Rev. E. E. Wil-
liams, of Toledo, was called to the pastorate. He accepted and preached his first
sermon June 12.
As related elsewhere, the Second Baptist Church (colored) was set off as a
branch from the First Baptist Church in 1836, although it was not organized as an
independent church until October 18, 1839. The original membership of this
branch, according to the records of the First Baptist Church, numbered sixteen,
as follows: Ezekiel Fields, Letha Fields, Miles Fields, Patsy Booker, George and
Mary Butcher, Pleasant and Catherine Litchfield, William Gardner, Sarah Wood-
son, Priscilla Flood, Phoebe Randall, Shubal Fields, David and Susan Sullivant
and Susan Watson. Rev. James Poindexter, pastor of the Second Baptist Church,
furnishes the following sketch :
Tlie first pastor of the Second Baptist Church was Elder Ezekiel Fields. In a short
lime after he was chosen, quite a revival occurred, resulting in additions to the church which
rai.-ed its membership to forty. At the end of three years, Elder Fields resigned the charge
and Elder Wallace Shelton, then the ablest colored Baptist preacher iuthe West, was chosen
pastor. In a year from the time he took charge the membership increased to over a hundred.
Elder Shelton held the pastorate four years, and during that time the church purchased the
lot and erected the building in which it now worships, at the southeast corner of Gay and
Lazelle streets. The next pastor was Elder Allen E. Graham, whose administration was
unfortunate. The church divided ; forty members left in a body and organized the First
Antislavery Baptist Church ot Columbus. [Note by 0. C. H. : 'This was in 1847. A few
years after" the separation, the Antislavery Baptists erected a brick church on Town Street
between Fifth and Sixth. In 18.58, they'^ reported their membership at 104. Rev. James
Poindexter was fora time the pastor.] The next pastor was William P. Newman, who served
six months ; the next Elder Charles Satchel, six months ; then Elder F. N. Stewart, four years ;
then Elder Allen Brown, two years and six months. Several years elapsed between the end
of Elder Stewart's administration and the election of Elder Brown and, during that time,
the Antislavery Baptists disbanded and united with the Second Baptist Church. On the
resignation of Elder Brown, Rev. James Poindexter, the present pastor, was called to the
charge which he has held continuously for the last twentyeight years. In 1871, sixty mem-
bers of the church obtained letters of dismission and organized Shiloh Baptist Church,
Baptist.
(589
wliose house of wor-hip is on Cleveland Avenue, between T.ong and Spring streets. In 1888,
sixteen other members obtained letters of dismission and, with lour others from other
churches, organized Union Grove Baptist Church, whose house of worship is on North
Champion Avenue.
The immersion of converts to the Baptist faith, a rite which has always
proved inlcrostini!: to tlie curious, was, until 1S.58, when the baptistery was con-
MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH.
stracted in the First Church, administered in the Scioto Elver. Crowds invaria-
bly gathered and the early records show that it became necessary for the church
to protect itself from the ridicule of unbelievers by the appointment of officers to
keep order. There is, however, no record of violence, but the annoj^ance of the
crowds, as well as the inconvenience of outdoor baptism made an indoor arrange-
HOO History of the City of Columbus.
incnt for the administration of the rite desirable. The baptistery in the First
Church was used for the first time on Sunday evening, July 18, 1858, in the
immersion of John Williams and Catherine Decker.
The most remarkable outdoor baptisms in the history of the city were, those
conducted by Shiloh Baptist Church from 1879 to 1882. Tlie place where the
rite was administered was the Scioto River just north of the Broad Street bridge,
and the time was in February or March. The announcements were niade publicly,
in advance, and great crowds were attracted to the river bank. Tlie newspapers
gave long and graphic accounts of the unusual spectacle, from one of which the
following is taken :
The bridge was packed with spectators and the west bank was thronged, while shops,
foundries and other buildings were black with humanity, and the entire sweep down the
river to below Town Street was crowded with people, gazing from every available point,
some with opera glasses. Others, more fortunate and daring, had secured boats and rowed
near to the scene. The converts and congregation arrived soon after 12 o'clock noon and
were hemmed in so closely that those in front were crowded into the water. The sun shone,
but the wind was cold and the spectators were chilled through. The old-time melodies of
Shiloh rang out in immense volume to be heard by all. Then prayer was offered, no less dis-
tinctly, the aged gentleman having a powerful voice which was heard for a quarter of a mile.
The novel part of the exercises, from the standpoint of the curious, next took place, the con-
gregation singing the while. A gentleman was immersed first, when the \vork was rapidly
continued, the majority of the candidates being women. There was considerable demon-
stration on the part of some of the women who, after being immersed, were with difficulty
conducted to the shore. In one instance the reverend gentleman who was administering
the ordinance was thrown down, and assistants who came to his rescue were likewise pushed
under by superior physical force. Although in nowise to the credit of the immense gather-
ing, these demonstrations were greeted in their turn with unmuffled applause, extending up
and down the river to an extent which would have made it diflScult under ordinary circum-
stances, to determine whether the enthusiasm was in recognition of the victor on the home-
stretch at a National regatta or, as it was, an observance of the holy rite of baptism.
Another feature ofShiloh's activity uhich, like the public i)aptisms, was well
meant but of questionable influence on outsiders, was the series of campmeetings
hold in 1880-1-2 at what is now Franklin Park. One of the purposes of the
campmeetings was to raise money with which to secure a new church home. A
small fee was charged at the gates and the general public was attracted by pro-
grammes announcing "The Killing of the Fatted Call;" "The Midnight Sermon:
Behold the Bridegroom Cometh ;" " The March Around the Walls of Jericho," etc.
Thousands of people flocked to the park, many of them with no thought that
tliere was anything sacred about the grotesque demonstrations. The first year,
so boisterous and excited was the crowd that the march around the walls of Jeri-
cho was dispensed with, but the second year, it was given, the worshipers carry-
ing lanterns and blowing horns and being followed by the rabble with hootingand
jeering. The experience of the first two campmeetings taught the wiser ones that
such demonstrations accomplished no good, if they were not actually dangerous,
and in 1882, the services were more soberminded, though crowds aggregating
5,000 to 7,000 persons continued to attend. The campraeeting lasted each year
for fifteen or twenty days and the net profit to the church for the three years was
about three thousand dollars.
With this money Shiloh Church which had, since its organization in 1871,
worshiped in a building on the south sideof Long Street between High and Third,
paid in part for their present house of worship (formerly Christie Methodist Epis-
copal Chapel) on Cleveland Avenue. The dedication of the building to its
new use occurred August 10, 188-1, the services being p:irticipated in by Revs.
Mitchell, (rreen, James Poindexter and the pastor, Rev. James Shewcraft. Tne
Baptist. (i<U
work of Shiloh has progressed willioiit notable incident since that time, until
now it has a merabershiirof 340 members. Four pastors have served since Rev.
Mr. Shcwcraft retired, as follows: Rev. L. B. Moss, Rev. G. VV. Scott, Rev. W. E.
Nash and Rev. W. P. Cradic, who is now in charge.
'I'hc Union (irovo Baptist Church had its origin in a Sundayschool of a non-
dchorninatioual character begun in 1886 under a tree near the corner of Hughes
and Baker streets. With aboiit adozen regular attendants, Mrs. Cordelia Thompson,
who was superintendent, teacher and chorister, moved soon to a log cabin, now
demolisiied, which stood on Mt. Vernon Avenue, a short distance east of Cham-
]iioii Avenue. Here Mrs. Thompson and otiicrs who came to her assistance labored
for some time, but Mrs Thompson's health failed and the school was turned over
to tlie Baptists. It was in December, 1887, that Jes.se B. Ridgway, of the Second
Baptist Church, took charge of the school which was then given the name the church
now bears by a committee composed of Maggie Jackson, Fanny Isbell and the new
sui>erinlendent. The organization of the^chnrch was effected April 29, 1888.
Rev. J.imes Poindexter officiated, assisted bv Rev. Irving W. Metcalf, of Eastwood
Congreg.itional Church, Rev. W. E. Nash," of Shiloh Baptist Church, and Elder
Meredith. The original membership was twentj', most of which was di-awu from
the Second Baptist Church. The first business meeting was held on May 10, 1888,
and the first officers were then elected as foUovvs: Trustees, John Littleton, Jere-
miah Fi'eelanil, Thomas E. Isbell, Henry Harris and Lewis Ross; clerk, J. B.
Ridgway; assistant clerk, Maggie Jackson. Rev. W. E. Nash was the first pastor
of the church, his pastorate extending Irom September 2, 1888, to April 26, 1891,
during which time the membership grew to 168. A lot was purchased on Cham-
])ion Avenue near Ma/n Street, which, after it had been enlarged by a donation
fi'om Charles Games of four feet frontage, was built irpon. The cornerstone was
laid July 21, 1889, and the edifice, which is of brick and now almost complete, will
soon be formally dedicated. Rev. A. M. Lewis, the present pastor, began his
labors May 10, 1891. The membership is now about 175.
Bethany Baptist Church (coloi'ed), which is now worshiping in a building of
its own at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Sixth Street, had its origin in a Sun-
dayschool, begun in the fall of 1888 on East Filth Avenue. It was nondenomi-
national, both Methodists and Baptists attending. In the spring of 1889, the
Baptists under the leadership of William A. Burk, a member of Shiloh Baptist
Church, withdrew from the alliance and began holding services separately at the
residence of James Jackson in the same vicinity. Mr. Burk conducted the Sun-
dayschool as superintendent and, in the following summer, a public meeting was
called to consider the advisability of erecting a church building. Mr. Burk's
proposition to give a lease of a lot for three years, if a building was erected, was
accepted, and a frame structure was put up on East Fifth Avenue, being first used
in November, 1889. In April, 1890, R. C. Minor, a young minister of the Baptist
faith, came to Mr. Burk's assistance and later began preaching: at the church.
The question of establishing an independent church arose, but was opposed by
some on the ground that it would weaken the old churclies without doing any
special good otherwise. In August, 1890, Mr. Burk resigned as superintendent of
the school and was succeeded by Mr. Minor, a strong advocate of a separate
church. In October, revival services were begun and a number of ])ersons pro-
fessed conversion, thus encouraging the idea of inde])endent organization. On
January 1, 1891, a meeting was held and it was decided to go ahead with the
organization. J. D. Warner of the Tenth Avenue BajHist Church, was modera-
tor and Professor F. W. Sperr, of the same church, was secretaiy. It was
decided that the church should be called Bethany Baptist Church. The articles
of faith and the covenant were adopted and thirteen persons were enrolled as
C,Q-> History of the City of Columbus.
members, actual or prospective. Of lliese only four were in good standing as
Baptists, viz , R. C. Minor, Harvey Johnson, Mary A. Madden and Liddie John-
son. The others were received to membership after their baptism a few days
later. The churcdi, thus organized, called Rev. R. C. Minor to the pastora'te. In
November, 1891, the building was moved from the leased lot to the present site
which had been purchased for 1700. The church lias grown steadily and now has
a membership of forty-two.
CHAPTER XLIV.
LUTHERAN.
The earliest settlers in Columbus belonging to the Lutheran Church were
Lorenlz Heyl and his wife, together with their two sons, Conrad and Christian, a
widowed daughter -Rogina Pilgrim— and her famil.y, and a grandson named
Christian Me.yor ; nil of whom arrived in 1813. At the beginning of the year 1818,
about a dozen families of the same denomination had taken up their homes here
and about as many more were located on farms in Franklin County, east of the
Scioto Hiver. The first steps to gather and organize these members into a congre-
gation were taken under the lead of Rev. Michael J. Steek, then of the neighbor-
ing town of Lancaster. The first Lutheran service was conducted by him later in
the same year, in a secondstory room of Christian He3^1'8 " O. H. Perry Inn,"
afterwards known as the Franklin House, on South High Street. Three or four
individuals of the German Reformed Faith, who were intermarried with Luth-
erans, united with the congregation, the services and pastors of which, however,
were exclusively Lutheran from the beginning and throughout its entire history,
'fhe name given to the church was St. Paul's, which it still retains.
After Rev. ('harles Henkel, from Shenandoah County, Virginia, its first resi-
dent pastor, took charge of the congregation in the fall of 1819, the meetings were
first held at the bouse of Conrad Heyl, southeast corner of Rich and Front streets.
Among the earliest members besides those abovenamed were Gottlieb Lichtenecker,
William Altmann, Jonathan Knieriemer, Henry and Philip Borman, Simon Stahl,
John and Peter Putnam, Rudolph Loeliger and their respective families. Among
those from the country, chiefly from Madison, Hamilton, Jefferson and Mifllin town-
ships, were George, John and David Ridenour, Michael Neuschwender, Jesse Baugh-
man, John Saul, '-Father" Heltzel (for whom theHeltzel Church, afterwards builtsix
miles southeast of Columbus, was named), and his sons Jacob, Nicholas and Philip,
and Frederick Stambaugh, and their families. Some of these lived from nine to twelve
miles from Columbus, but nearly or quite all of them were, when the weather or
the state of the roads permitted, regular attendants at the church services, usually
coming on horseback and often mounted two on the same horse. During sleighing
seasons rough, homemade sleds were used as conveyances.
Early in 1820 the church lot, Number 561, southeast corner of Third Street
and the alley between Town and Rich streets, was bought of John Waddle for two
hundred dollars, and the erection of a frame church building thereon was immedi-
ately begun in the spring of that year. From a little memorandum book in the
handwriting of Christian Heyl, it appears that the first payment on the lot,
amounting to $60, was made up of a contribution of $43 by himself and one of
[693]
694 History of the City of ColuiMbus.
seventeen dollars by Gottlieb Lichtenecker. An item — " paid postage on letter to
Lancaster, 50 cents "— is a curious memento of the postage rates in those days.
The work upon the church building progressed slowly, since none of the
members and but few of the other citizens had more than a very moderate supply
of this world's goods, but all helped as be>t they could to forward the work by
small contributions of money, labor, or materials until the building was finally fit
for occupation. The pulpit was built in the style then common, being rather high
and approached by six or eight steps from the floor. The altar, built on a plat-
form a single step above the main floor in front of the pulpit, was of octagonal
form and .surrounded by a balustrade, around which, at celebrations of the Lord's
supper, the communicants twice circled each in turn, on arrival at the front, bow-
ing or courtesying before receiving the consecrated bread and wine.
There were at that time only two other church buildings in the village ; these
were the Pi'esbyterian on Front Street near Town, and the Methodisl I'j]]isc()]ial
on Town Street between High and Third. The Lutheran church, ;ilili(Hi^h very
plain, compared favorably with either of them. Columbus then contained less
than five hundred inhabitant.-. Among the first catechumens confirmed liy licv.
Mr. Henkcl were David, Moses and Eve Altmann, Stacry Baker and Simon Stahl,
Junior. The service of the church was at first exclusively in the German lan-
guage, but alter a year or two Mr. Henkel also had afternoon service in English
and became quite popular as an English preacher. He subsequently served also
the Ueltzel congregation and another at Delaware, the latter only once every four
weeks, and on week days as time permitted. On June 22, 1S25, he was regularly
ordained as pastor of the three congregations by the Lutheran Synod convened
at Lancaster, the custom of the Syno'd then being to require;' probai.ion of several
years of candidates for ordination who were licensed, ad m^enw, to perform nearly
all the rites of ordained ministers. This is no longer the practice.
When sickness or absence prevented Mr. Henkel from officiating, the service
was usually conducted by Lorentz Heyl, the senior member of the congregation,
who was an excellent reader and had long been accustomed to a similar service
at his own family altar. Besides leading the liturgical service and singing, he
usually read a sermon appropriate to the Sunday of the church year, from a Ger-
man book of sermons. He died in the spring of 1832, his loving and faithful
wife having preceded him into eternity a year earlier, after a happy union with
him of over sixtythree years. As the congregation was then without a pastor,
Kev. Dr. Hoge, of the Presbyterian Church,''officiated at her obsequies.
In 1827 Pastor Henkel accepted a call to the Somerset charge and the Coluni-
bus congregation was without a pastor for four years, and granted the use of its
building to the Episcopalians, who had then organizeii a congregation and had no
church edifice. In the fall of 1831 Eev. William Schmidt, a native of Germany,
who had projected the establishment of a theological seminary at Canton, Ohio,
which institution, by action of the Ohio Synod and with consent of its fomuler,
had been removed to Columbus, was called to take charge of the congregation.
Professor Schmidt accepted this call and maintained the pastoral relation to which
it invited him, until his death in the fall of 1839. During his ministry the Ger-
man language alone was used in the service of the congregation, then chiefly com-
posed of German immigrants and their descendants. He was a man of great learn-
ing and indefatigable energy, very fond of horticultural pursuits and always ready
to push a wheelbarrow, swing a scythe or follow a plow when his professional
duties would permit. Of pronounced opinions, he was yet of a very kindly nature,
unassuming to a fault and accessible to the humblest of his parishioners, in whose
welfare he always manifested a lively interest which won their hearts and confidence
to such a degree that they c^me to him for advice and comfort in all their trials and
never failed to realize that they had in their pastor a true friend and wise counselor.
Lutheran. U95
His predecessor, Mr. Heiikel, survived him several ye;ir.s. lioth were greatly loved
and revered, not only by their congi-egations but by all who knew them. In the
fall of 1.S37, Professor Schmidt paid his hist vi.sit to bis father and other near rela-
tives ill Germany (his mother having died several years before), and remained
away about a year, during whieii interval Kev. Christian Bspich officiated in his
place both as jirofessor and as pastor.
During all the earlj- years of the congregation up to 1841, Christian Hejd was
the leading spirit of its \iiy mcmbcrs'iip. As a worker in the church and as a con-
tributor to its interest ho was alike prominent. His bouse, tlie same in which the
congregation was first oi'ganized, was aiwaj's open to any Lutheran or Eeforuied
minister who traveled through Columbus. To clergj'men and lay delegates the
hospitalities of bis home were extended without charge. He nearly always repre-
sented the congi-egation at the church conventions and was accustomed to supply
from his own pocket any deficiencies in what he regarded as proper contributions
to the .synodical treasury from the society to which he belonged.
In the spring of 1840 Rev. Doctor Charles F. Schaeffer, of Hagerstown, Mary-
land, was elected pastor of the church and professor of the Seminar}-. A pro-
found seliolar, thoroughly at home in the German and English languages, he was
also an acceptable preacher, and soon reintroduced the English afternoon services
which liad been discontinued after Mr. Henkel s resignation in 1827. He also,
soon after iiis installation, started an English Sundayschool in addition to the Ger-
man one then in successful operation. Rev. F. W. Winkler, of Newark, New
Jersey, having been installed as an additional professor in the Seminary in 1842,
a disagreement arose between him and Professor Schaeffer in regard to the use of
the English language in the instruction at the Seminary and also in the service of
the congregation. Because of this trouble and others not of a doctrinal nature,
Doctor Schaeffer resigned the pastorate and Rev. Konrad Mees was elected to suc-
ceed him. About the same time a lot at the corner of High and Mound streets
was purchased, the old lot being accepted as part payment for the new one and
subsequently sold to the Universalist Societj-. On the lot newly purchased the
church wiiich now stands upon it was soon afterwards erected. The English ser-
vice was discontinued but the question as to the use of the English language in
the Seminai-y continued to be agitated until, in 1845, it led to action by the Synod
whicii a large proportion of the congregation disapproved and resented by with-
drawal. Two new congregations were then organized — a German one under the
name of Trinity Lutheran and an English one bearing the name of First English
Lutheran, both under the pastorate of Rev, William F. Lehmann, who bad been
elected sole. Professor of the Seminary. The meetings during the first 3'ear were
held in the chamber known as Mechanics' Hail, occupying the upper story of a
building at the souiheast corner of High and Rich streets, in other words on the
site of the cabin in which Christian Heyl established his home when he first
arrived in Columbus in 1813. The two new congregations, composed of substan-
tially the same members, after the first year rented the German Evangelical
Chureh on Mound Street, near Third, and there organized both German and Kng-
lish Sundayscliools. In 1850 the congregations, in accordance with their (iriuinal
design, amicabl_y separated and the members of the English division, clKJosi ng
Rev. B. Greenwald, of New Philadelphia, as their pastor, held their SuihIun and
weekdav services in the old " Covert School " building which the Seminary had
purchased for its use in connection with the Capital University. After 1853 they
occupied the old Congregational Church on Third Street, above Broad, under the
successive pastorates of Rev. Professors D. Worley and E. Schmid. Since their
removal to their own building (first on Rich and later on East Main Street) they
have been served by Reverends George Beck, Peters and S W. Kuhns.
696 History of the City of Columbus.
The German division, soon after the separation, built the large brick edifice on
Third Street below South, under their pastor. Rev. Pi-ofessor Lehmann.
It is pleasant here to record that, while the controvei-sies in 18+2 and the
sueceedin<i' four or five j-cars which were ref'ei'alile almost exclusively to apprehen-
sions, due or undue, as to encroachments of the English language, gave rise to sev-
eral suits involving property rights, and excited a good deal of personal acrimony,
the lapse of time, with a calm retrospect of the unfortunate misconceptions of each
others' motives, and a justcr appreciation of the true spirit which actuated
both parties, whose common loyalty to and solicitude for the best interests of the
church of their choice, are now acknowledged by both, has happily long ago
healed all individual wounds, removed personal animosity and fully restored the
fraternal relations and mutual confidence which a community of faith and of devo-
tion to its teachings ought never to have allowe<l to be interrupted.
St. Paul's Lutheran Church." — This is one of the oldest church organizations
in Columbus. Mention has been made of its successive pastors antecedent to Eev
Konrad Mecs, who was called to its pastorate on June ti, 1843, and has now faith-
lully served it during fortynine successive years. In 1844 its large brick edifice
on the southwest corner oif High and Mound sirects was erected. On October 10,
1856, a fire broke out in a long frame building in i-eai' of this churcli,'which
also took fire and was destroyed excepting only its walls. Its organ, then the
finest in the citj', perished with the building. Unfortunately the church property
was covered by no insurance. The consrregation decided to rebuild at once and
it was due to the indefatigable labors of Eev. Konrad Mees that the first anniver-
sary of the fire was celebrated by the consecration of a new church edifice. In
1871 it was decided to build a spire and remodel the church in general. Major N.
B. Kelle.v, of East Broad Street, was selected as architect and presented plans and
specifications fjr one of the most graceful spires in Columbus. Before the work
of erecting it was begun Mr. Kelley died and Mr. Schlapp was appointed to suc-
ceed hira. The entire cost of the work was about 118,000. In the fall of 1880 the
three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the Book of Con-
cord was celebrated in a becoming manner. The church was handsomely deco-
rated for this occasion and was crowded at the morning and evening service. In
November, 1883, the congregation celebrated the four hundredth anniversar3- of
the birth of Doctor Martin Luther. This was one of the mo.st notable events in
the history ol the church.
In 1890 it was decided to remodel and fresco the interior of the church and
repair its organ. The contract for the frescoing was given to C. Jensen, who
executed a design of great beauty. The church organ was cleaned and changed
by Mr. John Sole, of Massachusetts, and now derives its motive power from a
water motor in lieu of the old handpumping system. The entire cost of these
improvements was about $3,500. The congregation is now almost out of debt and
in a prosperous condition. Among the numerous improvements of which the
church has borne the expense during the last twenty j-ears are those of the adja-
cent streets, for which about S5,000 have been expended. Tiie congregation now
contains about 275 voting members. Its present officers are: Trustees, George
Beck, J. F. Kaefer and G. W. Beck; Elders, H. Schweinsberger, P. Grau, Senior,
L. Brunn and A. GriiiuMitluil ; Deacons, William Schweinsberger, B. Kramer, G.
Wallerman and T. Jlnli.ili/.lK'imer ; Treasurer, F. J. Heer.
Trinity German /■:r,iii:/,lir,il Lutheran Congregation.^ — The original founders of
this congregation, fortycight grown persons, were members of the St. Paul's United
Lutheran and Eeformed Church of this city. They quitted that church on January
28, 1847, and held divine services under the leadership of Rev. C. Spielmann, from
time to time, in the Seminary building of the Evanirelical Lutheran Joint Synod
of Ohio. Rev. W. F. Lehmann being calleil as a professor to this Theological
Lutheran.
697
Seminary in the same year, the members of the congrogation soon extended a call
to him to become their pastor. He accepted that call. On Januaiy 28, 1848,
these Lutheran.s organized themselves, by unanimous adoption of a constitution,
as the Trinity German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Columbus, Ohio.
^UL S LUTIIEHAN Cni
In the beginning of February, 1849, the new society rented the building of the
German Independent Protestant Church on Mound Street and held its services in
that building for eight years. Meanwhile the little flock continued to grow, by
the blessing of God under the efficient pastorate of Professor Lehmann, in spite of
698 History of the CiTr of Columbus.
many hindrances and hardships, and soon began to be hopeful enough to cast
about for a site for a church of its own. The congregation became from the start
a member of the Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio and sent its representatives to the
meetings of that body. At the same time Professor Lehmann, the indefatigable
worker, ijrenched in the English language from time to time and a separate organ-
ization for English-speaking Lutherans was started and maintained. Li 1852 a
choir leader. Mr. Straus, was engaged at $25 per year, and at the same time the
members of the vestry served as deacon in rotation in order to cut down expenses.
At this time the rent for the church was $120 per year. The young congregation
did not omit to exercise church discipline in several cases.
On April G, 1856, a committee which had been appointed to look up a suitable
building lot reported that they had bought the lot on the corner of Third and
Fulton (Ibrrnerly South) streets, and the action was unanimously endorsed by the
eonuregation. On June 8, same yeai-, it was resolved to begin the erection of the
new house of Clod, an edifice 56 x 106 feot in size. The congregation had by this
time more than 250 communicants and went to work with enthusiasm. On July
28, 1856, the cornerstone of the new structure was laid with great joy, Eev. C.
Spielmann, Professor D. VVorley, Professor D. Martens and Rev. J. A. Schulze, besides
the pastor, Professor W. F. Lehmatin, taking part in the cei-emonie.s. The new
church was dedicated December 20, 1857, by Professor Lehmann, Eevs. Wagen-
hals, J. C. Schulze, M. Loy, J. A. Schulze and Professor D. Worley, the tower and
basement rooms being still unfinished. The sum of $10,185 had been subscribed
for lot and church, and in the beginning of 1858 $6,185 had been paid in, leaving
debts outstanding to the amount of $6,560. against which were uncollected sub-
scriptions amounting to $4,000, reducing the net indebtedness to $2,560. All
nioneys were raised by freewill offerings, and not a cent by fairs or other ques-
tionable means. Fi'om now on the male members met monthly and paid twenty-
five cents each for the purpose of liquidating the remaining debt, and the ladies
of the church started societies for the same purpose. The basement rooms were
finished in 1861 and the years following. On March 29, 1863, the vestry passed
the following resolution :
That henceforth no one shall be received as a member of this congregation who belongs
to a secret society, and that no one shall remain a member of this congregation who, being
a mumber, joins such a society.
In the same year an organ was bought and set up in the church at a cost of
$1,100. In the beginning of 1866, the congregation resolved to establish in its
midst a parochial school and a teacher was called. The congregation had now
grown to about 900 communicants, and as the work in the church and college had
increased to much greater proportions, they began to look around for some 'means
to relieve their pastor somewhat, and it was resolved to call an assistant pastor;
but this resolution was rescinded in the following May, 1868. Just a year after
this, the teacher was asked to resign, which he did. The parochial school after
a short time died out.
On June 16, 1872, the congregation, by a strong majoritj-, endorsed the reso-
lution of the vestry regarding secret societies, and ever since it has strictly
adhered to that rule. On September 22, same year, the congregation, on the peti-
tion of Professor Lehmann and the S3'nod, resolved to dismiss their pastor, with
great reluctance and heartfelt gratitude for his faithful services during nearly
twentysix years, henceforth to serve as Professor of Theology in the Capital Uni-
versity, only. In the following June Eev. R. Herbst, of Hamilton, Ohio, was
called as his successor at a salary of $1,200 a year. Iii 1876, the steeple was built
and three fine bells jiut into it at a cost of $3,470.
Lutheran. 609
In ihe year 1880 a docti'iiial controversy on the question of predestination
began lietween the Lutlieraii Syiioil of Missouri and tli;it ofOiiio, tlie former leaving
the old landmarks of the genuine Lutheran faith and following to a great extent
in the footsteps of John Calvin. The Ohio Synod, not wishing to give up its okl
standards of pure doctrine, separated from the Missouri Synod with which it had
been united in the Synodical Conference, a general body of Lutherans. This
controversy aroused discussion in the Trinit}' congregation also, but Reverend
Herbst, siding with Missouri, frustrated the attempt of the congregation to take a
decided stand for Ohio, to which Synod it belonged. On June 25, 1882, however,
a meeting was held in which Reverend Trebel, president of the Western District
of the Oiiio Synod, presided. There were present 103 voting members or heads of
families. It was decided by 71 against H2 votes that the congregation stand by the
Ohio Sj-nod. Reverend Herbst having shortly before severed his connection with
the Ohio Synod, his office was, according to the constitution of the congregation,
declared vacant, and it was resolved to have another meeting in two weeks ior the
purpose of electing a ne* pastor. At that meeting Reverend E. A. Bochme, of
New Washington, Ohio, was called, but he declined twice.
On September 4, 1882, Reverend C. H. Rohe was called. He had, in ihe
spring, resigned his pastorate in Detroit on account of broken health and was at
this tiine recuperating in Germany. The call met him at Iloboken as soon as he
set foot on his native soil again. Meanwhile Reverend Herbst was trying to start
an opposition congregation within less than a square of Trinity, but with poor
success. On October 8, 1882, Reverend C. H. Rohe preached in this church for the
first time, but he was very reluctant for some months to accept the call for fear
that his. health would again give way. On December 31, 18S2, the congregation,
at the instance of its new pastor, resolved unanimously to go to work earnestly in
reestablishing its parochial school, but circumstances hindered the execution of this
resolution until August 26, 1883, when A. W. Lindemann was called as teacher.
Reverend Rohe being urged to it constantly, and his health slowly improving, he
finally accepted the call of the congregation as their pastor in the beginning of the
year and has been at work ever since.
In November, 1883, the four hundredth anniversary of the birth of the great
reformer Martin Luther was duly celebrated by Trinity congregation in conjunc-
tion with neighboring Lutheran congregations. On December 28, 1884, teacher
Lindemann was called as Professor to the Teachers' Seminary at Woodvillc, Ohio,
and H. Amelung was made teacher in his place. In 1886 the steeple and outside
woodwork of the church were painted at a cost of $200. On December 29, 1S8S,
teacher Amelung having been called to Wisconsin, C. Linsenmann was called, who
is still at his post. During the summer of 1889 the entire inside of the church was
renewed, frescoed, carpeted, etc., at a cost of $1,500, and a new and magnificent
organ, with water motor and all modern improvements, worth 82,000, was put up
by the young people of the church.
Grace Lutheran Church.* — In 1872 a majority of the members of tlie cluircli
known as the First English Lutheran withdrew from the Joint Synod and joined
the General Council. Rev. M. Loy, D. D., invited those who wanted to remain in
connection with the Joint Synod to meet at the German Trinity Lutheran Church.
Late in the year 1872 an organization was effected under the name of Grace
Evangelical Lutheran Church. Among the first members were Professor M. Loy
and family. Professor C. H. L. Schuette and family, Professor G. C. Dasher and
familj', George Bowman and family, John Bowman and family, David Adkins and
family and William Heyl and family. Professor C. II. L. Schuette was called and
served as pastor. Services were held for a time at Trinity Lutheran Church and
later in the Emanuel Methodist Episcopal Church, then situated near Livingston
Avenue and Third Street. In 1873 a lot was purchased on South Fourth Street
700 History of the City of Columbus.
Dear Mound for $2,800. Soon afterward the congregation decided to build a
frame chapel on this lot at a cost of $3,000. Professor W. F. Lehtnann preached
the dedicatory sermon. In 1889 the congregation, having grown numerically,
decided to remodel and enlarge the church at a cost of about $5,000. Professor
Schuette was assisted by students of the Capital University but, on account of his
duties at that institution, he resigned the pastorate and Eeverend M. E. Walter
was called. After remaining one year Mr. Walter resigned and the pulpit was
filled by Professor M. L03-, Rev. D. Simon was then called and remained in
charge until invited to another pulpit at Prospect, Ohio, in 1882. After this
event the congregation extended a call to Rev. J. Beck, of Lithopolis, Ohio, who
accepted and remained with the congregation until August, 1892, when he
accepted a call to Richmond, Indiana. At present the Professors of the Capital
University fill the pulpit alternately.
St. Marl:'s Hmjlisli Lutheran. Church. — This church was organized in the fall of
1885, at the resilience (if James Broucher. The organizers were mostly members
of the Grace Evaiigelieal Lutheran Congregation residing in the northern part of
the city and desiring to establish a church in that section. The original mem-
bers of the new society were J. B. Broucher, wife and dnughter, Thomas Hill,
wife and children, J. Liebold and wife, Mrs. J. Blackwood and daught-ers, William
Jj. Hey! and wife and Charles Heyl and wife. Services were held at the homes ot
the members. Two lots for a church on the corner of Denni.son and Fifth avenues
were bought by Rev. J. Beck, for $1,800. Grace Lutheran Church had borrowed
$2,400 from the joint Synod for an indefinite time, and it was propofsed to raise
this sum at once on condition that the Synod should in turn lend it to St. Mark's
Church to assist it in paying for and improving its lots. The Synod consented to
this and a new chui-ch was erected at a cost of $2,500. The dedicatory services
were conducted by Professor A. Pfluger on the first Sunday in June, 1886. Rev.
J. C. Schacht filled this pulpit from the autumn of 1888 until May, 1889, when he
was succeeded by Rev. J. H. Kuhlman who remained about two years when Rev.
W. JS. Harley, who is still the pastor, took charge. This congregation is steadily
growing. About one year ago a fine pipe organ, which adds considerably to the
interest <if the services, was purchased.
' '//;'-/ l.iith'-rnii Chvrch.-On the removal of the Capital University to its
present lueatidn from the building now occupied by the Park Hotel, in 1876, a
neat brick church was erected in connection with the University on its grounds
east of Alum Creek. This congregation has about 150 communicant members and
has been served by Professor C. H. L. Schuette as pastor. The students of the
Capital LTniversity also attend services here during the school term.
St.Pt'fir> J:'r,i,n/,ln;d Lutheran Mission. — For a number of years Professor
Theodore ilees e<iinliieted a Sundayschool in the northeastern part of the city.
This led to a detorminution by the different Lutheran congregations to establish a
mission in that section as well as in the South Side. Accordingly, a mission
society was started which holds monthly missionarj- meetings and services at the
different Lutheran churches successively. Tiiis mission society was assisted by
the professors of the Capital University until a call was extended to and accepted
by Rev. J. P. Hentz, of Lima, Ohio, in the present year — 1892. Since Mr. Hentz
look charge tvv(j suitable lots costing $2,000 have been purchased, and it is intended
to erect aneat chapel on these lots at an early day.
Lutheran.
THE CAPITAL UNIVERSITY; BY REV. EMANUEL SCHMID, A. M.
In order to give a correct view of the history of the Capital University it is
necessary to "begin at tlie beginning," and the beginning of tliis instiliilion we
find in liie German Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of the .Joint Synod of Ohio, of
which it is the outgrowth. Early in the history of Ohio many Lutherans from
the Eastern States, and from Germany, settled in that new and promising State.
These Lutherans here and there organized congregations and obtained their min-
isters as best they could, from the East and from Europe, or by the help of minis-
ters already settled in the new State, who prepared gifted young men for the holj^
otfice. All this supply, or rather want of supply, was not satisfactory. After the
organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio in the year 1818, the
question of founding a theological school of its own was repeatedly agitated but
was not luUy settled until the year 1830. In that year the Synod determined to
begin the work in earnest. The first step taken was to find the proper man who
should be the teacher in the new institution. The location of the proposed seminary
and the necessary building were secondary considerations. Fortunately for the
projectors of this undertaking a young theologian from Germany, Rev. William
Schmidt, who had obtained his training at the noted university at Halle, had
about this time arrived in Ohio and was serving a few small congregations in and
about Canton. He was elected to be the theological professor. Inasmuch as Mr.
Schmidt did not wish to give up his charge immediately, it was agreed that the
Seminary should be started in Canton. There, in his own house. Professor Schmidt
began with six students — a small commencement yet one of farreaching import-
ance. It may be stated here as noteworthy that this was the second Lutheran
Seminary in America, it being antedated only by Hartwick Seminary in Otsego
County, New York, which was founded in 1815.
It soon became apparent that the new capital of Ohio, Columbus, would be a
more suitable location for the new seminary than Canton. Accordingly, by reso-
lution of Synod, the transfer was made in the fall of 1831. Fourteen acres of land
were purchased near the southern extremity of High Street, as that street then
was. The citizens ot Columbus contributed to the institution the sum of $2,500.
Two buildings for the accommodation of the seminary were erected. These build-
ings were then an ornament to the southern part of Columbus. Whoever today
passes the beautiful property of Mr. Hayden in that part of the city passes the
former site of the seminary. " College Street," just east of the Hayden property,
commemorates this fact. More than this, the theological Seminary became of
necessity the first school in Columbus in which an education higher than that
afforded by the common schools could be obtained. It was soon felt that an
academic course, limited though it might be, must be connected with the seminary
if the young men who desired to study theology would be duly prejjared for their
future calling. Hence the course of study in the institution embraced a number
of branches not usually taught in theological schools, such as Latin, Greek, Logic,
German, Syntax, etc. Quite a number of the prominent families of Columbus
improved this ojjportunity of giving their sons a more extensive education than
could be had in the public schools; consequently the number of pupils from the
" town " was large.
Professor Schmidt died in 1839, only thirtysix years of age. His successor
was Rev. C. F. Schaefor of Hagerstown, Maryland. He had for an assistant Mr.
C. Jiicksch, who taught the ancient languages. Professor Jticksch, however, soon
702 History of the City of Columbus.
resigned. Tliereujion Reverend F. AV. Winkler been mc second professor of tbeol-
ogy and iissisltint teacher in the preparatory department. The " language ques-
tion " about tliis time caused considerable difficulty in the Synod and the Semin-
ary. Both professors resigned, the one in 1842, the other in 1845. In 1846 Rev.
W". F, Lehmann received a call and accepted the vacant professorship in the Sem-
inarj^ Of Professor Lehmann Doctor Schodde truthfully says in a historical sketch
of the Capital Univer.sity : " A new era in the hi8tor3' ot the Seminary begins with
theappointmcntof Jiev. W. F. Lehmann as theological professorin 184G. Professor
Lehmann, although in purely scholastic attainments he may have been surpassed
by some, yet through his eminent practical taste that always seemed to know and
do the ri-ht thing at the right lime, and through his intense devotion to the school,
has probably done as much as, or even more than, any other man to make the
institution what it is. From 1846 down to his death in December, 1880, he was
engaged as teacher in the seminary, and when a college department was added,
he was professor in the college also, later becoming the president of the whole
institution. Through his mastery of botii the German and English languages, he
practically settled the language question for the seminary by delivering his lec-
tures in both languages."
This is perhaps tlie proper place to state that the Theological Seminary, as a
branch of the Capital University, is still performing its work very successfully in
educating young men for the ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod
of Ohio and other States. And very urgent indeed is this work, inasmuch as the
Synod has extended her boundaries (ar beyond the State lines of Ohio — even
from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Great Lakes in the north to the Gulf
of Mexico in the south. There arc now three theologic;il professors, viz. : Rev.
M. Loy, D. D., Rev. C. H. L. Schuette, A. M., and Rev.F. W. Stellhorn. The theo-
logical students have also the opportunity of hearing lectures in the college and
taking part in the recitations of this branch of the institution.
. In the course of time it became evident that a litei'ary institution, with a full
college curriculum, was needed by the Synod of Ohio. The desire to establish
such an institution, and thereby to advance the cause of a higher education, per-
meated with a true Christian spirit, grew from year to year until it found its
fruition in 1850. On March 7 of that year a charter was granted b_y the legisla-
ture, according to which the Capital University', with all necessary privileges and
immunities pertaining to a literary institution of the kind, was established. The
directors in whose name the charter was given were the following: James
Manning, C. G. Schweizerbarth, Christian Spielmann, C. Albrecht, John Leist,
Jacob Beck, J. Machold, Lewis Heyl, G. W. Boerstler, Andrew Henkle, E.
Gebhart, Henry Lang, Emanuel Greenwalt, John Minnich, D. Rothacker, A. B.
Bierdemann, J. Stomple, Henry Everhart, Jonas Mechling, and John Zimnicrniann.
These weie all members of the Lutheran Church and of the Joint Synod of Ohio,
but besides them the following prominent citizens of Columbus, irrespective of
church affiliation, were charter members of the Board of Directors: Samuel
Galloway, Henry Stanbery, Lincoln Goodale, Samuel M Smith, George M.
Parsons, Thomas Sparrow, John P. Bruck, Thomas Roberts, Matthew Gooding
and Fernando C. Kelton.
On the evening of the day on which the charter became a law (March 7, 1850)
the Board of Directors unanimously elected Rev. Professor William M. Rey-
nolds, D. D., of Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as President
of the new institution. The board at the same time elected Rev. A. Essick and
J. A. Tressler as teachers in languages, mathematics, etc., and Professor Lehmann,
of the Theological Seminary, as teacher of German. AH of these accepted the
appointments tendered them. In the meantime the site of the Seminary had been
changed from the south end of the city to Town Street, where the old Covert
LtrTHERAN. 703
property, situated at the head of Fifth Street, had been purchased, tiio grounds on
South High Street having been sold in the fall of 1849 to Mr. Peter Hayden. The
new college was ojjened at the Town Street site. The inauguration of President
Reynolds took place on the evening of May 21, 1850, and the grammar school,
which was the whole of the college at that time, opened on May 22 of the same
year. A "Faculty of Letters" was constituted at a regular meeting of the board
on September 11, 1850, by appointing, in addition to the President, Rev. A. Essick
as professor of Ancient Languages and Literature, J. A. Tressler as jirofessor of
Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, and Hev. W.JF. Leiimannas professor of the
German Language and Literature. At the same meeting Mr. Daniel Worley was
appointed Tutor. Doctor T. G. Wormly was soon afterwards appointed Professor
of Chemistry and Natural Science.
The location on Town Street did not prove satisfactory', and steps were taken
to secure a more appropriate one. It was then that the liberality and kindness of
Doctor Lincoln Goodale became manifest towards the Capital University. He
donated a fouracre lot just east of Goodale Park, at the corner of High and
Goodale streets, to this institution of learning on condition that an appropriate
building should be erected on the ground thus generously granted. This donation
was thankfully accepted by the Board of Directors. The work of building went
forward briskly and by September, 1853, a noble edifice was completed and ready
to receive the school with all its departments, including the Grammar School, the
College proper and the Theological Seminary. The dedication of the new building
took place September 1-1, 1853, and on that occasion the wellknown statesman.
Honorable William H. Seward, of New York, delivered the English address,
the German one being delivered by Rev. Doctor Stahlman, of New York Citj'.
The cost of the building was $40,000.
Untoward circumstances, which need not be particularized here, caused the
resignation of President Reynolds in the following year. His successor was Rev.
C. Spielmann, who remained in office until 1857, when failing health caused his
resignation. Then came the presidency of Professor W. F. Lehmann, which con-
tinued until his death in 1880. Of the successful labors of Professor Lehmann
we have already spoken above. Professor M. Loy, D. D., was chosen as the
fourth President and is the present incumbent of that office.
When the Capital University was located on the grounds donated by Doctor
Goodale it was considered to be situated in the midst of rural scenes and quiet.
And so it was, indeed, lor a number of j'ears. But this state of affairs soon
changed, especially after the war, when Columbus began to grow rapidly. The
city and the railways crowded around the school to such an extent as to make
a change of its site desirable. This change was accomplished in tlio year 1876,
when the institution was removed to its present location just east of Alum Creek
on the old National Road. The former building was sold and is now, after hav-
ing been remodeled and enlarged, used as the Park Hotel. A new and greatly
improved edifice was erected on the tenacre lot presented to the institution. A
commodious boardinghall has been built in the immediate vicinity of the college,
and in connection with several residences of professors and a neat church, gives
the location a lively and inviting appearance. The institution and its adjuncts
already form, in fact, a pleasant little suburb of the city, enjoying at the same
time all the advantages of a quiet rural life. A street railway now passes the
doors of the institution. The University edifice affords ample accommodation for
students, including lecture rooms, .society halls and everything that can render
such an institution attractive. The design is to have only two students occupy
the same room as a study and dormitory, but at present the crowded condition
of the school makes a de^iarture from this rule necessary. A threestory building
for recitations and library was erected in 1891, at a cost of $13,000.
704 History of the City of Columbus.
Tlie in.stiiution Ivnown as Capital Univorsitj- has no endowment. It is finan-
cially supported by tlie contributions of the congre;;ations and the members and
friends of the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio and other States, which
has now a membership of about 80,000 communicants. A few legacies in its favor
have been left by friends, but not to a large amount. More are expected, j'et the
chief reliance of the university rests upon the annual collections and gifts of the
members of the Synod. A small income from tuition must be added to this sup
port. Many of the students are maintained by the liberality of the church. The
organization of the University includes the Preparatory or Grammar School, the
Collegiate and the Theological Departments. Two years are assigned to the
Grammar School, four j'ears to the college course, and three to the theological
department. The college course is complete in itself; it aims at a thorough train-
ing upon the foundation laid in the Grammar School, and not merely at confer-
ring the bachelor's degree. This degree, however, is conferred upon students who
satisfactorilj- complete the full classical course. The master's degree (A. M.) is
conferred onlj- upon those who have shown themselves worthj^ of the honor by
literary work, which must bo submitted to the faculty for examination.
The college coui-se embraces the following subjects : Latin, Greek and Hebrew
languages and literature, with exercises in Latin and Greek composition through-
out the entire course. The study of Hebrew is begun in the Junior year, and by
those who study theology is continued in the seminary. Mathematics, pure and
applied, are taught throughout the course. Connected with this are theoretical
mechanics and natural philosophy. Universal history is taught in lectures
through all the classes. Much attention is paid to the study of German, which
extends through the preparatory and collegiate departments. Through the whole
course due attention is given to studies in English literature and philosophy,
embracing mental and moral science, logic and rhetoric. Weekly debates and
exercises in composition and declamation are held. There are two literary socie-
ties, one English and the other German, connected with the college. A library of
about 5,000 volumes is at the service of the members of the institution, of course
under certain restrictions.
The members of the present board of trustees are Rev. A. W. Werder,
President, Wheeling; Rev. J. Beck, Secretary, Columbus; Rev. D. Simon, Prospect,
Ohio; Rev. H. Wickenieyer, Richmond, Indiana; Rev. G. Mochel, Gallon, Ohio ;
Rev. E. A. Boehme, Youngstown, Ohio; Rev. Professor M. Loy, D. D., Columbus;
Rev. G. F. H. Meiser, Detroit ; C. Nagel, Springfield, Ohio ; P. Schuh, Galion, Ohio;
G. H. Spielmann, Columbus; L. Baum, St. Paul, Ohio; J. L. Trauger, Columbus;
F. W. Stock, Columbus; and G. Hellermann, also of Columbus.
The faculty as at present constituted is as follows: Rev. M. hoy, D. D.,
President and Professor of Mental and Moral Science; Rev. E. Schmid, A.M.,
Secretary and Professor of History; Rev. C. H. L. Schuettc, A. M., Professor of
Mathematics; Rev. George H. Schodde, Ph. D., Professor of Greek and Hebrew;
Rev. F. W. Stellhorn, Professor of German Language and Literature; Professor
George K. Leonard, A. M., Principal of Preparatory Department; Rev. A.
Pflueger, A. M., Resident Professor (Housefiather) ; Rev. K. Hemminghaus, A. M.,
Professor of Latin.
NOTES.
1. This introductory sketch was written by Professor Lewis Heyl, of Philadelphia.
2. The author is indebted for the sketch of this church to Mr. Frederick J. Heer.
.3. The author is indebted for the sketch of this church to its pastor, Rev. C. H. Rohe.
4. The author is indebted for this sketch, and those which follow of the Grace
Lutheran, St. Mark's English Lutheran and the Christ Lutheran churches, and of the
St. Peter's Lutheran Mission, to Mr. Frederick J. Heer.
^^f/^z^k^
CHAPTER XLV,
VARIOUS CHURCHES. Y. M, C. A.
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL.
Trinity Church. — Tho fir.st Prote.stant Epi.'^copal Society in tlie Northwest was
organized by the Worthingtou colony in 1803. Most of the colonists, comprising
about forty tamiiies, were Episcopalians. In their compact it was provided that
a farm lot of one hundred acres and two town lots should be set apart for the
establishment of a central school, or academ,y, and* that a like reservation should
be made for the foundation and support of a cliurch. Among the first things
tliought of by the eolonists when they began to take up their new homes in the
wilderness were these pledges in behalf of education and religion. A church and
a school were therefore at once organized and became joint occupants of a large
cabin built for public purpo.'^es, on the east side of the public square. Of this
building, Joel Buttles, one of the colonists, says in his diary, ihat "at all public
meetings it was a town hall ; and wiienever the young people wished to have a
dance or a ball, that being the only room large enough for that purpose,
it was used as a ballroom.'' The first trustees of the church were James Kilbourn,
Nathan Stewart and William Thompson; of the school, which took the name of
Academy, the first trustees were James Kilbourn, Levi Buttles and Nathan Stew-
art. Religious services were held i-egnlarlj^ every Sunday, Rev. James Kilbourn
ofiiciating, unless he happened to be absent from the village, in which case lay
reading was supplied, generally by Ezra Griswold, brother to the late Bishop
Griswold. The society has maintained these services without interruption, it is
said, until the present day.
On February 22, 1807, the General Assembly of Ohio passed an act incorporat-
ing the church as St. John's Parish. This act named thirtyone communicants. The
Academy was incorporated by an act of February 20, 1808. Without notable
event or change the church and school moved along hand in hand, until, in 1812,
the seat of government of Ohio was located on the " high bank of the Scioto,
opposite Pranklinton." To this event, greatly disappointing to the Worthington
colonists, who had striven earnestly, and with much deserving, to win for their
village the favor of the General Assembly, many of them adjusted themselves by
removing to the new town of Columbus. Another event of great importance to the
religious and literary interests of Worthington was the advent of Rev. Doctor
45* [7051
70(; History of the City of Columbus.
Philauder Chase, of Connecticut, who arrived in Ohio in 1817, and establislied his
residence on a fiirm between Columbus and Worthington. The purpose of Doctor
Chase in coming to the West was that of building up the interests of the Protes-
tant Episcopal denomination, particular!}- in Ohio, of which, on February 11, 1819,
he became Bishop. In 1820 his nephew, then twelve years old, and residing in
New Hampshire, followed him to Ohio, and became one of his pupils at Worthing-
ton. This nephew afterwards became Governor of the State, a National Senator
and the finance minister of the raightiest war in history. The crowning honor of
his life was that of being made Chief Justice of the United States, in which position
he died. Around the name and pensonality of this statesman, Salmon P. Chase,
cluster many of the most illustrious achievements in behalf of humjin progress, and
the integrity of our National Union. His future fame and usefulness were doubt-
less due in no small degree to the training given him by his uncle. Bishop Chase,
in tiie school at Worthington.-
The first religious service in Columbus held in accordance with the ritual of
tlie Protestant Episcopal Church was conducted by Rev. Philander Chase on
May 3, 1817, in the Buckeye House, on Broad Street. On the seventh of the
same month Doctor Chase held a second service, at the close of which thirty per-
sons signed articles associating themselves as "The Parish of Trinity Church,
Columbus, State of Ohio, in connection with the Protestant Episcopal Church of
the United States of America." The original signers of these articles were Orris
Parish, Joel Buttles, Benjamin Gardiner, Alfred Upson, Philo H. Olmsted, John
Kilbourne, John Warner, Thomas Johnson, John Webster, George W. Williams,
Cyrus Fay, Charles V. Hickox, John Callitt, Amasa Delano, Silas Williams, Chris-
topher Eipley, Austin Goodrich, Daniel Smith, Josiah Sabin, Cyrus Allen, Abner
Lord, James K. Gary, John C. Brodrick, James Pearce, M. Matthews, William K.
Lampson, Cyrus Parker, William Eockwell, A. J. McDowell, Junior, and L. Star-
ling. On the eleventh of the same month Doctor Chase held another service, at
the close of which the constitution of the Protestant EpiscyDpal Church of the
United States was read and adopted by the Trinity Church parishioners. The fol-
lowing church officers were thereupon appointed : Wardens, Orris Parish and
Benjamin Gardiner; vestrymen, John Kilbourne and Joel Buttles; secretary,
Joel Buttles. Messrs. Gardiner and Buttles were appointed delegates to a diocesan
convention to be held at Columbus on the first Monday in January, 1818.=' The
services of the church were subsequently held in various buildings, and were
sometimes conducted by Bishop Chase, sometimes bj' other clergymen whose
assistance was invoked. When clerical ministrations were not to be had, mem-
bers of the congregation appointed for the purpose officiated. The records show
that on September IG, 1819, Benjamin Gardiner and Cyrus Faj- were appointed
" layreaders to read the service of the church on each and every Sunday,'' and
that on September 10, 1825, Mathew Mathews was appointed layreader. For a
considerable time prior to 1833, the meetings of the congregation were held in a
small frame building which occujjied the present site of the Masonic Temple on
Third Street. A current newspaper record of June 8, 1826, says ; " The Episco-
pal Convention of the diocese of Ohio commenced in this town on yesterday."
This is all we are permitted to learn from the press of this very important meet-
ing.
On March 30, 1829, the following pledge, the original of which is now in the
hands of Mr. George Hardy, of Columbus, was circulated for signatures :
The subscribers promise to pay to the wardens of Trinity Church, in Columbus, oner
by the first day of January, annually, for the use and support of William Preston, or whom-
soever else shall be employed to officiate as clergyman of said parish, the sums annexed to
our names, reserving to ourselves the right of discontinuing this subscription any time by
giving notice in writing to either of said wardens.
Protestant Episcopal. 707
In pursuance of this pledge, Rev. William Preston became tlie first regular
rector of the Trinity Chui^ch parish, and on Easter Sunday, 1829, took charge of
the parish in connection with that of St. John's, at Worthington. At the expira-
tion of two years he took up his residence in Columbus, and devoted his entire
time to Trinity, which then comprised seventeen communicants, representing
eleven families. During Mr. Preston's pastorate the original Trinity Church —
first of its denomination in Columbus — was built of stone on the present site of
the Hayden Bunk, on East Broad Street. The lot cost $1,000, and was conveyed
to the society in 1832. The church was erected in 1833, at a cost of $10,000. It
was said to be, at that time, the largest edifice for religious purposes in Ohio.
During the period of its erection the number of parishioners increased to 110,
representing seventy families. A sale of pews in the new church took place in
January, 1834.
At the first recorded confirmation, which took place September 15, 1830, the
rite was administered by Bishop Chase t(^ fourteen persons, among whom were
Justin Morrison, P. B. Wilcox, Abram McDowell, Mrs. McDowell and Mrs. William
Neil. The second confirmation service in the parish took place August 30, 1833,
and was conducted by Bishop Charles P. Mcllvaine. Among the persons con-
firmed on that date were John C. Broderick, John A. Lazell, Mrs. C. Matthews,
Mrs. A. Brooks and Mrs. Kirby. The first recorded marriage in the parish was
that ot Justin Morrison and Melissa Boardman, solemnized October 20, 1831, by
Rev. William Preston. A convention of the clergy and laity of the Diocese of
Ohio was held in the Trinity Church in September, 1837.
The rectors of the Trinity parish have succeeded one another in the following
order: 1829-1841, Rev. William Preston ; 1841-1842, Rev. Charles Fox ; 1842-1846,
Rev. Alexander F. Dobb; 1847 1850, Rev. Dudley A. Tyng; 1850-1854, Rev.
William Preston; 1855 1858, Rev. Charles Reynolds; 1858-1859, Rev. G. H.
Norton ; 1859-1860, Rev. William D. Hanson ; 1861-1864, Rev. Julius E. Grammor ;
1865-1869, Rev. C. A. L. Richards; 1870-1877, Rev. Rufus W. Clark; 1877-1879,
no regular rector; 1879-1888, Rev. C. H. Babcock ; 1888-1889, no regular rector ;
from November 1, 1889, the present rector, Rev. R(jbert B Jones. On June 19,
1881, Rev. Frederick W. Clampett, of Christ Church, Springfield, Illinois, was
called as associate rector, because of infirmity of health of the rector vvho, on
that account, was granted a six months' leave of absence. Mr. Clampett remained
as associate rector until April 5, 1892, when his resignation was accepted.
In 1854 the infirm condition of the spire on the church caused it to be
removed. The bell which swung in this spire was noted for its beautiful tone.
The School Board purchased it. and placed it on the Highschool building on State
Street, where, after being used foi- a time, it was cracked and ruined. An effort to
erect a new church in lieu of the stone edifice on East Broad Street, was made in
1853, but was not sficcessful. The effort was renewed in 1855, in which year the
ground then known as the " Work Lot, " on part of which the Highschool building
now stands, at the southeast corner of Broad and Sixth streets, was purchased
for $8,000. This purchase had a front of 99 feet on Broad Street, and extended
south to Oak. The foundation for a church was laid on it in 1856, but the work
progressed no further.'' The original part of the present Highschool building was
erected on the site selected for the church, and, in November, 1862, the remainder
of the tract was sold for $2,500 to Hon. William Dennison, of whom a now site for
the church, 75 x 187^ feet, at the southeast corner of Broad and Third streets, was
purchased for $7,500. In 1863 the old stone church was purchased for $10,000 by
Doctor John Andrews.
The foundation of the present Trinity Church was laid in 1866, under the
direction of William A, Piatt, Francis Collins and William G. Deshler. W. Lloyd,
of Detroit, was the architect of the building, and William Fish the superintendent
708 History of the City of Columbus.
of its construction. The style of areliitecture adopted was the English Gothic
the material used for the upper walls was sandstone brought from the vicinity of
Newark, Licking County. During the spring of 1867 Messrs. Piatt, Collins and
Deshler resigned as members of the building committee, and Messrs. Charles J.
Wetmore, John G. Mitchell and Samuel McClelland were appointed in their stead.
Under the supervision of this latter committee the church was erected and com-
pleted, excepting its tower, which is still unfinished. The original cost of the lot
and building was about $70,000. First use of the chapel for religious services was
made in December, 1868, and of the main building on April 1, 1869. The last
stone of the old church on Broad Street was removed on May 22, 1868.
Trinity Guild, a society of laymen designed to promote the interests of Trinitj'
Church, was organized November 6, 1872. Trinity Chapter Number 115 of the
Brotherhood of St. Andrews, also a working organization of laymen, has now been
in exiistence about one year. The property on East Broad Street formerly known
as the Esther Institute, more recently the Irving House, was purchased for the uses
of the church in June, 1890, and is now known as Trinity House. The price jiaid
for this property was $45,000. On January 18, 1889, the consecration of Bishop
Kendrick took place at Trinity Church in the presence of a large number of prom-
inent prelates and clergymen.
St. Paul's. — The foundations of a Protestant Episcopal church were laid dur-
ing the autumn of 1841 at the corner of Third and Mound streets. On December
1, 1842, the parishioners who had signed articles of association for the formation
of the parish of which this church was to be the place of worship, met and named
it St. Paul's. Eev. H. L. Eichards was chairman of this meeting and F. J. Mat-
thews was its secretary. A. Buttles was chosen senior warden, I. N. Whiting junior
warden and Henry Matthews, Moses Altman, John Burr and Herman M. Hub-
bard vestrymen. Eev. Henry L. Eichards, the first rector of the parish, began
holding services therein on the first Sunday in Advent, 1842. The completed
church edifice was consecrated by Bishop Mellvaine on August 11, 1846. In July,
1848, Eev. Henry L. Eichards was succeeded as rector bj' Eev. Alfred M. Loutrel,
who remained until 1851, when Eev. Thomas V. Tyler took charge of the parish,
but to remain only a few months. Eev. W. Norman Irish became rector on Sep-
tember 1, 1852, but resigned in the summer of 1855, and was succeeded for some
months by Eev. E. B. Kellog. The next rector was Eev. 1. A. M. La Tourette,
who began his ministerial duties on the first Sunday after Ascension Day in 1856,
but was succeeded in March, 1858, by Eev. James L. Grover, who served as rector
until June 25, 1862. Eev. George Seabury, who was next in the pastoral succes-
sion, began service on September 20, 1864, but resigned in January, 1867, and
was succeeded in September of that year by Eev. C. C. Tate, who continued until
November, 1872, when he removed to the diocese of Indiana. His successor was
Eev. C. H. Kellogg, since whom the parish has been served by Eev. Eobert W.
Grange, Eev. Lincoln and the present rector, Eev. Francis A. Henry.
The present church edifice is located on East Broad Street, south side,
between Garfield and Monroe avenues.
On October 26, 1869, an ecclesiastical court was convened at Trinity Church
for the trial of Eev. Colin C. Tate, rector of St. Paul's, on a charge of having
organized a choir of boys, in white surplices, to .sing while entering and going out
of the church. The delensc entered a plea denying the jurisdiction of the court.
This plea prevailed, alter e.xhaustive argument, and the court was dis.solved.
CInirc/t of tin: (inn,! SIk ph, ■)■<!. — This church, located on the southeast corner of
Buttles and Park streets, was originally a mission of the Trinity Episcopal congre-
gation. The cornerstone of its church edifice was laid June 13, 1871, with cere-
monies conducted by Bishop G. T. Bedell, of Gambler. An address was delivered
on that occasion by Eev. Wylleys Hall. The present rector is Eev. Mr. Graham ;
his predecessor was Eev. Frederick O. Grannis.
Independent Protestant German.
INDEPENDENT PROTESTANT GERMAN.
Moved by a desire for religious worship disassociated from the forms and
s.ynibols of the Lutheran and Eeiformed German Protestant churches, a number of
German Prote.stant citizens of Columbus met on February 6, 1843, at the house of
Henry Waas, then known as tiie Canal Hotel, were called to order by J. P. Bruck
and chose Louis Hosier as chairman. A congregation was then organized by
selection of the following officers: President, Louis Hoster ; vice presidents, Nich- ^
olas Maurer and Otto Frankenberg; secretaries, P. Ambosand J. p. Brucli : treas- t^
urer, Jacob Silbernagel ; trustees, Daniel Wendel, Jacob Lauer, Andreas Dippel,
David Bauer, I'rederick Funke, George M. Linger and Christian Faber.
A clioir was organized during the ensuing month, meetings were held in differ-
ent lociilities as they happened to be available, and services were conducted by
Rev, Mr. Zeller who volunteered to act temporarily as pastor. The erection of a
church edifice was at once taken into consideration, a building committee was
appoiiited, and through the untiring efforts of Daniel Wendel, George Hoster and
other members of the society, subscriptions to a building fund amounting to three
thousand dollars were obtained. On April 21, 1843, J. P. Bruck purchased of Gen-
eral J. Patterson the lot constituting the present site of the church on Mound
Street, near Third, for 1500. A plan for the church, drawn by N. B. Kelley,
architect, was presented to the congregation by P. Herancourt, the cornerstone
was laid on June 5, and on December 17, 1843, the new church, beautifully
bedecked with flowers and crowded with interested people, was formally dedicated.
The dedicatory sermon was preached by the temporary pastor. Rev. A. L. Bege-
man, and some additional remarks were made by Rev. Doctor James Hoge.
Thus the new church began its career with fine promise of prosperity, but
frequent changes in its pastorate, caused partly by sickness and partly by other
untoward circumstances, produced unhappy results and to such financial straits
was the congregation reduced that, in 1849, it felt obliged to lease the church edi-
fice to the Trinity Lutheran Society, in whose possession it remained until the end
of the year 1857. The church organization was meanwhile maintained, and the
income derived from the church edifice was so prudently managed that by the
beginning of 1858 the debts by which the society had been embarrassed were
nearly all paid. At the same time the friends of the church, including many
descendants of its founders, began to insist that the church should be reopened for
its original purpose, which was accordingl}' done. Rev. Edward Graf was engaged
as temporary jiastor and after having served one year in that relation was defin-
itely employed in February, 1859, for an additional term of three years. A Sun-
dayschool under the leadership of Pastor Graf was organized, and in 1860 con-
tained about seventy children.
Mr. Graf resigned before the expiration of his term, leaving his congregation
for a time without any pastor. On May 5, 1862, Rev. Philip Zimmerman was
called to take charge of the congregation, but on December 2, in the same year,
his useful and very highly appreciated services were arrested by his death. Rev.
Mr. Engelmau was next called to the pastorate, but resigned it on September 1,
1865. After much seeking to find another suitable person to take charge of the
church, the choice of the congregation finally fell on Reverend Christian Heddaeus,
the present popular pastor, who was chosen on January 24, 1866, and on April 14 of
the same year entered upon the duties of the pastoral office, which he has from
that time to this fulfilled with extraordinary acceptability to his people.
710 History of the City of Columbus.
Until the year 1871 the church properly belonged, not to the congregation,
but to a portion of its members. The number of these proprietors was finally
reduced to eleven. In 1871 these proprietors generously entered into a compact
to transfer to the congregation their entire interest in the property provided the
debt then encumbering it and amounting to a little over one thousand dollars
should be paid. This condition was complied with and the transfer was accord-
ingly made.
UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRLST.
This denomination did not exist in Columbus in organized form until 1866,
when its first church was erected on the south side of Town Street, between
Fourth and Fifth. Of the society thus located Eev. W. B. Davis was the first
pastor. In 1867, Mr. Davis, after retiring from the First Church, organized the
Olive Brancli Church, an edifice for which was erected near the Piqua Euilway
Shops. A branch of this society was organized in the southwestern part of the
city in 1870. and took the name of Mount Zion Church. A German Church was
organized in 1868, and erected an edifice on the south side of Friend Street, east
of Seventh.
DISCIPLES OF CHRIST.
Central Christian Charch.— The Society bearing this name had its origin in
prayermeetings held b}- a few persons in private houses during the month of
October, 1870. On December 1 of that year, a small apartment for a Sunday-
school, and for prayermeetings, was rented in a building then occupied by Sam-
uels's drugstore, on North High Street. Here occasional religious services were
held, conducted bj- different clergymen, On April 1, 1871, the congregation
rented a large room in the Sessions Block, .southeast corner of High and Long
streets. In this apartment. Rev. R. Moffit, of Bedford. Ohio, preached on the first
Sunday in April. 1871, and Eev. T. D. Garvin, of Cincinnati, on the Sunday next
following. Mr. Garvin accepted a call which was tendered him to become pastor
of the church, and on the third Sundaj' in April, 1871, entered upon his duties
pursuant to this call. On April 22, 1871, a meeting of which T. Ewing Miller
was chairman and F. D. Prouty secretary, chose T. Ewing Miller as treasurer
of the church, F. D. Prouty as secretary and "William Wallace and F. D. Prouty
as deacons. William "Williams and Benjamin Styles were at a later date chosen
as additional deacons.
At a meeting of the congregation held in its apartments in the Sessions Block
on March 7, 1872, the pastor, Eev. T. D. Garvin presiding, F. D. Prouty was
elected clerk of the church, and a resolution was adopted to incorporate the society
"under the name of the Central Christian Church, known as the Disciples of
Christ." The church was accordingly incorporated on March 20, 1871, and three
trustees were elected ; T. Ewing Miller for three years, "William "Williams for two
years and James Archer for one year. On a lot 62^ x 123 feet, at the southeast
corner of Third and Gay streets, purchased at the time of incorporation at a cost
of $5,300, a temporary church was erected. William Williams was the builder of
Disciples of Christ — Friends — Universalist. 711
this church and T. Ewing Miller, James G. Archer and F. D. Prouty were the
building committee. It was first opened for public worship on the third ^Sunday
in May, 1872. The present brick edifice which has succeeded it was erected in
1879, and was dedicated on August 1 of that year. An address was delivered on
that occasion by Rev. Isaac Brrett, editor of the Christian Standard, Cincinnati.
Tlie church cost, inclu.sive of its furniture, about $14,000. The members of the
building committee which supervised its erection were T. E. Miller, J. M. Mont-
gomery, Albert Allen, John R. Hunt and William Williams. The successors of
Rev. T. D. Crarvin as pastors of the church have been, in the order of service, as
follows: William P. Aylesworth, William A. Knight, J. C. Aganier, F.Bell,
Thomas Chalmers, Andrew B. Chalmers and the present pastor, Rev. J. D.
Forrest. The members of the church number at the present writing between four
and five hundred. Its elders are Professors G. P. Coler and James Chalmers, of
tiie Ohio State University, J. B. Strickler and S. A. Shupe. Its trustees are
J. M. Montgomery, A. N. Pox, B. E. Styles, William Williams and G. H. Warden.
The Sundayschool, which is now in a flourishing condition, contains about two
hundred scholars, oiScers and teachei-s. Another valuable adjunct of the church,
embracing its younger element, is its large and active society of Christian
Endeavor.
Church of Christ. — This is, as yet, a small society. Its place of worship is
located on Fifth Avenue. i
FRIENDS.
The church edifice in which this society worships is situated on Ohio Avenue
Its dedication took place on October 12, 1873, on which occasion Charles F.
Coffin, of Richmond, Indiana, Esther B. Tuttle, of Delaware, Ohio, and Mr. and
Mrs. Frame, of Clinton County, Ohio, were the most prominent visitors and
speakers.
UNIVERSALIST; BY REV. W. M. JONES.
The earliest existing records of this church are dated Januaiy 4, 1844.
Traveling preachers of Universalism had for some years visited the city, and there
was here to welcome them, hear them and assist them forward a small company
.of men and women holding this faith. On the above date these signed the fol-
lowing " Declaration : "
We whose names are hereto annexed, being desirous to cooperate for the support of
religious truth and the promotion of human good ; and recognizing and acknowledging God
as our Father, Divine Inspiration as our moral guide, Jesus Christ as our Exemplar and
Saviour, our common race as beirs of a blissful immortality, and filial and fraternal love as
the sum and substance of human duty, do hereby form ourselves into a society to be known
and distinguished as the tTniversalist Society in Columbus; submitting to the discretion of
the majority of the members present at the first regular meeting the adoption of such rules
and regulations as may be deemed the most effective in securing the attainment of the
objects of our i
712
HiSTORT OF THE ClTY OF Coi.UJ
UNIVERSALIST CHURCH.
Universalist. 713
To this deelariitioii were signed tlio following nnnics; Denias Adams, John
Field, John Greenwood, N. Mei-i'on, N. Wallace, Philip Eeed, William Bambrough,
James W. Osgood, Hiram Loveland, Smitlison B. Wright, J. G. Armstrong, W. A.
Standish, E. E. Hill, H. H. Kimball, Allen Hogan, Frederick Cole, H. MeMaster,
William C. Preston, Leonard Humphrey, William Richards, Enos Doolittle, William
F. Wheeler, S. A. Preston, Susan Adams, Adaline Kimball, Mary Bambrough,
Sarah J. Reed, Amelia Richards, Elizabeth ('adwalladcr, Catherii)e G. Dalsell,
Elsey Prcst.ii,. Cat lici'iiic 1'. I'icst,.n. Matilda Wright, Catherine Bancroft, Eliza- .
beth M. Field. Amanda .Martin, Sophia P, Kelton,"Bllen Loveland, Catherine D.
Doolittle, ILin-icl liancrdtl, Mary l-'.hcrly, Catherine N. Humphrey and Harriet
Osgood.
This society, so formed, cooperated in maintaining occasional preaching as
they could .secure ministers, using the house of the German St. Paul Church on
Third Street, which they aft. 'i-wards |.urclia.srd. On .March 29, 1845, the society was
incorporated under an act of the (Miio Iciiislatmv |.a-sc.l .March 13 of that year,
and at the same time ap|Miinlcd tiic Hrsi board of tiaistees. These were John
Greenwood, John Field, James W. Osgood, Demas Adams and William Bambrough.
The first regularly employed pastor was Rev. N. Doolittle, who began his service
with the society in October, 1845. In this month a committee was appointed to
canvass for funds for a new church building and to be a building committee in ease
of success in securing necessary funds. This project took shape in December of
the same year in a resolution to build " on the pewstock principle."
The matter of the rules and regulations of the society contemplated in the
declaration of 1844, remained in sfiit7i i/iio until May 1, 1851, when in addition to
the original declaration, the society adopted a constitution defining the duties of
its officers and fixing a time of regular meetings. Under this constitution the
society has continued until this present record. Mr. Doolittle resigned in 1851,
and the society secured Rev. Mr. Gibbord as temporary supply. Rev. N, M. Gay-
lord was engaged as pastor in April, 185?, and continued until November, 1854.
During 1855 and 1856, the church engaged Rev. Mr. Upson and Rev. Mr. Haws to
supply the pulpit until October of th'e latter year, when Rev. H. R. Nye was
called to the regular pastorate. This beloved pastor remained with the society
until 1859, when he removed to Cincinnati to assume charge of The Stai- of the
West, a denominational organ. The pastors since then have been Rev. Thomas
Gorman, Rev. Doctor J. S. Cantwell, Rev. A. W. Bruce, Rev. Doctor E. L. Rex-
ford, Rev. W. S. Ralph, Rev. T. P. Abel and Rev. W. M. Jones, the present pas-
tor.
The church lot and building on Third Street were sold in 1884 to the society
of Cerneau Masons, whereupon the society purchased the lot on State Street
whereon stands the present edifice, finished and dedicated in May, 1891. Soon
after the purchase of the lot on State Street a Sunday.school and chapel building
was erected on the rear part of the lot. The present pastor. Rev. W. M. Jones,
was installed in 1888. During the first three years of his pastorate the present
beautiful church edifice was erected on the front part of the State Street lot at a
cost of $35,000, all raised by voluntary subscription.' During the present pas-
torate the church has come into possession of a beautiful imstor's home on Twen-
tyfirst Street, valued at $6,000, the gift of Mrs. Lucy M. Ste.lman.
History of the City of Columbus.
CONGREGATION OF B'NAI ISRAEL.
The oriuiii of this societ}' is thus sketched in a communiciitiou to the author
by Mr. 1. M. iSchlesinger : "Judah Nusbaum, a native of Bavaria, Germany,
arrived heie in the 3'ear 1838 ; Nathan and Joseph Gundersheinier in 1840. All
three were traveling traders and made their headquarters in Columbus until a few
years later, when they commenced a general store in tbe Walcutt building, at the
corner of High and Town streets. Simon Mack, S. Lazarus and three brothers,
Samuel, Hess and Abraham Amburg, came here to reside in the year 1844. In
1847 came Breidenstuhl, of Rochester, S. Schwalbe, S. Morrison and a halfbrotber
of S. Lazarus named Aaronson. In 1849 all of the gentlemen above named united
in starting a congi-egalion under the title of B'nai Jeshuren, this being an ortho-
dox societj-, and S. Lazarus, a merchant clothier, officiating, without remuneration,
as their Rabbi. Their first meeliugplace was an upstairs room in the building
now known as the Twin Brothers Clothing Store, and the president of the congre-
gation was Nathan Guhdersheimer. Two brothers named Schreier who resided
here about the year 1848 were joined bj- a third brother from Califoi'nia in 1849.
All three died with the cholera, these being the only Hebrews who perished with
that dread disease in Columbus. The first Jewish wedding which took place in
this city was that of Joseph Gundersheinier on July 9, 1849. The next Eabbi was
Joseph Goodman, who officiated until 1855 when Rev. Samuel Weil, of Cincinnati,
was called here. At that time the congregation met in a hall above the present
Siebert gunstore, on South High Street. Other Rabbis succeeded in the following
order: Rev. S. Goodman, Rev. Mr. Wetterhahn and Rev. Mr. Rosenthal. During
the terms of the last two the congregation met at Walcutt's Hall. The members
not harmonizing well, nineteen of them withdrew during the spring of 1870 from
the congregation B'nai Jeshuren and started the congregation of B'nai Israel
which was organized at a meeting held April 24, 1870. At that meeting Nathan
Gundersheinier was chosen chairman and S. Amburg, Louis Kahn and Judah
Nusbaum were elected trustees for one year. At a meeting of the trustees Jacob
Goodman was chosen secretary, Joseph Gundersheinier treasurer and Nathan
Gundersheimer president. The old congregation was dissolved."
For the purpose of erecting an edifice adapted to the Hebrew forms of worship
a lot at the northwest corner of Friend (now Main) and Third streets was pur-
chased. The price paid for tliis ground was $5,000, which sum was pledged by
twentyone members of the congregation, which at that time numbered iii all
about thirtyfive. Previous to these events the services of the congregation had
been conducted in the Hebrew language; it was proposed to conduct them thence-
forward in English.
Subscriptions of money for the erection of the new temple were actively solic-
ited and were obtained not onl}- in Columbus but elsewhere. Messrs. Nathan and
Joseph Gundersheimer and Jacob Goodman were a]))K)iiited to supervise the build-
ing, a contract for which was awarded to Hall & FornofT. On May 15, 1870, the
cornerstone of the temple was laid with imposing Masonic ceremonies, in the pres-
ence of several thousands of people. After a parade in which the Odd Fellows
and Masonic bodies of the city took part, the ceremonies at the building site were
opened by the Miinnerchor which sang impressively, to the tune of Pleyel's Hymn,
the stanzas beginning:
B'nai Israel — Y. M. C. A.
Round the spot — Moriah's Hill-
Masons meet with cheerful will ;
Him who stood as King that day
AVe as cheerfully obey.
After the stone had been lowered to its place an address on Human Dignity
was delivered by Rev. Isaac M. Wise, of Cineinnati. The exercises closed with
an anthem by the Mannerchor and a benediction.
On September l(i, 1870. tlie completed temple was ceremoniously dedicated.
After an addi-ess b}' liev. J. Wechsler at the old .synagogue, in Walcutt's Hall, a
procession was formed and marched to the- new temple, on arrival at which the
key to the building was presented by Miss Ada Gundersheimer to the chairman
of the building committee, Mr, Nathan Gundersheimer, who was fitly addressed by
the lady making the presentation and appropriately replied. The door was then
opened and the ])rocession entered. The ceremonies which followed were thus
describeil :
The three scrolls of the law were borne by tiie members aiipuinted to take charge of
them, from the right of the altar down the west aisle of the temple and then back on the
east aisle to the i)lace of starting. This was denominated " making the first circuit "...
During tlie making of this circuit the Miiunerchor sang " O Day of the Lord." . . . Prayer
by Rev. Dr. Wechsler followed, after which he read the one hundred and fiftieth Psalm.
Response to this was made by the choir of the Temple who sang beautifully " Praise God in
His holiness." During the singing the procession of the bearers of the scrolls of the law
was again formed and, marching around the Temple, made the second circuit. The prayer
of King Solomon at the dedication of the Temple was then read by Rev. Doctor AVechsler,
after which the choir sang a Hebrew song, during which the third circuit was made. The
scrolls of the law were then placed in the Ark to the rear of the pulpit, the choir at the same
time singing the one hundredth Psalm. *
Eev. J. Wechsler and Rev. Dr. Wise successively delivered addresses. At
the conclusion of his remarks Doctor Wise read an invocation to which the choir
seven times responded, " Amen, Hallelujah."
The clergymen who have ministered to the congregation since its origin
have been, in the order of service, as follows : Reverends Weil, Goodman, Lip|)-
man, Wetterhahn, Scbonberg, Rosenthal, Wechsler, F. W. Jesselson, and Alex-
ander H. Geisman.
Zion Lodge 62, I. O. B. B., of the Jewish secret society known as the Sons ot
the Covenant, was instituted on August 23, 1865. Capital Lodge Number 132 of
the same order was instituted in 1876.
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION.
A meeting called for the )iur])ose of organizing a society bearing this name
was held in the lectureroom of the First Presbyterian Church on January' 15,
1855. This seems to have been the first movement made for this s])ecific purpose
in Columbus. The meeting was well attended by representatives of the Protes-
tant churches then in the city. Rev. Mr. Willard was called to preside, S. Mathers
was chosen secretarj-, and a committee which seems to have been previously
appointed reported a constitution, with accomjianying bylaws, which was signed
by abou^ forty persons. An election of officers then took place, and the following
were chosen : President, H. B. Carrington : vice president, Thomas S. Baldwin ;
716 History of the City of Columbus.
corresponding; secretary, S. H. Burr; recording .secretary, W. B. Chadwick ;
treasurer, S. B. Fay. The meeting then adjourned to reconvene at the same
place on the following Monday evening.
How long this organization endured, the author has been unable to ascertain.
Circumstances indicate that it was ephemeral. The next movement of this kind
of which the current chronicles give account, took place in the spring of 1866.
On April Ki of that 3-ear a meeting of representatives of the different churches of
the city to organize a Young Men's Christian Association was held at the First
Presbyterian Church. Eev. Mr. Marshall presided at this meeting and a com-
mittee to report rules of organization was appointed. Officers were chosen dur-
ing the ensuing May and rooms for meetings were engaged in the Buckeye
Block. In November of the same year the association had upon its rolls the
names of 250 members, and was said to have accomplished much good. Its first
annual report, made in May, 1867, showed 300 members. The officers chosen at
the annual meeting to which this report was submitted were: President, Captain
W. Mitchell ; vice president. Rev. E. P. Goodwin ; secretary, W. H. Lathrop ;
treasurer, O. G. Peters; trustees, B. L. Taylor, Woodward Awl, L. J. Critchfield,
J. E. Eudisill and M. P. Ford ; also an executive committee. In connection with
this association a lyceum was organized which held its first meeting in the Buck-
eye Block, on October 18, 1866. In October, 1867, it was stated that the associa-
tion had begun the formation of a library.
The first State Convention of the Young Men's Christian Associations of Ohio
was held at the First Congregational Church on October 31,1867. On taking the
chair, C. N. Olds, the lemporarj- presiding officer, stated that, in obedience to res-
olutions passed by a convention of Young Men's Christian Associations of the
United States and British Provinces, held at Montreal in June, 1866, this body
had convened. The permanent chaii;man chosen was H. Thane Miller, of Cincin-
nati, who replied to an address of welcome delivered by Captain William Mitch-
ell. Numerous subjects were discussed. A constitution was adopted and the fol-
lowing officers for the State association were chosen : President, H. Thane Miller,
Cincinnati; .secretaries, H. A. Sherwin, of Cleveland, and J. H. Cheever, of Cin-
cinnati; treasurer, J. W. Russell, of Oberlin; also an executive committee and
numerous vice presidents.
A second course of lectures before the lyceum of the Columbus association
was begun in December, 1867. On November 8, 1869, the following officers were
chosen for six months: President, Gordon Moodie ; vice president, J. E. Rudi-
sill; treasurer, A. Ritson ; secretaries, W. Awl and E. C. Smith. On April 21,
1870, George H. Twiss was chosen president, B. J. Loomis vice president, W. Awl
secretar}^, A. Ritson treasurer, and E. L. Taylor, L. J. Critchfield, W. Awl,
H. Early and S. M. Hotchkiss trustees. A project to erect a suitable building
for the association at some location fronting the Capitol Square was discussed at
a meeting called for the purpose on November 8, 1870. The proposed cost of the
building was $40,000; §2,500 was pledged. In 1875, we read of the choice of the
followinir officers: President, Charles H. Hall ; vice president. Doctor J. F. Bald-
win ; secretary, R. A. Beard ; treasurer, J. A. Jeffrey. In 1876, rooms for a rail-
way branch were fitted up at the Union Station. These rooms were formally
opened on Sunday, October 1. New rooms for the association were opened in the
Sessions Block October 15.
A delegate State convention of Young Men's Christian Associations was held
at the First Congregational Church, beginning September 28, 1877. A meeting to
greet the delegates was held at the church September 27; a farewell meeting took
place at the Opera House September 30. The officers chosen for the State associ-
ation were : President, H. Thane Miller, of Cincinnati ; vice presidents, W. A.
Y. M. C. A. 717
Mahony, of Columbus, J. C. Tisdel of Painesville find John Dodd of Dayton ; sec-
retaries, Charles H. Hall, of Columbus and J. B. Studebaker of Springfield.
In November, 1878, the Columbus Association chose the following officers :
President, William G. Dunn ; vice president, F. C. Sessions ; treasurers, J. A. Jef-
frey, E. T. Rawson ; secretary, Eev. L Taft. The third anniversary of the asso
ciation was celebrated at the Opera House November 11, 1878. " A book recep-
tion " at which 250 volumes were received, took place at the rooms of the railway
branch on April 17, 1879.
The anniversary of the organization of the Columbus association was again cele-
brated on November 10, 1879. The exercises of this occasion took place at the Second
Presbyterian Church. The railway branch celebrated its fourth anniversary at the
Second Presbyterian Church on May 9, 1880. On Maj' 11 ofthatyear agymnasium
under the auspices of the parent association was opened in the Sessions Block.
A society of ladies, adjunct to the railway branch, was organized in April, 1881.
The branch held its anniversary meeting on May 15 of that year. At the annual
meeting held on October 3, 1881, the Columbus association chose the following
oflScers : President, J. M. Godman ; vice president, G. L. Smead ; treasurers, J. A.
Jeifrey and E. T. Rawson; secretaries, C. D. Firestone and J. T. Minehart. On
May 1, 1881, the erection of an association building to cost one hundred thousand
dollars was resolved upon by the executive committee, and books for subscriptions
were opened. This movement was not successful. New rooms for the association
were opened in the Monypeny Block, December 8, 1883. These rooms included
apartments for reception, reading, library and gymnasium. During the same year
an Ohio State University branch was organized.
The ninth anniversary of the organization of the Columbus Association was
celebrated on November 16, 1884, at the Second Presbyterian Church. The asso-
ciation removed to new quarters on East Broad Street, opposite the Capitol, on
December 9, 1884. Here reading rooms, reception parlors and a gymnasium were
fitted up. The erection of a building for joint use of the Young Men's Christian
Association and the Female Benevolent Society was currently discussed early in
1885.
The eighteenth annual convention of the State association was held on February
12, 1885, at the First Congregational Church. The meeting continued four days.
A branch convention of ladies was at the same time held at the Westminster
Church, and one of boys at Wesley Chapel.
The tenth anniversary of the Columbus association was celebrated at Wesley
Chapel November 29, 1885; the eleventh was celebrated at the Town Street
Methodist Church on November 14, 1886. At the annual election held on October
3, 1887, the following officers were chosen ; President, John D. Shannon; vice
president, R. M. Rownd ; secretary, T. A. Morgan ; treasurer, Edwin F. Wood.
During the autumn of 1889 Mr. B. S. Brown stated in conversation that, in
his opinion, the Young Men's Christian Association of Columbus should have a
building of its own and that he would contribute toward the erection of such a
building ten per cent, of a subscription fund of $50,000, $100,000 or $150,000 to be
devoted to that purpose. This proposition having come to the knowledge of the
association, a conference was held with Mr. Brown, resulting in an agreement to
subscribe $20,000 toward the building and ground suitable for its location, pro-
vided sufficient additional subscriptions should be obtained to raise the fund to
$100,000. This greatly encouraged the workers in the building project, and their
efforts were immediately renewed with redoubled energy. Their success was
such as to justify, it was believed, the purchase of a site for the building, and
accordingly, in March, 1890, a lot 60 x 187 feet in size, located on South Third
Street, opposite the Capitol, was bought of R. C. Hoffman. The price paid for
this lot was $30,000, of which amount the sum of 17,000 required as a cashdown
718 History of the City of Columbus.
payment, was kindly advanced by Mr. B. S. Brown. Mr. Hoffman, the owner of
the lot, made a contribution of $3,000. Among the larger and earlier subscrip-
tions, besides those of Messrs. Brown and Hoffman, were the following: Colum-
bus Bu£;gy Company, $5,000; William G. Deshler, originally 82,000, subsequently
raised to $2,500 ; F. C. Sessions, $2,000 ; Bowe & Beggs, $2,000 ; George M. Par-
sons, $2,000 ; Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Munson, $2,000 ; George W. Bright, $1,000 ; R.
M. Rownd, $1,000; W. A. Mahony, $1,000; Jeffrey Manufacturing Company,
$1,000 ; Charles Baker, $1,000; W. R. Walker, $1,000; Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Brush,
$1,000; William G. Dunn. $1,000; D. S. Gray, $1,000; Emerson McMillin, $1,000;
Miss C. M. Tuttle. $1,000; A. G. Patton, $1,500; M. C. Lilley, $1,000; N. B.
Abbott. $1,000. The canvassing committee comprised the following members :
George W. Bright, chairman ; O. A. Miller, secretary ; George M. Peters, R. M.
Rownd, Henry O'Kane, David M. Greene and George Hardy.
When this committee had obtained subscriptions to the amount of $87,000
the possibilities of its efforts seemed to have reached their limit. The entire city
had been canvassed, and nothing more, apparently, could be obtained. At this
juncture the workers again had recourse to Mr. B. S. Brown, who, on being con-
sulted, agreed to raise his contribution to $25,000 provided the aggregate sum
should go to $100,000. Thereupon the canvassing committee again fell to work,
William G. Deshler and others increased their subscriptions, and the $100,000
mark was reached.
Immediately upon the achievement of this consummation, the canvassing com-
mittee was converted into a building committee, with George M. Peters — vice
George W. Bright, who voluntarilj' retired — as chairman. It is but just to say
that the mechanical knowledge and business skill of Mr. Peters were invaluable to
the building committee, as were the energy ami tact of Mr. Bright to the can-
vassing committee. These able men were fortunate, also, in being associated with
able coworkers. The president of the association at this time was Charles E. Mun-
son ; its secretary W. T. Perkins.
A large number ot plans for association buildings already in use were exam-
ined, one prepared by Mr. J. W. Yost, of Columbus, was adopted, and Mr. Yost
was appointed architect. Ground was broken for the building on October 1,
1890 ; the association took up quarters in its new home on April 1, 1892. The
cost of the building complete, exclusive of the ground, was about $85,000. It con-
tains a large and very finely equipped gymnasium, which was opened for use on
September 19, 1892. This department occupies two floors. It contains a running
track constructed on scientific principles, a swimming pool and wellordered
suites of bathrooms. The members of the gymnasium have at their disposal the
services of a salaried instructor. The library of the association is yet small ; its
readingroom is supplied with a large as.sortment of current publicalions. Besides
a large auditorium, equipped with 725 chairs, the building contains a hall for
minor meetings capable of seating about two hundred persons. Conversation,
reception and amusement rooms are provided in abundance. The association
derives a considerable income from rented apartments.
Columbus Churches.
NOTES.
1. See Chapter X of Volume 1.
2. Bishop Chase was the founder and first head of Keayon College, for the establish-
ment of which he collected about $30,000, in England. Owing to a disagreement between
himself and some of the clergy as to the proper use of this fund, he resigned both from the
college and the episcopacy in 1831, and removed to Illinois, where, in 18.35. he became bishop
of that State. He established the Jubilee College at Robin's Nest, Illinois, in 1838.
3. This convention met on January 5, 1818, at the residence of Doctor Lincoln Goodale.
Rev. Philander Chase was elected president and David Prince secretary. The lay delegates
were the two named in the text, representing Trinity Churcti, Columbia? ; Ezra and Chester
Griswold, St. John's Church, Worthington ; Joseph Pratt. St. Jauies Church, Boardman ;
Solomon Griswold, Christ Church, Windsor; David Prince, Grace Church, Berkshire;
Edward King, St. Paul's Church, Chillicothe; John Matthews, St. James Church, Zanesville ;
Alfred Mack, Christ Church, Cincinnati. Kev. Eoger Searle, Rev. Philander Chase and
Joseph Pratt were appointed to report on the state of the Protestant Episcopal Church in
Ohio. A constitution for the church in Ohio was reported by Doctor Chase, and adopte 1. A
committee was appointed to report measures for the support of the Episcopate.
This was the first convention of the church held in Ohio. The next one was held at
Worthington June 3, 1818, and elected Rev. Philander Chase Bishop of Ohio. There were
present at this second convention only four clerical and thirteen lay delegates. Bishop
Chase received all the votes but one, which was doubtless his own. He was consecrated at
St. John's Church, Philadelphia, February 11, 18UI. His journey from Worthington to
Philadelphia and return was made on horseback.
At a convention of the diocese held at Gambler in September, 1831, Bishop Chase
resigned and Rev. Charles P. Mcllvaine. of New York, wa? chosen his successor.
4. Proposals for excavations and the laying of this foundation were invited bv John
A. Lazell. William G. Deshlerand Philip D. Fisher on July 11, 1856.
5. The successful execution of this undertaking was largely due to the perseverance
and popularity of the pastor, Rev. W. M. Jones.
COLUMBUS CHURCHES, 1892.
Presbyterian. — Broad Street Church, northeast corner Broad Street and Gartield Avenue;
First Church, southwest corner State and Third ; First United Cihurch, northeast corner
Long Street and Washington Avenue ; Euclid Avenue Church, 1416J North High Street;
Fifth Avenue Church, north side of Fifih Avenue, between High Street and Dennison Avenue ;
St. Clair Avenue Church, corner St. Clair and Fulton avenues ; Second Church, east side of
Third Street between State and Town ; Welsh Church, southeast corner East Avenue and
Long Street ; Westminster Church, northwest corner Sixth and State streets.
Methodist Episcopal. —Town Street Church, corner Town and Eighteenth streets ; Wes-
ley Chapel, northeast corner Broad and Fourth streets ; Broad Street Church, southwest cor-
ner Broad Street and Washington Avenue ; Third Avenue Church, northeast corner Third
Avenue and High Street; Third Street Church, southwest corner Third and Cherry streets ;
Donaldson Street Church, on Donalilson Street, between Washington and Parsons avenues ;
King Avenue Church, south side of King Avenue, west of Neil Avenue; Mount Vernon
Avenue Church, northeast corner of Mount Vernon and Denmead avenues ; Gift Street
Church, southwest corner Gift and Shepherd streets ; North Columbus Church, southeast
corner Duncan and High streets ; German Church, northwest corner Third and Living-
ston avenues ; Miller Avenue Chapel, east side of Miller Avenue between Rich and Town
streets ; Neil Chapel, southwest corner of Neil Avenue and Goodale Street ; Shoemaker
Chapel, Harbor Road, north of Fifth Avenue; Eust End Second African, north side of Mt.
Vernon Avenue, east of Bolivar Street ; St. Paul's African, north side of East Long Street,
between High and Third.
720 History of the City of Columbus.
ComiregaHonal.— First Church, Broad Street between Hi.i;li and Third; Higli Street
Church, northwest corner of High and Russell streets ; North Columbus Church, 2486 North
High Street ; St. Clair Avenue Church, on St. Clair Avenue, north of Mount Vernon Avenue;
Eastwood Church, southeast corner of Twentyflrst and Long streets ; South Church, Stewart
Avenue, near High Street ; Mayflower Chapel, northwest corner of Main Street and Ohio
Avenue ; Welsh Church, north side of Town Street, between Fifth and Sixth streets ; West
Goodale Church, north side of Town Street between Fifth and Sixth.
Ca(Mic.— St. Joseph's Cathedral, northwest corner of Broad and Fifth streets ; St. Pat-
rick's, corner of Grant Avenue and Naghten Street ; Holy Cross (German), northeast corner
of Fifth and Rich streets; Holy Family, 584 West Broad Street; St. Mary's (German), 684
South Third Street; St. Dominic's, corner of Twentieth and Devoise streets; Sacred Heart,
First Avenue and Summit Street; St. Vincent de Paul's, St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, cor-
ner of East Main Street and Rose Avenue ; Sisters of Notre Dame, attended from Holy Cross ;
Academy of St. Mary's of the Springs; St. Anthony's Hospital; Chapel of Convent of the
Good Shepherd ; Chapel of St. Francis Hospital ; Chapel of the Hcspital of Mount Carmel
(Hawkes) ; St. Turibius, at St. Joseph Orphans' Home, 821 East Main Street.
Baptint.— First Church, northeast corner of Rich and Third streets; Second Church
(colored), southeast corner of Gay and Lazell streets ; Shiloh Baptist (colored), west side of
Cleveland Avenue, between Long Street and Mount Vernon Avenue ; Bethel Church
(colored), Fifth Avenue, east of the railway; Union Grove Church (colored). Champion
Avenue, north of Long Street; Hildreth Church, southeast corner of Twentieth and Atche-
son streets ; Memorial Church, northeast corner of Shepherd and Sandusky streets ; Russell
Street Church, southeast corner of Russell and Miami streets ; Tenth Avenue Church, cor-
ner of Highland Street and Tenth Avenue.
Lutheran. — St. Paul's German, southeast corner of High and Mound streets ; Grace
Church, east side of Fourth Street, between Mound and Fulton ; Trinity Church, northeast
corner of Third and Fulton streets ; First Evangelical, northwest corner of Main Street and
Parsons Avenue ; German Evangelical, southeast corner of Third and Mound streets; Christ
Evangelical, north side of National Road, east of Alum Creek ; St. Peter's Evangelical, Twen-
tieth Street north of Mount Vernon Avenue ; Emanuel Church, on Monroe Avenue ; South
End Mission, southeast corner of Jaeger and Thurman streets; St. Mark's Church, corner of
Fifth and Dennison Avenues; Lutheran Mission, 903 Mount Vernon Avenue.
Prote-tanl Episcopal. — Trinity Church, southeast corner of Broad and Third streets; Trin-
ity Episcopal, west side of McDowell Street, between State and Broad; Church of the Good
Shepherd, southeast corner of Buttles and Park streets; St. Paul's Parish, south side of East
Broad Street, between Garfield and Monroe avenues
Hebrew Temple.— B'nai Israel Temple Congregation, northwest corner of Third and Main
streets.
Independent Protestant. — German Independent Protestant Church, on Mound Street, near
Third.
German Evangelical Proteslant.— at. Johu'sFroteat-AniChmch, on south side of Mound
Street, between High and Third streets.
J'n'eMds. - Friends' Church, northeast corner of Ohio Avenue and Smithfield Street.
Evanpelical Association. — Emanuel Evangelical Church, on north side of Main Street,
between Seventh Street and Washington Avenue.
Disciples of Christ. — Central Christian Church, southeast corner of Third and Gay streets;
Church of Christ, corner of Fifth Avenue and Section Street.
Unirersalist.—Firgt Universalist Church, east State Street, b. 'tween Sixth and Seventh.
United Brethren. — First Avenue Church, southwest corner of First and Pennsylvania
avenues; Olive Branch Church, southwest corner of Long and Fifth streets.
Reformed.^ Grace Reformed Church, 186 South Third Street.
Seventhday Adventists.— Southwest corner of Fifth and Long streets.
Spirilualist.—First Spiritualist Church, 304J South High Street.
/yj^Pz^
,?f^,-^y^y'-
CHAPTER XLV
CEMETERIES,
So far iis known, the earliest places of human sepulture on the site or in the
vicinily of Columbus were those of the Indians. The ancient mound whose sjm-
nietric:il cone rose on the space now lyini; between the Courthouse and St. Paul's
Luthei'an Chui-ch was undoubtedly used for such a purpose. During the excava-
tion of this tumulus, as has been elsewhere narrateil, many human bones were
found which were evidentlj^ of much later origin than the mound itself It was
the custom of the Indians to use the most striking of the aticient mounds as bur-
ial places, and it is not at all improbable that when clay was tnken from the
Columbus mounds for the manufacture of brick for the original Statehouse and
Penitentiary, the ashes of many an Algonquin warrior were disturbed. Indian
skeletons were unearthed by excavations on South High Street as late as 1875.
Similar discoveries were made during the excavations for the levee on the west
bank of the S'ioto. An Indian buryingplace is said to have existed in the vicinity
(il 'rown or Rich streets, a short distance east of High.
The first place of sepulture set apart by the early settlers at the Forks of the
Scioto was situated in the vicinity of the SuUivant, afterwards Ricklj-, mill on the
west bank of the Scioto, and was used by the villagers of Franklinton. A writer
in the Sunday Herald of May 2, 1886, de-crihed it as a ti-act of about three acres,
at that time very indifferently enclosed and in a distressing state of neglect. Cat-
tle were roaming among the graves, many ot the tombstones were broken oi- pros-
trated, and the inscriptions with which loving hands had undertaken to perpet
uate the memory of friends were in many cases illegilile Of the tombs and
epitaphs which attracted the attention of the Hfrald writer ho gave the following
account :
Among the many early or interesting interments noticed was that of Major .lolin Grate
who died October 19, 18:26, aged .57 years, and his wife Hannah, who died Oetobt-r 7, 1826,
only twelve days before the death of her husband. . . . Tlien couics Jinks Wait, ditd
February 22, 1824, aged 64 years. Next we come to one that is suggestive: Polly Sandusky,
died 1825. As the name of Sandusky was strictly an Indian name who was she? Can any
one tell? Next south, and immediately joining, is Polly Perrin, born October 2J, 1760; died
October 18, 18:^3, aged 72 years, eleven months and 2 days. Tlien .Tcjhn I'errin (probably
the husband of Polly) born March 19, 1762 ; died October 8, 1816.
Here is a literal copy of the inscription on a tombstone : " In memory of William, son of
Johnathan B. perrin and Amanda, his wife, was born Sept. 9, 1832, and died Sept. 10, 18.33."
Next comes " Elizabeth, wife of James U'harra, died March 7, 1844, aged 69 years, 10 months
and 24 days." Near this is a stone erected in memory ot Margaret Hearduif, second wife of
David Dearduff, born October 4, 178.5, died December 21, 1823. Then comes Lucy Wolcott,
wife of Horace Wolcott, born in Sandsfield, Massachusetts, September 11, 1770 ; died July 31
46* [721]
722 History op the City of Columbus.
1831, aged 01 years. Not far from this lies Henrietta O'harra, wife of Arthur ( )'liarra, died Fell-
ruary 1!0, 1824, aged .Sti years. Tlie next one is somewhat suggestive and sliuiild niuincl us that
neither youth, beauty or loveliness holds any special lease of life : " l.Muisa M.. cnn.snrt of
J. E. Rudisell, died May 1, 1833, aged I'J years; " also their infant child ^li.-.l Aii-ust 14. nge.l
five months " Mother and child sleep together, awaiting a glorious re-uiri-ctiMn,' Su s-avs
the inscription. We next come to a stone, " Erected in memory of .losejili Vance, ilieil .lune
.'<, 1824, aged 40 years.
" What is this world at best ?
A passage to the tomb ;
And every hour comes around,
Hy sorrow or by woe,
Some tie to unbind,
By love entwined.
To lay our contorts low."
Also a son of Joseph and Cynthia \'ance, born 1818; died 1824.
We now come to the grave of James Gilmore, a native of Rockbridge County, Virginia,
died October 10, 1817, aged til years. Then Mary Gilmore, wife of James (iilnnJrc 2d,'"ilied
June 17, 1SI8, aged 28 years. James Gilmore 2d is certalidy odd, but it i> .m the stone. It
probably means James Gilmore, Junior. The next stone bears a shoit ins. rii.tion : '■ Dr.
John H. Lambert died Sept. 28, 1821, aged .34 years." In the midst of an aln.nst impenetrable
thicket of lilac bushes stand two tombs, those of James Crips, .lii .1 isl,;. and Edmund C,
died 1849. Katherine VVaisbacker died October 16, 1839. Tw.. imaut rhil.lien lie by her
side. The next that meets our eyes is a stone '' In memory of I'r Isaac llelndck, born May
31, 1778; died January 20, 1845," and by his side lies his wife Mary, limn June 30, 1776";
died December 27, 1837.
The next is somewhat curious ; we give a literal copy as near a» possible : '• Died Sept.
25, 1841, MURTTILLA, wife of John M., ,c e O, m e n .E. 24 years I ne 10 d's."
'• Jane, wife of Wm. Wigden, died December 2, 1846, in the 86th year of her age."
" Hicrouhet in Gott Johann .Michael Scheider, Gib. Mai 4, 1762 ; Starb June 11, 1845, in
Inam Alter von 83 y 2 m 7 d."
This is all we know about this one. Near by is the grave of Hon. John A. McDowell,
born May 6, 1789; died October 1, 1825. Possibly an uncle of General Irvin McDowell, who
was born in Franklinton in 1818. Nearby is the grave of Andrew Reid McDowell, died
April 15, 1828, aged 24 years, and possibly an older brother or cousin of the General.
" Lewis Risley, born September 26, 1777 ; died October 8, 1833, aged 56 ys."
Flat on the ground lies a slab with the name of Mrs. Sarah Forsyth, died May 29, 1818
aged 38 years.
AViUiam Brown, born in Antrim County, Ireland, A D. 1774, died September 27, 1830,
is the next to attract our attention.
A tall brown stone bears the following inscription, grammar, punctuations and all
thrown in. " To memory of Wm. Robert Megowen, son of John Megowen and Sarah his wife
who was'born Decern, th 31 1785 and died Aprile th 22, 1813 aged 28 years 3 mon & 28 days."
Also, " to the memory of Mrs. Martha Megowen wife of R. Megowen, daughter of Mr.
Nathaniel Hamlin and his wife who was born May th 23, 1792 aged 21 years 10 mon & 27
days. The tall, the wise the Rev. head Must lie as low as Ours."
Near by is the grave of Mrs. Elizabeth Goodale, wife of Major Nathan Goodale. She
was born in Rutland, Massachusetts, April 1, 1743, and died January 24, 1809, aged 66 years.
There is a hackberry tree fully two feet in diameter growing near the grave, and has
grown partly around the stone in such a manner that it could not be removed without
breaking it, or clipping the tree awa,y. A tall, grey stone, in a good state of preservation,
•informs us that Francis Morehead died March 17," 1813 ; also three. of his infant children
who died respectively in 1808, 1812 and 1814. Other stones inform us that Rebecca, consort of
N. W. Smith, died February 7, 1828; Henry Sly, June 13, 1842, aged 61 years; also that Dr.
Alden Gage was born in Fairfield, New York, in 1790 and died in 1821.
The next stone we come to informs us that Jane Parks was the wife of Joseph Parks
and a daughter of Colonel Robert Culbertson. She died in 1823, aged 60. By her side lies
her sister, wife of Jacob Keller, Esq. She died May 17, 1817, aged 47 years. Adjoining is
the grave of Rebeca Crivingston, a sister of Colonel Culbertson, who died May 11, 1811,
aged 60 years By her side lies Kezia Brotherton, wife of Dan Brotherton and daughter of
Colonel Culbertson. She also died in 1811. Next to her is Elizabeth, wife of Colonel Cul-
bertson died aged 72 years (date obliterated). We could not find the Colonel's grave,
though we presume it is in the family group. . . . Jane M. D'Lashmutt died in Marchj
1814. Dr. John Ball, a native of Connecticut, died May 10, 1S18, aged 43 years. Ann, wife
of Jacob Grub, died December, 1827, aged 56 years.
Cemeteries. 72S
When the seat of ijovernment was located and the town of Columbus created
by act of the General Assembly in 1812, a tract of ground for a cemetery was
reserved and donated to the borough by James Johnston and John Kerr. This
tract, afterwards known as the North Graveyard, was situated just west of High
Street at the point where now stands the present North Markethouse. There
seems to have been some negligence in its convey.ince, for on May 8, 1820, a
committee was appointed by the borough council to enquire what title the cor-
poration had "by donation" to "a certain lot of uroaml" then "used as a
burying ground," and to obtain " a proper deed for the suim'." John Kerr was
at tihe same time appointed io."view and order a road to be opened from
Columbus to tlie Grave Yard." The action taken pursuant to these proceedings
is indicated by a record showing that on July 10, 1821, the County Recorder was
allowed one dollar for recording a conveyance from John Kerr and wife for one
and a quarter acres of land in the North Graveyard. On October 18, 1824, a
regular sexton was appointed and on July 8, 18:«, Robert McCoy was chosen
'• Superintendent of the Grave Yard " by the council.
In the Ohio Statesman of February 4, 1871, the different acquisitions of
ground for this burial place were thus described :
As far back as 1813 intennont? w.to niaife in the northwest portion known as the Kerr
tract, but it was not regularly .l.'i,l,,l for Imrial purposes until 1821. Additions were made
to the graveyard in varicius' \\a\>, and nt various times, so that it now consists of thrt-e
tracts of land, the first of whichis :ui acre and onehalf in extent and lies in the northwest
corner of the Graveyard. This was ileeded to the borouLrh (if ('Mlumliris on the si.xtli of
June, 1821, by John Kerr and wife, witli a provision for revii^ion when the city sludl cease
to use the property as a burying ground, or if the niuynr and cimii-i] cease lo exist as a
corporate body. The se<'0nd tract consists of about eight and cmelialf a(Tes immediately
south and east of the Kerr burying ground, and was deeded to the city liy Colonel William
Doherty m fee simple to the city of Columbus, on the twentysixtli of tebruary, lS3u,
reserving a commonsized burial lot for his family. The third tract consists of seventeen
grave lots on the north side of the graveyard, conveyed by warranty deeds to tlie lotowners
by John Brickell, five of which were reserved by Mr. Bricked for himself.
In the cemetery grounds thus acquired and supervised most id' the village
interments were made throughout the borough period, but tlu^ growth of the city
seems to have prompted the acquisition of an additional place of sepulture, tor on
February 11, 1841, the City Council appointed a committee (o " com|ilete the i)ur-
chase of eleven and a quarter acres ofgroundon the nurtli side ol' I he Livingston
road," and at the same time Messrs. Hibbs, Gilbert and Civcnwood w.tc aiqiointed
a committee to have the tract laid out in "small family grave lols," Tne oi-ice
paid for this ground was one hundred dollars per aci-e. (.)n July 1(1, 1H41, the
council made the significant order that colored |Kdplc sliould " be buried under
the direction of the north se.xlon and in the same' manner that strangers are
buried."
By an ordinance of 1834 it was made the duty of the superintendent of the
graveyard to " make sale of the unsohi lots therein ; to cause the lencc about the
same to be kept in proper order ; to defray the cxponsos thereof out ot the pro-
ceeds of the lots sold ; "to expend the balance of siu-b pidceeds in such manner "
as might be directed by the City CJouncil, and to make a yearly report of his pro-
ceedings to that body. The ]n'icc to be paid tor the lots was fixed at five dollars
each, v\ith reservation (da scciion for tree burials. Pursuant to these require.-
men.s the superintendent rci.ortcl, on A|)ril 3, 1845, that he iiad sold all the lots,
that the ground had been i)aid for from the proceeds, that a good fence, with
cedar posts, had been erected at the front and a rail fence at the rear, that a good
road had been made from the city to the middle gate, that the sum of one hundred
dollars had been paid into the city treasury, and tliat a residue of $104 88 yet
724 History of the City of Columbus.
remained on hand. On August 18, 1856, further interments in the Xortli Grave-
yai-d were prohibited by ordinance.'
On June 22, 1848, an anonymous writer published over tlie signature "A
Citizen " a card in which he said :
The time has arrived ... for procuring from one to two hundred acres of laml in tlie
vicinity of this city for a burying ground. The ■' old buryingground," socalled, adjoining the
town on the north, is pretty much filled up with the inhabitants of the dead. . . . The city
is rapidly increasing, and in a few years it will grow entirely around the present scite.
Moved by the considerations suggested by tliese statements, twenty or thirty
prominent citizens issued a call for a public meeting to be held at ilu' ( '"imcil
Chamber on Julj' 12, 1848, for the purpose of organizing a cemetery :iss.,i-iai inii.-
W. B. Hubbard was chairman at this meeting, and Alexander E. Glenn scLicl:iiy.
The following committee to report a plan of organization and select a site was
appointed: A. P. Perry, Joseph Ridgway, Junior, William B. Thrall, John Wal-
ton, John Miller, William Kelsey, William B. Hubbard, Joseph Sullivant, Robert
McCoy, and William A. Piatt. Pursuant to an act which had been passed by the
preceding General Assembly to provide for the incorporation of cemecery :issocia-
tions, a suificient number of citizens to form such an association signed the neces-
sarj- articles and on August 26, met at the Council Chamber and elected the follow-
ing board of trustees: William B. Hubbard, president ; Joseph Sullivant, Aaron
F. Perry, Thomas Sparrow, Alfred P. Stone, William B. Thrall and John W.
Andrews; clerk, Alexander B.Glenn. This board at once advertised that, until
September 16, it would receive proposals for a tract of land suitable for the ceme-
tery, such tract to contain not less than fifty nor more than one hundred acres, to
be situated not less than threefourths of a mile nor more than four miles from the
existing city boundaries, to be secure from inundation, to have " a gravely, sandy
or dry subsoil, to have an undulating surface, and to be covered to a considerable
extent and wholly, if jjracticable, with trees and shrubbery."
On January 25, 1849, announcement was made for the trustees by their presi-
dent, Mr. Hubbard, that a tract such as had been sought for had been purchased
of Judge Gershom M. Peters, at forty dollars per acre. In connection with this
announcement the lands acquired were thus described :
The grounds are from forty to fifty acres, situated less than two miles from the corpora-
tion limits of the city, of easy access by either of the two main roads crossing the Scioto
River ; bounding, in part, upon the Harrisburg turnpike ; retired, in its locality, from the
busy and bustling scenes of life, and wholly out of reach of the extending growth of our city
and its connection with the numerous railroads destined to centre at our capital.
At a public meeting held on April 16, 1849, resolutions were adopted recom-
mending the purchase of additional contiguous ground, and General Stockton,
A. C. Brown, John Greenleaf, W. T. Martin, James L. Bates and James Armstrong
were appointed a committee to raise funds for that purpose. This movement
resulted in the enlai'gement of the cemetery tract by an addition of fortyfour acres
purchased at fifty dollars per acre, of William Miner. Tlie Ohio Statesman of
May 25, 1849, said :
On AVednesday, agreeably to notice, a large number of our citizen* repaired to this very
handsome spot [the cemetery tract] selected for the repository of the dead. It was one of
the most delightful days of the season and as it was the first visit of the most part present to
the place selected by the association, there was an interest in the occasion equal to the beauty
of the day and the scenery. Gentlemen and ladies, age and youth, were on the ground
helping to clear up the grounds in preparation for the dedication shortly to take place.
Cemeteries. 725
A dinner for the workers, at which Reverends Hitchcock and Doolittle pre-
sided, was spread on the green grass, under the forest trees. Thus, by gentle
hands, guided by fervent hearts, were the first clearings made for the future city
of the dead. Nor was it long until that silent city began to be occupied, for
under date of July 10, 1849, we read :
Tlie first interment in these [cemetery] grounds took place on Saturday last [July 7],
being tliat of Leonora, infant daughter of Aaron F. Perry, Esq., one of the trustees of the
association. That lone grave of an infant is the nucleus around which, in process of a few
fleeting months, uiultitudes will assemble in their final resting place.
The next interment was that of Doctor B. F. Gard, the circumstances of
whose death li-oni cholera on July 11, 1849, have been narrated in another chapter.
t)ii July 11, 1849, the new burial place was formally dedicated under the
name ot (iiren Lawn Cemetery. The ceremonies took place on the grounds,
under the shade of the foresttrees, and were opened with prayer offered by Eev.
H. L. Hitchcock. After an original ode, which was next sung, Mr. W. B. Hub-
bard, president of the trustees, in fitting terms presented the grounds for dedica-
tion, and a dedicatory ode composed for the occasion by Benjamin T. Cushing was
read. llrv. Ddctor James Hoge then delivered the dedicatory address. In con-
clusiiiii a Ininn was sung, followed by a benediction. The Ohio State Jounial of
Octolici- 111, 1S4'.I, contained the following:
The first monument in Green Lawn Cemetery was erected during the current week by
.Mr. WiMiam G. Deshler. . . . The device with which the monument is adorned is a rose
liranch the )iu 1 of which has fallen from the stem and rests upon the plinth below. The
inscrii)tion is simple, and beautifully expressive, thus : "Olive, wife of William G. Deshler.
Aged 19."
An expression of the stockholders taken in 1856 as to the admission of
colored ])ersou8 to the privileges of the cemetery resulted adversely to the prop-
osition, ninetyone to twenty. On June 10, 1862, the trustees adopted the fol-
lowing resolutions:
- That so much ef Section ^l as may be necessary be and is hereby appropriated for the
burial of officers and soldiers who may fall in battle or die while in the service of our govern-
ment during continuance of the present rebellion.
The further proceedings as to this section, and also as to the collection for
interment therein of the remains of soldiers who died in the vicinity of Colum-
bus, have been narrated in a preceding chapter. An account of the monument
erected in the cemetery by the ex-Soldiers' and Sailors' Association has also been
given. In 1872 a section was especially set apart for the interment of deceased
colored persons.
After the opening of Green Lawn Cemetery the North Graveyard fell into a
sad state of neglect. Weeds and briars grew in every part of it. Its fences were
|irosti-ated, and domestic animals of all kinds roamed at will through its sacred
]irc<inc1s. In 1869 about half the bodies had been transferred to Green Lawn
and the emptied graves were left yawning. A few interments had been made in
the -niumls us late as 1864-5, but afterthat they had been voluntarily discontinued.
The a]>]Mu|>iiation made of part of the graveyard for the use of the Columbus,
Springfield iV Cincinnati Railway in 1871 has'been referred to in the history of
that corporation. The value of the strip, comprising one and onethird acres,
which the railway company succeeded in having condemned, was fixed by the
condemnation jury at $14,625, which sum the company paid to the Probate Court
on January 26, 1871.
726 HiSTORV OF THE ClTY OF CoLUMBUS.
On February 29, 1864, tlie trustees of the Green Lawn Cemetery Association
■proposed to the owners of lots in the North Gravej-ard to exchange Green Lawn
lots for the Graveyard lots, the remains interred in the latter to be exhumed and
decently rcinterred in the new lots at the expense of the Green Lawn Association,
which further engaged "to lay off said North Graveyard into town lots and to
lease said lots as a permanent source of revenue for the support and improvement
of said [Green Ivawn ] Cemetery."^ In pursuance of this proposition conveyance
was made to the trustees of most of the lots contained in that part of the graveyard
known as the Doherty tract, heretofore described. Meanwhile condemnation suits
were brought b}' the Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central Kailwaj' Company for the
purpose of obtaining part of the graveyard area for the use of that corporation.
To the petition in this behalf, John M. Kerr, son of John Kerr, one of tlie original
proprietors of Columbus, made claim that the portion otthe graveyard deeded to
the city by his father had reverted to the Kerr heirs under the conditions of the
deed, and demanding that, in case condemnation should be ordered the railwaj-
company should be required to make its payments to him as rightful heir to
and owner of the reversionary interest. Mr. Kerr also brought suit in ejectment
against the city on the ground that the corporation of Columbus had ceased to use
as a burial place the land conveyed to it for that ]>urpose by his father, and had
therefore forfeited its title to said land.^
These various suits and claims, uniu-d with complications of title as to the
Brickell tract, caused great confusion and led to prolonged controversy and liti-
gation. In the answer to the ejectment suit, Messrs. Henry C. Noble and Francis
Collins, attorneys representing the city, denied that the borough of Columbus had
taken possession of the Kerr tract under the deed of 1821, and claimed that in
June, 1816, prior to the Kerr ownership, James Johnston, then owner, had deeded
the land to the boi-ough for a graveyard. Various additional points were made
in the pleadings in dispute of the Kerr title. Pending determination of this suit,
the plaintiff, John M. Kerr, proposed to the City Council to relinquish his claim to
the ground provided the city would pay him ?600 cash, and an annuity of the
same amount during his natural life. After this proposition had been before the
council for some time Mr. Kerr gave notice of its withdrawal, but the council
insisted that it could not be withdrawn, and on August 25, 1873, unanimously
adopted it. Mr. Kerr persisted in refusing acceptance, and finally sold his rever-
sionary interest for 83,000 to J. M. Westwater, in whom the title to the tract was
judicially confirmed.
The exhumation and removal of the remains interred in the North Graveyard,
begun soon after the opening of Green Lawn and accelerated bj' condemnation of
part of the old buryingground for the use of the Springfield railway, was not
finalh' concluded until the year 1881. The reopening of the old graves and
removal of their contents to Green Lawn were attended b}^ some curious reveal-
ments and incidents. On the finger of a young lady whose remains were lifted in
1872 was found, bright as ever, its circlet of gold, but the gems with which the,
jewel had been set were gone. The body of Cyrus Sells, of whose murder in the
Penitentiary an account has beeu given in the hi8tor3- of that prison, was taken
up during the same year, and was well preserved. The skull revealed the fatal
cuts made with the axe in the hands of the convict Clark. The remains of Peter
Sells and wife, who had been dead for more than forty years, were also well pre-
served. Substantially the same facts were true of many others. A bit of ribbon
binding the hair of an unknown lady whose body had been in the grave more
than thirty years, still retained its color. The hair of persons who had been
deceased for nearly half a centurj' was sometimes found in a state of almost life-
like freshness. One of the wellpreserved bodies taken up was that of Jacob Leib,
one of the pioneers of Columbus, who, when living, was considered the most pow-
Cemeteries. 727
erful man, iiliysic:ill3-, in Franklin County. His iieight was six tbet two inches.
Solomon ^[ili.'r, anollu'i' pioneer wliose body was exiiunied, had died at the age of
38. In tlie !;i-ave iif M I'.-i. Siandisli, who had lieen dead tvventysix years, were
Ibund two eopper eoins, much tarnished. In the g-ravc of Mrs. Cole, who had
been dead thirtyone years, were found her heavy gokl earrings, which were pre-
sented to Biirvivinu- friends. One of the liodies taken uj) on December 1, 1881,
was tiiat of Henry Foster, the young man killiMJ during the Know Nothing riot on
High Street in 18f)4. The last liodies to be removeil were the unclaimed ones and
those liuiied in the Kerr trael, whieh had been longest in litigation. The north-
eastern pcjrii.m (if the gi-ounds, owing to its marshy nature, contained but few if
any gi'.-ivcs. It was reserved liy the eity as a site for a inarkethouse.
In a ]iiec. ding p:irt ot this ehaiiter mention has been made of the purchase of
eemelery grounds on the Livingston Road, now Avenue, southeast of the city.
This |Hiielia>e. originally made in 1839, was completed in IS-ll. The owner of the
land, by whom ( veyanee was made to the city, was Matthew King. Owing to
its marshy nature it was very unsuitable for cemetery purposes, and a considera-
ble portion- ot it was never platted It ultimately became a place of sepulture for
friendless waifs and paupers. On March 5, 1877, the council adopted the following
in reference to it :
\Vni:RE.\s Tlie further interment of bodies in the East Graveyard has been prohibited
liy an onliiianee pastel by tliis council ; and whereas, the fence around said graveyard is
idniost if not entirely gone; and whereas the council does not deem it advisable to retain
saiil i)roperty for graveyard purposes; therefore be it
R'siilceti, Tliat all i^orsons liaving friends buried in said graveyard are hereb)' requested
to remove the remains, and the comrnittee on East Graveyard are hereby instructed to report
whether the pioperty had better be laid out into lots and sold or retained by the city for the
purpose of a public jiark.
The further history of this tract, including its reservation for a park, has
already been given. The history of the Catholic cemeteries accompanies tliat of
the churches. A tract long used as a cemetery by the colored people was sold in
1886, tlie bodies having been transferred to Green Lawn. The Hebrew cemeterj',
formerlj- located in the eastern part of the citj^, now occupies grounds in the vicin-
ity of the Catholic cemeterj', west of the Scioto.
1. This ordinance was intended to take effect on November 1, next ensuing, but before
that date, owing lo the outcry it evoked, it was repealed. A second and final ordinance for-
bidding interments in the old cemetery was passed May .'JO, 1864.
2. Aii.ongthe names attached to this call were the following : W. B. Hubbard, W. B.
Thrall, N. H. Swavne, A. F. Ferry, ,J. E. Rudisill. James M. Westwater. C. P. L. Butler, A.
Chittenden, L. Kilbourn, 0. Fay, A. P. Stone, W. M. Savage, R. W. McCov, Joel Buttles, S.
Medary, .lames S. Abbott and S. M. Smith.
3. Thi- tni-,tees of tile tireen Lawn Association at the time this proposition was made
were William A. I'hitt, Thomas Sparrow. John Greenleaf, William T. Martin, W. G. Deshler,
J. M. Westwater and 1 1. P. Hiiies. The members of the committee by whom the proposition
w,as prepared and suliuitted were Messrs. Deshler, Westwater, Hines and Piatt.
4. The appraised value of the grounds, exclusive of the Kerr tract, in 1874, was $143,051 .
The Kerr tract was appraised at $24,000.
CHAPTER XLVl
CHARITIES.
The appeal made in behalf of the peasantry of Irelanil and Scotland, stricken
by famine in 1846 and 1847, elicited from the American people a most generous
response. That appenl reached the citizens of Columbus, and was one of the
earliest claims not of a local nature made upon their benevolence. That it might
receive due and systematic attention a public meeting was held on February 18,
1847, at the First Presbj'terian Church. At that meeting Hon. Joseph Kidgway
was appointed chairman, and an introductory invocation was offered by Rev. Doc-
tor James Hoge. A " plan of action " was reported by a committee appointed for
the purpose, and the following committee appointed to execute the plan was
named: John Miller, John Noble, James Aston, J. Eidgway, Junior, David
Mitchell, John L. Gill, Robert McCoy, Eli W. Gwynne, L. Goodale, George M.
Parsons, J. W. Milligan, A. P. Stone, John Funston, Isaac Dalton and Lewis Hos-
ier. The work of collecting contributions was extended to the townships of
Franklin County, and resulted in the donation of considerable amounts of Indian
corn and other provisions.
The only organized and S3'stematic charity in the city at this time, or at any pre-
vious period, seems to have been that of the Female Benevolent Society, the history
of which is reserved for another place. In January, 1852, the ladies of the city
gave " a supper and fair " for the benefit of the poor, and realized from their efforts
the net sum of $841.25. The tables were spread at the Odeon. A public meeting
for the relief of sufferers by "the late calamitous fire at Chillicothe " was held on
April 6, 1852, at tiie Citj^ Hall. Rev. James Hoge was chairman on this occasion,
and Samuel Medary secretary. At an adjourned meeting held on April 8, sub-
scriptions to the amount of $1,810 were reported, and resolutions of sympathj- for
the people made homeless by the fire were adopted. Early in 1853 a benevolent
association of ladies was organized, and established a depot on High Street between
Rich and Friend, from which supplies could be dispensed to the destitute. Con-
tributions from the citizens were invited. In February, 1853, a charity sewing
society made its advent, under the presidency of Sarah A. Harrison, wife of Wil-
liam Harrison. It was still in existence a year later. In 1855 and 1857 Mr. John
G. Deshler, a citizen of Columbus, made some notable donations of flour and coal
to destitute persons in New York and Cincinnati. A festival for the relief of the
poor of the citj- was held under the auspices of the Odd Fellows in December,
1857. In 1858, Sister Felicitas, a member of the sisterhood of Notre Dame de
Paris, established an orphans' home at the corner of Friend and Sixth streets. In
February, 1860, Sister Felicitas, who was a lady greatly esteemed for her personal
[728]
Charities. '^29
qualities, as well as for her works of humanity, quitted Colnmbns for Mexico and
the home which she had founded was transferred to the Sisters ,>\ Cl.anlv.
In November, 1860, the clergymen Of the city were r-Miiicstcd to appeal,
from their pulpits, for contributions in aid of sufferers by the linuinc tlien pre-
vailing in Kansas, and the following committee to solicit donations trom citizens
generally was appointed: P. B. Wilcox, W. B. Thrall, William Armstrong,
A. P. Stone and L. L. Rice. ■ i u ip
The claims made upon the benevolence of the people of Columbus in oeDaii
of the soldiers during the Civil War, and the manner in which those claims were
met, have already been described. In April, 1861, it was announced that 10,000
flannel shirts, made by the ladies of the city, were rrady tor distribution to the
volunteers. Messrs. Smith, Buttles, Blair, Eberly and Stanrin- were appointed
as a committee of the council to distribute 120,000 api.roin-ialed by that body for
relief of the families of soldiers. The associate members of the United ^jat^'S
Sanitary Commission met at the Starling Medical College on December 7, 1861,
and elected : President, Jo.seph Sullivant ; vice president. Rev. E. M. Fitzgerald ;
secretary, John W. Andrews; treasurer, T. G. Wormley. The members of the
commission in the city at that time were Governor William Dennison, Reverends
Fitzgerald, Hemsteger, Trimble and Mees, Doctors Carter, Smith, Awl, J. ii.
Thompson, Loving and Wormley, and Messrs. J. Sullivant, F. C. Sessions,
P. Ambos, J. H. Riley, R. Neil, F. Collins and John W. Andrews. The organiza-
tion and operations of the Ladies' Soldiers' Aid .Society luive been described in
appropriate chapters. The constitution of that society declared its purpose to be
"to furnish relief to the sick and wounded soldiers and sailors of our army and
navy, under the direction of and auxiliary to the United StMes National Sanitary
Commission at Washington." The society met daily, from ten to twelve a. m., tor
the purpose of making up such articles as were needed by the sick and wounded
in the hospitals.
On October 23, 1862, a public meeting was held at Naughton Hall to raise
means for the relief of destitute famihes driven from their homes by the Indian
raid in Minnesota. In June of the same year the sum of 1550 50 was collected in
the city and remitted for the relief of suffering poor in Ireland. The sum of
$5,000 from a contribution of $380,000 from the State of California, was placed
at the disposal of the Columbus branch of the Sanitary Commission. The use ol
a lot for the Commission's hospital w^as granted by the Columbus & Xenia rail-
way. It was situated near the Union Station. A public meeting to provide
relief for soldiers' families was held at the Town Street Methodist Church
December 8, 1863. Ex-Governor Dennison presided ; over 11,000 was subscribed.
Finance and execuiive committees were appointed: also committees for thedif-
ferent townships of the county. In DecemlKT, isi;:-!, the Soldiers' Aid Society
held a bazar from which the sum of $7,028 was realized. Donations of fuel and
provisions' raised tiie total value of the receipts to $9,000. " Sawbuck companies
were organized in December, 1863, to saw and split wood donated by the farmers
for the families of absent soldiers. The companies were composed chiefly of
boys, but some aged men also took part in them. The boys called themselves
"Sawbuck Rangers." On December 22, 1863, the directors of the Bee Line
Railway approp'riated $10,000 for the relief of soldiers' families The City Coun-
cil voted $600 to the public charities and 1300 to the St. Francis Hospital
December 21. An exhibition of tableaux given at the Opera Hou^o for the bene-
fil of the Soldiers' Aid Societv in October, 'l864, realized the sum of $1,000. At a
meeting held in the Second Presbyterian Church November 13 the Christian
Commission received donations to the amount of $540. On November 14, 1864,
Governor Brough issued a proclamaiion designating Saturday, November 26, as a
dav of feasting and jubilee for soldiers' families. In this document the military
730 History of the City of Columbus.
coinmittees throughout the State wore admonished by the Governor to call upon
the farmers to " come in with their wagons loaded with wood," and to " make it
heaping measure." In response to these suggestions "wood processions" were
formed hy the farmers, and in nearly every considerable town in the State one of
these novel spectacles was witnessed. One which took place in Columbus in
December, 1803, was thus described:'
Last Saturday was the proudest day for the true lover of tlie families of our brave vol-
unteers wlioare now in the field doing battle for the country, that the oldest inhabitant of
the city ever saw. About ten o'clock a. m. the sidewalks all along High Street were crowded
with admiring citizens of all ages and sex to witness the pnu'ession, and it was the most
griorious sight we ever saw for the object in view —the relief of lln^ sutt'erintr families of sol-
diers. It is estimated that about six hundred wagons, tilbd willi t-xrcHrnt won.l. were con-
gregated in the different streets abutting the roads from the (■.xiiitry, and the marshals
endeavored at one time to form them into a grand procession along Higii Street, to move up
to liOng, thence to l-'ourth, but it was found impossible. [The wood was unloaded on the
sidewalks around the Capitol Square, conipletely filling them]. . . . After the farmers had
deposited their different donations, they repaired to the Atheneum where they had been
invited by the Ladies' Bazar i/nd partook of a' free dinner.
After this dinner the donors were addressed by Governor Tod. The contri-
butions comprised large quantities of provisions, as well as fuel. Some of the
townships made their donations in money. In February, 1865, the Ladies' Aid
Society received from the business men of the city a cash donation of $2,000.
On May 6, 1867, a meeting in behalf of destitute persons in Southern Georgia
was held at the First Congregational Church. Governor Cox presided and explained
the purposes of the charity sought. The meeting was further addressed by Hon.
William Dennison. Several hundred dollars were contributed, and a committee
was appointed to canvass the city for further donations. In December, 1868, the
City Council ordered a distribution of 3,000 bushels of coal and twentyfive cords
of wood to the poor of the city. In November, 1869, a donation of 5,000 bushels
of coal to the poor of Columbus was made by W. B. Brooks and Peter Hayden.
In October, 1871, a strong appeal was made to the general benevolence of the
citj- by the loss and suffering caused by the great fire in Chicago. The whole
city was stirred by this calamity, and a systematic relief work was organized.
William G. Deshler was made treasurer of the fund and on October 9 reported
cash contributions to the total amount of $13,966.90 ; also several railwaytrain
loads of all kinds of supplies, including several carloads of bread baked at the
Ohio Penitentiary. In November, 1872, the City Council ordered a distribution
to the poor of 5,500 bushels of coal. In October, 1873, the charity of the city was
appealed to in behalf of sufferers by a terrible yellow fever scourge in Memphis.
On October 30, contributions to the amount of $807.07 were reported.
The industrial distress caused by the financial panic of 1873 rendered syste-
matic measures for relief of the unemployed and destitute necessary ._ The city
was divided into districts, relief committees were appointed for each, and a stone-
yard at whicii vagrant mendicants, commonly called tramps, could find honest
work if they wanted it, in breaking stone, was arranged under the NU]ierinten-
dence of Mr. William G. Deshler. The rough material was deliv.-n-d at .the j'ard
at a cost of $1.50 per perch, and 2-^ cents per cubic foot was jiaid for breaking it.
The stone broken was sold and used as a foundation for the Niclml^on pavement
then being laid on High Street, and from the proiceils of the sale ninety ]iei- cent,
of the donations for the stoneyard were repaid ti) thv .lunnrs. Ai first the aver-
age number of men employed at the yard was about fitt3-. .V great many vagrants
who were offered work refused it; many others, after working a short time quit
in disgust. Other expedients under the name of Bethel Home and Eelief Union
were tried in 1876. A home for soldiers' widows was opened on North Front
Street by ladies, in 1877. In December of that year a council donation of 1,000
Charities. 731
bushels of coal was made to St. Francis Hospital. Relief for yellow fever suffer-
ers at Memphis and other cities of the South was again called for in August, 1878.
On September 3, the contributions for this purjiose reaciu-d $1,700, but donations
continued to bo solicted and received for some wteks afterwards.-' On January
20, 1879, the council authorized a tlistril)uti<.n of 10,000 hushels of coal by the Poor
Committee.
Considerable contributions were made in Aiimisl, issl.lbr the relief of suf-
ferers bj^ forest fires in Michigan. An a.^social ion for allevialini;- tiii' distress of
Hebrew refugees from Russia was organized in ,liil\, issi'. hi January, 1883 a
sum of about"$3,000 was contributed by tiornuin- Am'critau citizens Ibr th'e relief of
sufferers by extraordinary floods in the I'iver Rhine, in Germany. Great distress
caused by floods in the Ohio River ajjjiealed to tht^ charity of the city in Febru-
ary, 1883, and in response to this appeal donations to tiie anvmnt of |1(J,000
were made by citizens of Coliinibus. jjargo quantities of clothing anil other sup-
lies were forwarik-d to the ditfcrcnt <cnters of distress along the I'i vcr, and were
accompanied by messengers to attend to their ilistriliiition. ^ On Mar(di 11, 1885, a
Columbus branch of the Woman's National Indian As.'ociation was organized. A
terrible cycdone in Fayette County, on Septemlicr s, 18S5, elicited a proclamation
from Governor Hoadly, appealing, in behalf of the sufferers, to tiic charity of the
entire State. The contributions made by the people of Ctdumbus anioutitcd to
about «3,000.
On December 14, 1885, the charities of the city were united under one organ-
ization. On May 0, 1886, the 0|)erations of this general organization were sus-
pended. A Friendly Inn, which it had established, wasdiscontinued on December
8, 1887. In January, 1888, Mr. B. S. Brown, of Columbus, gave 125,000 to endow
a professorship in the university at Wooster, Ohio.
The devastation of the city of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, by the bursting of
a dam in the Conemaugh Creek on May 31, 1889, was a disaster of such an exten-
sive and distressing character as to ap])eal jirofouidly to the sympathj- of the
people of Ohio. On June 1 Governor Foraker issued a |iroelamation calling for
general contributions for relief of the sufferers, and on the following day the Board
of Trade appointed a committee to receive and forward donations. Mr. W. G.
Deshler was appointed by the Governor as treasurer of the funds contributed
from the State, and remitted, in all, filtj'seven thousand dollars. The total amount
of cash donations from Columbtis, reported by the Board of Trade committee
June 8, was about $7,000. Besides the money contributions immense quantities
of supplies were forwarded by B. A. Fitch, who had charge of that department.
COLUMBUS FEMALE BENEVOLENT SOCIETY.
The original organization of this societ}' took place on January 5, 1835, at
the Methodist Episcopal Church on Town Street.^ A constitution prepared by Mrs.
John Patterson was at tiiat time ado])ted, and the tidlowing otticers were chosen :
President, Mrs. James Hoge ; vice presiilent, Mrs. E. W. .Sehon ; treasurer, Mi^s.
Noah H. Swayne ; secretary. Miss M. Kellcy, afterwards Mrs. Jauies L. Bates;
board of managers, Mesdames William M. Awl, Demas Adams, Ralph Osborn,
Moses Jewett, Samuel Crosby-, John Bailhache, Benjamin Blake, Josepii Ridgway,
Junior, D. Woodbury and A. Van Horn.' The society held its first business
meeting at the house of Mrs. Demas Adams and appointed a visiting committee
732 History of the City of Columbus.
for each of the three wards of the city as follows: North Ward, Mesdames J. B.
Harvey, Eobert Eiordan, Joseph Eidgway. Junior, Charles Slerrilt, J. B. Crist
and Sarali Gill; Middle Ward, Mesdames Demas Adams, William T. Martin,
Benjamin BlaUe, J. M. Espy, Moses Jewett and L. Eeynolds; South Ward, Mes-
dames Jami!8 Cherry, John Mcllvaine, John Patterson, A. Van Horn, McCarty
and T. Woo J bury. Mrs. John Patter.son and Mrs. JSToah H. Swayue were
appointed to purchase materials for the poor of the city, many of whom were
said to be in great need.'
In April, 1836, an organization subordinate to the society was formed for the
education of destitute children. On a lot donated by Hon. Alfred Kelley in
April, 1837, a small schoolhouse was erected and a free school was opened which
continued until the public school sj'stem of the State was inaugurated. Messrs.
D. T. Woodbury, Joseph Eidgway, Junior, and P. B. Wilcox were about the time
of the opening of this school appointed as members of an Advisory Board.
These were the only men who ever held any direct connection with the societies
down to 1888.
_ On Murch 5, 1H38, the General Assembly passed an act, the first section of
which provided
That Mary T^Cressy, Maria M. Espy, Sarah Asbury, Maria S. Preston, Mary S. Kelley,
Caroline Dryer, Keziah B. Stone and their associates, being females who now are, or who
may hereafter, agreeably to the constitution and bylaws of the " Columbus Female Benevo-
lent Socifty," to become members thereof are declared a body corporate, with perpetual
succession, for the purposes of administering to the wants and alleviating the distress of the
pour and afliicted of their own sex, and of affording moral, physical and intellectual instruc-
lion and improvement to orphans and other poor children.
Thus the society began its corporate existence. A clause in its legislative
charter forbade it to hold property to the value of more than $50,000, but this
restriction was afterwards repealed. The second article of the constitution of
the society reads:
The purpose of this society is to seek the poor and afflicted females in the city of
Columbus, and provide them relief, aid, instruction or employment, as may be deemed best,
and to afford moral, physical and intellectual instruction and improvement to orphans and
other poor children, and also to aid and care for worthy women in the perils of childbirth,
and for infants
Eegular, life and honorary members are provided for. Proposals for inejn-
bership are submitted to a vote by ballot, and any such proposal against which
ten negative votes are cast is considered rejected. "Life membership is contingent,
for members, upon the payment of $25 ; honorary membership upon long and
fjiithful service in the work of the society. The annual meeting of members for
hearing reports and electing officers takes place on the first Wednesday in
January. Twenty members constitute a quorum. Ee^lar meetings of the
directors are held on the first Wednesday of each month. The society is for-
bidden to incur any indebtedness, All income from life membership, and all
bequests and donations received, are placed in a permanent fund, which must be
invested in bonds of the United States, the State of Ohio, Franklin County, or
the City of Columbus. By payment of $25 to the memorial fund an}- person
may commemorate a deceased friend. The city is districted for the purpose of
charitable visitation, and i;vvo visitors are assigned to each district. Supplies are
distributed to the jioor preferably to mone^'. Members pay one dollar each
within the month of their initiation, and thereafter each one pays one dollar
annually. The officers are president, vice president, secretary and treasurer.
During the first j-ears of its existence the society held its meetings at the resi-
dences of its members, the most frequent places of assembly being the dwellings
Charities. 733
of Mrs. Maria M. Espy, Mrs. Joel Buttles, Mrs. Asbel Chittenden and, at a later
period, of Mrs. John W.Andrews. The society's records tViuii f-^35 to 1869 are
imperfect. On August 22, 1848, Mrs. I. G. Dryer, then |Mv-idriii, acknowledged
receipt of the proceeds of a concert donated by the Culunilms iiaud. The total
receipts of the society in 1848 were Sill. 85, its total expenditures $110.35. The
applications for relief during that year numbered 52. In February, 1849, six
young misses formed a sewing circle and donated to the society its proceeds,
amounting to $40.50. The total receipts in 1849 were f 150.62^, the expenditures
$147.12^, the applications for relief 74. In 1850 the receipts wa>re $257.40, the
expendilures $236.50. In January, 1851, the society received a donation of $70
from the Fame Engine and Hornet Hose companies. Relief was granted in 1851
to 160 applicants. A fair for the benefit of the poor, given in January of that
year, realized a net sum of $841.25. The society's receipts in 1853 were $900.85,
expenditures $646.35. The report for 1854 stated that about $500 per year had
been disbursed during several years preceding.
During the spring of 1858 the Industrial School Association was organized
with the following officers: President, Mrs. Hannah Neil: secretary. Miss
Matilda Gwynne; teacher. Miss Ann Robinson. By this association a school was
opened in the City Hall with eight pupils, which number was increased by the
end of the year to fifty. In 1860 the average attendance at the school numbered
sixty and its expenditures amounted to $190. The school held its sittings on Sat-
urday afternoon of each week, from two o'clock until five. This lime was devoted
to the in.struction of destitute children of the female ,sex. They were taught plain
sewing and wei-e trained and instructed morally. Mrs. Martha B. Taylor and
Miss Lucy M. Peters were notable workers in this school. " Mothers' meetings "
were held in connection with it, and in cases of special need or deserving, useful
articles, including those made in the school, were donated to the children. As
another branch of this work a mission Sundayschool was organized in 1862 and
met in the City Hall.
On June 30, 1866, the association was incorporated under the name of Indus-
ti-al Mission School Association with Messrs. George Gere, I. C. Aston, E. L, Tay-
lor, F. C. Sessions and J. J. Ferson as trustees. Of this board F. C. Sessions was
chosen president and B. L. Taylor secretary. The association devoted its work
at this time especially to the indigent childi-en of soldiers. Mr. William A. Neil
gave it a lot and the Columbus Branch of the United States Sanitary Commission
donated for its use, with furniture and fixtures, the Soldiers' Home building sit-
uated near the railway station. The wish was publicly expressed that in con-
nection with its school the association would establish a home for friendless
women and children. This was accordingl}' done, and in November, 1868, a
judicial decree was obtained conferring upon the joint institution the name of
Hannah Neil Mission and Home 'of the Friendless. Under this name the dual
charity, on April 1, 1868, began its work in the Soldiers' Elome buildings already
mentioned. Thence it was removed, on December 15, 1869, to the building which
had been used for the Asylum for the Feebleminded on East Main Street.' These
premises, owned by the mission, comprise three and onequartei- acres. In Novem-
ber, 1870, the Industrial School was transferred by the managers of the mission to
the Female Benevolent Society, under the care of which it has since been con-
ducted. The following statements concerning the school are taken, by permission,
from an interesting paper written in the spring of 1889 by Mrs. W. A. Mahony :
The work of the Industrial school consists in collei ting poor children and giving them
instructioDs, Saturday mornings, in plain sewing, manners and morals. According to the
original plan the two hours of the school session were spent mostly in sewing and the gar-
ments made were given to the children. Five years ago Mrs. Alice C. Brown, then superinten-
dent of the school, suggested the advisability of making it more distinctly a training school
734 History of the City of Columbus.
in Bible truths, in morals and in manners, and laid before the Benevolent Society a plan in
which practical lessons in housewifery and useful instructions tending to the moral elevation
of jjirls mi^ht be added to the lessons in sewing. That needed habits of seltdenial and
economy might be instilled it was thought best to charge a small sum for the garments,
which, in the previous years had been gratuitously distributed. After five years the plan
has proven successful, and as one of the good results the school has become nearly selfsup-
porting. Not having a suitable and permanent place for holding its sessions it has always
been subject to annoyances and many discouragements.
The report of the school for 1890, by Mrs. George J. Akinson, its secretary
and treasurer, made the following showing: Average attendance in January,
105 scholars, 14 teachers, 4 officers; February, 110 scholars, 12 teachers, 4 oflSeers ;
March, 117 scholars, 12 teachers, 3 officers; November, 100 scholars, 14 teachers,
4 officers ; December, 125 scholars, 17 teachers, 4 officers.
Concerning the other branch of the dual charity we have, in the paper by
Mrs. W. A. Mahony, alread}- quoted, the following interesting account :
In 18CS was opened a home or asylum for destitute women and children in a building
used as a Soldiers' Home daring the Civil War. Twentyone years ago it was removed to its
present location on East Main Street. It is known as the Hannah Neil Mission and Home of
the Friendless. Its purpose is to provide care and shelter, free or for compensation, to
females of all ages, and to males under fifteen years of age, until such time as suitable pro-
vision can otherwise be made for them. There are twentysix managers, who, with the otii-
cers, constitute the managing board, all ladies, Mrs. E. A. Fitch the president. There is a
board of trustees consisting of five prominent business men, of whom Mr. F. C. Sessions is
president. The Hannah Neil Mission and Home of the Friendless is regarded in the relation
of a sister to the Benevolent Society. xMany of the visitors of the latter are officers or man-
agers in the former, and the two societies have always worked together harmoniously. The
efficient president of this society for many years was Mrs. R. D. Harrison, who ceased from
her labors in this life and entered higher services in the fall of 18S7. In a few short months
she was joined by Mrs. Ide, who for twenty years had been friend, advisor and comforter in
the Home. Mrs. Ide's sister, Mrs. Haver, was the first vice president. At the Home in Janu-
ary of this year died the first vice president of the Hannah Neil Mission in 1866. She was
known throughout the city as " Auntie [Mrs. M. B.] Taylor " She lived to reach her nine-
tieth year
A vote of the managers, in 1873, excluding a colored child, caused consider-
able feeling. A large proportion of the children at the Home of the Friendless
was transferred to the Franklin County Children's Home in March, 1880. A
similar transfer was made of the children in the County Infirmary. The cash
receipts of the mission, from all sources, in 1890, amounted to $1,282. The aver-
age number of persons cared for each month during that year was twentyseven.
The first permanent fund of the Female Benevolent Society was realized
from the sale of the lot donated on April 25, 1838, by Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Kelley.
This lot, situated on the east side of Fourth Street, between Oak and State, is
believed to be that on which stands the building now used by the Woman's
Educational and Industrial Union. The original school building erected on the
lot, as heretofore stated, still stands on the rear part of it, and is used as a stable.
The sum realized by the society from the sale of this ground was §500.
The surplus remaining from the receipts of the State Capitol festival of
January 6, 1857, was donated to the society, as has been stated in the history of
the Capitol. From this donation a permanent fund of two hundred dollars has
been established.
A surplus of $200 from money raised in the Second Ward to aid in securing
sufficient enlistments to exempt that ward from the draft during the Civil AVar,
was also donated to the societj-, and is still preserved as a permaiieiit investment.
The will of Doctor Lincoln Goodale, probated May 29, 1868, contained the fol-
lowing bequest : "And i do hereby give and bequeath said ouefourth of one of
said fifteen shares [into which his estate was divided] to the Ladies' Benevolent
Society of the city of Columbus, called the Female Benevolent Society." This
Charities. 735
also constitutes a permanent fund. Its amount, as stated in llie treasurer's repdrt,
is $16,885.67.
In March, 1876, Mrs. Elizabeth E. Noble donated to tlie .society as a memorial
of her mother, Mrs. Matilda A. Edmisloii, a railway boiui of the dencjmination of
$1,000, to be held and securely invested as a source of permanent ii.cumo to this
charity.
On December 25, 1886, the society received from Mr. Benjamin S. Brown, of
Columbus, a donation of ten thousanti dollars to be invested and known as the
Benjamin S. Brown Fund, the income from which should be expended for chari-
table purposes by the corjioration receiving it.
On January 5, 18S7, Mr. William G. Deshler addressed to the president of the
society, Mrs. H. M. Hubbard, a letter containing the following passages :
Not long since I became possessed of a series of letters written by ray mother, at
Columbus, to her relatives in the East, during the years of 1817 to 1827, in wliich year she
died oji August 2.' Her porlrayals of the suffering among her neighbors, and in her own
home, in consequence of the prevailing diseases incident to a new coiuiiry, the failure of
harvests and the cessation of business, tell us that the founders of Columbus struggled through
years of great depression with a patient endurance that can hardly be comprehended by
this generation. They also tell us that during all those dark years the wives nobly stood
beside their husbands, Siicrificing the necessities of life, and spending the little strength of
their weakness for each other, and for the children. Her frequently expressed regrets for
the little she did and the much she could not do for want of health and means, and her
reflections thereon, have prompted the action now taken. I ask that the Columbus Female
Benevolent Society become the almoner of my mother, Betsy Green Deshler, in accordance
with the deed of trust herewith.
The deed here mentioned conveyed to the society the sum of one hundred
thousand dollars " in assets at their cash value," and appointed George W. Sinks,
George K. Nash, Andrew 0. Rodgers, Rutherford H. Piatt and Gilbert C. Hoover
as an Advisory Board, they and their successors to have " the exclusive direction,
control and management of all investments of money to be made in behalf of said
trust." The deed further provided that a specific proportion of the income from
the fund should, from year to year, be paid to the treasurer of the Hannah Neil
Mission and Home of the Friendless for the benefit of that institution. Eeceipt
of the assets conveyed bj' the deed was acknowledged by the Advisory Board on
January 1, 1887. The next donation received by the society for permanant
investment for its benefit vvas conveyed b}' will of Sylvester Medbery, of Colum-
bus, March 25, 1887, in the following terms ;
I give to the Columbus Female Benevolent Society five thousand dollars to be by them
invested as a permanent fund, the interest from which to be used by them fur the relief of
the poor and needy of-Columbus, Ohio. *
On October 20, 1887, Mr. William G. Deshler addressed a letter to Mrs. H. M.
Hubbard, president of the society, proijosing as follows :
The need of a department for special work in the Columbus charities is known to
those who bave given the subject attention. Under its act of incorporation your society
could establish such department if its constitution and bylaws be amended. Action is now
taken because that can be done only at an annual meeting of the society, si.vty days' pre-
vious notice having been given of any proposed amendment. The date for the next annual
meeting is January 4, 1888. Circumstances prompt me to provide, in part, at least, for that
special work in the name of a loved daughter who for years was an active worker in your
society. 1 desire to establish the Kate Deshler Hunter Fund of $o3,000 as of date September
26, 1887, the income therefrom to be used as provided in the deed of trust.
The deed here named contained this section ;
736 History op the Citt of Columbus.
I do hereby expressly provide, and this trust is always to be subject to this provision,
that the said Columbus Female Benevolent Society shall, through a standing committee, to
be called the Kate Deshler Hunter Fund Committee, from the money coming into its hands
from this trust, to give temporary aid and care to such worthy poor, married or lately widowed
women who are or are about to be " in the perils of childbirth," and also such temporary aid
to infants as the committee shall determine. In carrying on this work the committee may
pay rent, procure medical attendance, medicines, nurses, food, fuel, clothing and such other
necessaries as may be proper, and extend such assistance for such length of time as each
case, in the opinion of the committee, may require. The committee shall also endeavor to
keep .so advised that it can promptly aid in procuring wet nurses for those applying in cases
of emergency.
The Advisory Committee named for the administration of the Bets.y Green
Deshler fund was appointed for like service as to the Kate Deshler Hunter fund.
These munificent gifts by Mr. Deshler were all acknowledged and accepted in
appropriate terms by the society, but they by no means exhausted his generous
intentions, for on November 27, 1889, he addressed the president of the society as
follows :
The constitution of your society provides, as a part of its work, the physical improve-
ment of orphans and other poor children. There are and always will be in Columbus such
children who are crippled from birth by disease or accident, needing care and mechanical or
other appliances to cure, ameliorate or enable them to become workers for their own support
in whole or in part. Through your society I desire to provide for some of such afflicted chil-
dren, regardless of color, nationality or religion, who are under fourteen years of age and
whose parents or parent have lived in Columbus continuously for two years. I desire to
establish the Deshler Hunter fund of |17,000 as of date November 12, 1SS9, the income there-
of to be used as provided in the deed of trust herewith. Your work will be the wider spread
because I am sure that the best medical and surgical advice and skill will always be gladly
given, " without money and without price;" also because temporary care in public hospitals
or charitable homes in Columbus will always be had at nominal cost. Necessity for practical
good results alone compelled the exclusion of children whose conditions are so hopeless of
betterment that they could not become in part, at least, self supporting.
The deed of trust which accompanied this communication was substantially
the same as to form and conditions as the deeds which had conveyed Mr. Deshler's
previous donations.
The total annual receipts of the society in various years subsequent to 1857
were as follows: 1859,8342.51; 1864, $926.54 ; 1865, $2,373.86 ; 1866, $2,331.73 ;
1868, $8,433.98 ; 1869, $3,799.45 ; 1870, $2,976.80 ; 1876, $3,770.13 ; 1888, $7,559.52 ;
1890, $10,219.51. The total permanent fund of the society in January, 1891, was
$205,507.32.
On the evening of January 5, 1885, a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary
of the organization of iha societj' took place ut the First Congregational Church.
Rev. Washington Gladden, D. D., pastor of the church, presided on this occasion
and was one of several speakers who addressed the audience present. Mr.
William G. Deshler and the president of the society, Mrs. H. M. Hubbard, deliv-
ered semicentennial addresses. The address of Mr. Deshler contained the follow-
ing interesting passages concerning the nature and extent of the society's work :
Not one cent is paid, nor a single article retained as pay, perquisite, salary or personal
expense by anyone connected with the society . . . Since 1869, the cash handled amounts to
$51,200, while the expenses have been $122, being less than twentyfour cents on each hun-
dred dollars . . .
The society pays rent, dispenses medicines, provides fuel, procures nurses, purchases food,
but gives no money to the poor. The impositions of short weight and scant measure, so often
practiced upon those compelled by poverty to buy in small quantities, are prevented, while fair
prices and good quality are secured. The cash value of the unnumbered articles of clothing and
furniture, and the fuel and medicines collected and distributed, can not be given, nor even
estimated ; page after page records these without affixing valuations.
^t^-^ /^^T^caJ^
Charities. 737
During tlie later years sudJen emerj^iencies under great public calamity have called rhe
machinery of the society into full and immediate action. Being always at work in its own
sphere, it" was thus ready to take the lead and continue to the end in properly gathering and
distribnting. The Chicago tire, the Ohio and Scioto River floods an<l the '-stonepile }'ear"
are notable cases. During the rebellion the society was constantly and industriously at work
for the widows and children of the " brave boys who fell." The work thus done, the moneys
thus handled, the garments thus made and the medicines and delicacies thus distributed are
not included in the figures above given ; they embrace only the regular work among the poor
in Columbus.
Mrs Hubbard, in the course of her remarks, thus referred to some of the more
prominent woi'kcrs of the soeiet_y :
Miss Mary E. Stewart, afterwards Mrs Joseph Geiger, discharged the duties of secretary
and treasurer for eleven years Mrs. Alfred Kelley, at one time vice president, is remem-
bered asone devoted to the work, who, while rarely absent from the meetings of the society,
manifested her interest by generous contributions to the last day of her life. Mrs. John N.
Champion was a zealous worker, for thirty years a visitor. . . . Mrs. John Butler completed a
term of thirtyeight years as visitor.
At the time she gave utterance to these statements Mrs. Hubbard had been
president of the society for eighteen consecutive years. An active worker of
very precious memory was Mi-s. Richard D. Harrison. The same may be said of
Mrs. Harriet B. Ide, Mrs. J:imes L. Bates, Mrs. William M. Awl and many others
who, although they have vanished from scenes of earthly activity, yet live in
the affections and the usefulness of multitudes whom they have comforted or
redeemed.
ORPHANS' HOME.
On November ID, 1H,58, a meeting of ladies representing the ditferent churches
of the city was held at the Second Presbyterian Church" Doctor William M.
Awl presided, and Mesdames .1. S. Hall, A. M. Gangewer, J. J. Janney, William
Richards and J. N. Champion were appointed to prepare a constitution for an
association the purpose of which should be to establish a home for orphan chil-
dren. At an adjourned meeting Doctor Awl presided and the following ladies,
each representing one of the Protestant religious societies of the city, were ap-
pointed members of the board of managers: Mesdames W. W. Mather, L. Kil-
bourn, J. Bartlit, W. E. Ide, Allen K. Mees, W. J. Enimott, A. M. Denia-, Ambo,s,
Jones, N. C. McConnell, Taft. S. M. Smith, Doctor Andrews, Lehmann, Vogle, H,
Baldwin, L. Heyt and Wood. The following managers were ajjpointed tor the
wards: First, Mrs. (Champion; Second, Mrs. G. Denig; Third, Mrs. J. J. Jau-
ney ; Fourth, Mrs. D. Stone; Fifth, Mrs. Hoster. On January 5, 1859, Miss
Kate Chase was chosen secretary of the association, vice Miss Kate M. 'L'uttle,
resigned. A house was engaged and fitted up for the reception of orphan chil-
dren at Number 126 Front Street. The managers held their first meeting on
February 1, 1859, Mrs. A. M. Gan<fewer presiding, and instructed tlie matron to
receive all children presented for admission, pending investigation by a com-
mittee. In April, 1859, John W. Baker donated as a permanent site for the home
a lot near the Asylum for the Insane. On petition, pursuant to an existing
statute, the Probate Court ajjpoioted as trustees for the institution Messrs. John
Noble, Luther Donaldson, C. P. L. Butler, N. B. Marple and M. B. Bateham.
47*
73S History of the City of Coldmbus.
On November 1. 1S59, tlie Society of the Orphans' Home of Columbus held
its first aniiuul meeling- in tlie basement of the First Presbyterian Clnu'cli, At
this meetinu' re|ioris were received from the executive committee, ni;ni:ii:er.s,
treasurer, matron, trustees and -physician, and the constitution was sn niuended
as to provide that at an annual meeting to be lield on the iir>t Tuesday in
November of each year a board of managers should be chosen conslstini,' n\' two
representatives irom each Protestant congregation and two from each ward in
the city, this board to elect a president, a vice president, a secretary and a
treasurer. Twentytwo churches were represented at this meeting; the iijllowing
managers of the iiome were appointed: John Xolde. C. P. L. Butler, Luther
Donaldson, M. B. Bateham. On Xovetnber 8, is.i9. the following otticers were
elected: President, Mrs. John S Hall; vice presidents, Mesdames A. N. Gange-
wer, M. B. Bateham and John Miller: secretary, Mrs. E. King; treasurer, Mrs.
W. B. Hawkes. The matron of the home was Mrs. Force; its physician, Doctor
AV. L. McMillen. On October 1, 1860, an appropriation of 3300 for the benefit
of the institution was made by the City Council. In 1861 the home contained
thirteen children; in 1863 there were seventeen new admissions making, in all,
twentysix children cared for during that year. The whole number of children
received in 1865 was 205.
We have now reached a point at which, in order to trace the history of this
charity, it is necessary to take up and follow another chain of events. On Novem-
ber 3, 1860, Jacob Hare, a native of Pennsylvania who bought a lot on High
Street and settled in Columbus in 1812, died at the age of seventyninc year.s. Mr.
Hare's fortune at the time of his death amounted to about §46,000, all but about
five thousand invested in real estate. His will bequeathed to his wife — •' Seeny
Ann Hare, formerly widow of John Barcus and daughter of Tarletou Thomas "—
all his household goods and an annuity of $200 to be increased to S250 after five
years, 2>rovided she should remain unmarried. He gave nothing to his children,
of whom there were several, but disposed of the residue of his possessions in the
following terms :
All the balance of my estate, after the settlement thereof and the allowance to the
widow as above provided, both real and personal, or of whatever nature or kind it may be, 1
give, devise and bequeath to the City of Columbus, in the State of Ohio, to form a charity
fund for the benefit of the poor and unfortunate of said city. It is to be kept separate and
distinct from all other city funds, but it is to be forever underthecare, management and con-
trol of the City Council. . . . and they shall at such time as the state of the fund will jus-
tify it, erect a suitable building or edifice to be named the Orphans' Home or Beneficial
Asylum and used for the benfit of the fund and institution herein and hereby contemplated.
William T. Martin was named as the preferred and James Cherry as contin-
gent executor of this will, a copy of which was presented to the City Council on
April 15, 1861, and was referred to a permanent committee designated as the Hare
Charity Fund Committee, the members of which were Messrs. Stauring, Wilson
and Conistock. Suits brought by the wife and children of Mr. Hare to set aside
his will resulted in a compromise which was agreed to by the parties litigant on
July 11, 1863, and on November 30 of the same year was judicially confirmed.
Thereupon a committee representing the City Council received from William T.
Martin, Hare's executor, assets to the value of §7,036.57. In reporting this trans-
action the council committee recommended that, in accordance with the purposes
of the bequest, a building suitable for an orphans' home should be erected within
the citj', and accordingly, on December 21, 1863, a resolution was passed directing
the standing committee on the Hare Charity Fund to report to the council plans
for the equipment and government of such an institution. This action seems to
have been barren of important results, and the administration of the Hare charity
developed no further noteworthy event until February 19,1866, when the trustees
of the Columbus Orphans' Home Society, above described, adopted the following
resolutions ;
1. That for the purpose of more efficiently proraotinj; the object of the institution, all
the property, real and personal, of the same be and hereby is offered to the City of Colum-
bus as an addition to the charity fund established by the'willof the late Jacob Hare, to be
applied in connection with said charity fund to the erection and maintenance in the city of
Columbus of an Orphans' Home, as is contemplated in said will.
2. That, as the value of the property referred to in the foregoing resolution amounts to
the sum of six thousand dollars, the offer hereby made is upon the condition that the like
sum be appropriated from said charity fund to be expended in the erection of the necessary
buildings.
3^ That upon the ai'ceptance of this offer the president and secretary of the board are
directed to convey to the City of Columbus, or to its assigns, the real estate belonging to
this institution, and to transfer in like manner its personal assets.
On January 28, 1867, these propositions were accepted by the council, and
Mr. J. C. Toll, councilman from the Third Ward, was ap])ointed to receive in the
name of the city the deeds, bonds and property of the institution known as the
Columbus Orphans' Home. An ordinance providing for the establishment of a
home for orphan children was then passed and Messrs. Robert Chadwick-, Chris-
topher Kammerer, W. J. Fell and Isaac BeeUey were chosen trustees of the insti-
tution.' On taking charge of the property donated by the Coluiitbus Orphans'
Home Association these trustees found, the building then in use by that associa-
tion in a very ililapidated condition. The average number of children cared for
under its roof in 1866 was twenty ; the average expense for each child about SI. 50
per week. When the directors undertook to indenture the children about half of
them were removed by their friends. The average number of children in the
Home during the year 1868 was thirteen ; during 1871 the whole number cared
for was fourteen. The receipts for the year ended March 31, 1872, were 82,007.50 ;
the expenses, $2,059.33. In his report for 1871, the Secretary of the Board of
State Charities, Rev. A. G-. Bj^ers, made some references to the institution which
were the reverse of complimentary. In the course of these allusions Secretary
By era said :
Of course it would serve no good purpose of your honorable board to reiterate stories of
indecency and wrong which, though now only traditional, nre sad facts in the history of
this welldevised but certainly badly managed charity. Tbat it lias been badly managed is as
palpable now as that its present condition is one of pitiable neglect. The building is one of
a large block situated on [West] Town .'^treet between High and Front streets (the vrry cen-
ter of business in Columbus) familiarly known as the " Eight Buildings." Xothing could be
more ineligible than this building, both a^ regards its location and construction. It is four
stories high and contains but ten rooms. From basement to roof it is out of repair. . . .
Not a green thing, nor anytbing having an appearance of comfort, is to be seen anywhere
about the institution, save that there were evidences of kindness and real maternal sympathy
upon the part of the matron toward the unfortunate children. There were ten of these,
some at the public schools, others at play in the filthy yard. . . . Mr. Chadwick informed'
me that during the entire spring and summer not to exceed ten dollars liad been e.xpended
for vegetables out of the fund appropriated for the maintenance of the Home, and that
probably nothing but the personal e.\penditures and care of Mrs. I^onnis, tlie njatron, had
averted scurvy from the children.
Secretary Bj-ers recommended that, if possible, the Home should be trans-
ferred to the " care of the Ladies' Benevolent Society, or some other private char-
itable organization." Evidently, as a manager of benefactions for the poor the
City Council did not strike him as a brilliant success.
By an ordinance passed in March, 1868, the Probate Judge was authorized to
send uncaredfor children to the Home. Four j'ears later Mr. J. J. Janney reported
resolutions to the City Council declaring that the management of the Home had
not been satisfactory and directing its discontinuance. On May 27, 1878, the
7-tO History of the Crrr op Columbus.
council committee on the Hare Orphans' Home reported that the buildiiitcs, on
Town Street, then occupied by tlie Home were unsuitable for its \i-;es and recom-
mended that they be sold. Eesolutions embracing these 8u,t;,i;c.siions \m'it suI)-
mitted by the committee to the council and adopted. On Novenibi-i- 4. iHTS, the
council, on unanimous recommendation of the committee on the Hare Orphans'
Home, adopted a resolution accepting a proposition from George B. Okey to
exchange property comprising one and onethird acres of ground for the Home
property in the Eight Buildings and the sum of $3,800 to be paid from the
Hare fund.
In 1883, at the suggestion of Mrs. Harriet E. Ide, the managers of the Home
for the Friendless offered to receive and care for the children, ten in number, then
supported from the Hare fund. This proposition was accepted, the council agree-
ing to appropriate from the fund and jiay to the institution receiving the children
the sum of $130 per month. This arrangement was considered favorable to the
city and proved to be beneficial to tiie children. The property of the Hare fund,
on Woodland Avenue, was meanwhile let on lease. On May 29, 1888, the trustees
of the Hare fund decided to terminate the contract with the Home of the Friend-
less, and employed a matron to take charge of the children. The institution now
occupies its property on Woodland Avenue, where twentyseven children are being
cared for.
On May 19, 1890, the City Council adopted a resolution instructing its com-
mittee on the Hare Charity Fund to malrtj a full report of the administration of
the fund from the time of its origin to that date. An attorney employeii by this
committee to collect the information desired submitted a very ini|)erlict ri']i(iit
which he stated was the best that could be compiled from the reiurds. the keeping
of which had been extremely slovenly. In the course of his re|)iii-t the attorney
said :
From an examination of the records in the oifice of the [City] Treasurer I am unable
to find any answer showing receipts for any mouey, bonds, stocks, etc. ; neither can 1 find
from the record in the Probate Court just what the executors turned over.
The attorney further stated that he had been unable to obtain from the books
in the City Clerk's office "the annual statements of receipts and disbursements
for any years prior to 1876." The report contains a list and .statement of terms
of the different leases of the Hare property constituting the Orphans' Home fund,
but furnishes no appraisements or estimates of value. In submitting this report
the committee acknowledges that it shows gross negligence " on the part of those
who are authorized by the City Council to have the care and management of this
bequest." The annual rental under existing leases was reported hy the committee
at $2,015, which is considered, by persons competent to judge, a very small
return on the value of the property. On the whole it may well be doubted
whether the estate of Jacob Hare would not have accomplished more good thus
far, had it been permitted to go to his legal heirs.
WOMAN'S HOSPITAL.
An institution bearing this name was organized on December 18, 1867. Its
original oflBcers were : President, Doctor S. M. Smith ; secretary, James A.
Wilcox; trustees, James L. Bates, J. F. Bartlit, Joseph Hutcheson, A. Huston,
Thomas Lough, Peter Ambos and William A. Neil.
WOMAN'S HOME.
A refuge for deslilute, talleii and unfortunate women was established under
tliis name on Februarj 15, 1870, by the Woman's Christian Association, which
had been or^^anized durinsr the preceding winter. It was opened on April 15,
187(), uniler the nuuiagoment of Mrs. L. V. Desellem, who was one of its most
active founders. Mrs. Desellem had previously been engaged for several years as
mntron of ihe Ohio Penitentiary. The Home occupied a brick building leased
for ihe purpose on East flich Street. It was supported entirely by the voluntary
conlribu,tions of its friends and patronesses. The association charged a fee of one
dollar for active membership, five dollars for sustaining membership and twenty-
five dollars for life membership. The annual report of the association for 1870
showed a roll of 286 active, 44 sustaining and 11 life members. Mrs. James L.
Bates was the first president. In 1874 the Home occupied a building on Long
Street, in E.ist Park Place. On May 4 of that year Mrs. Desellem retired from
the position of matron. The institution accomplished much good, and was a
forerunner of other charities in the same field. Its present successor is the
HAIG MISSION.
which takes its name from its founder, Eev. James Haig, who, in 1889, established
a regular mission at the corner of Washington Avenue and Mound Street, where
religious services were held three nights per week. Mr. Haig has succeeded in
reinforcing his own very zealous efforts by the cooperation of numerous repre-
sentatives of the Protestant churches, and has opened a Bethel for the rescue of
fallen women on South Seventh Street.
WOMAN'S EXCHANGE.
Of this helpful and semibenevolent enterprise Mrs. W. A. Mahony, in the
paper already quoted, gives the following account :
The Woman V Exchange is a cooiierative institution organized five years ago [in 1884]
and has enabled many a family to live independently through the earnings of mothers or
sisters who can do certain kinds of work in their own homes. The question, " what in the
world can I do to keep my family together " is asked by many a widowed wife or mother
and the Woman's Exchange gives the answer: "Learn to do one thing so well that some-
body will want your work, and we will be your agent in bringing your work and a customer
together." The noblest charity is in helping women to help themselves; this the Woman's
Exchange does by providing a market for all articles of domestic manufacture. Any lady,
in any circumstances, may become a consignor by purchasing a ticket for $1.2.5 which enables
her to place on sale at the Exchange her wares for the period of six months ; a $2.00 ticket
gives her the same privilege for one year. Last year there were fiftysix consignors from
742 History of the City of C"olumbus.
Columbus auJ tvventyeight from otber cities and towns. . . . One bread consignor last year
was paid over $1,000. Orders are received for marking linen and for repairing and cleaning
laces. Purchasers do not know whose goods they buy, but are requested to ask the number
of the consignor, as the jiersons making consignments are known by numbers only.
WOMAN'S INDUSTRI.\L HOME.
This admirable institution began its working existence on January 2tl, 1887,
under .superintendence of Mr.s. Ira J. Bailej^, a.s matron. Continuing the jiassages
just quoterl, Mrs. Mahony gives the following account of its origin :
The managers of the Woujan's Exchange found it impracticable to sustain the educa-
tional branches of their work with which they started out, viz.: The cookiug school, kitchen
garden, etc ; but earnest women realized the great necessity of more experience and effi-
ciency among working girls and women, and in 1886 the Woman's Industrial and Educa-
tional Union was organized. The purpose of this association, as stated in the second article
of its constitution, is " to unite the women of Columbus in moral and educational work for
the benefit of working women and girls, and to protect and promote their moral, industrial
and financial interests." There are several departments of educational and industrial train-
ing, including a kitchen garden for training little girls in domestic work, an evening cooking
school, a dressmaking class, a night school and classes in hygiene ; a home wherein young
women disabled or temporarily out of employment are made comfortable ; rooms and board
given to working girls at a very moderate price ; a kindergarten for children whose parents
have no time to care for them ; a nursery where little children and infants are cared for
while their mothers are out for a day's work ; evening classes and social gatherings; moral
and religious training and mothers' meetings; an employment bureau where may be found
a list of employers and those seeking employment ; a small library, to which the managers
of the Union would gladly receive additions, and a public reading room with a superinten-
dent in charge.
The first president of the association was Mrs. Alice Corner Brown. The
Woman''s Industrial Home occupies the building which now stands upon the lot
donated by Alfred Keller to the Female Benevolent Society, as stated in a pre-
ceding part of this chapter. Under date of August 10, 1890, the following item
appeared in an evening paper :
Last January Mr. B. S. Brown proposed to the Woman's Educational and Industrial
Union to pay the last $5,000 due on the home at 64 South Fourth Street. Since April I, the
remainder has been raised and on August 1, the house passed to the Union for jl.5, 586.14.
[Mr. Brown has since made an additional donation to the Home of $500.— A. E. L.]
The Home is sustained by voluntary offerings, by membership fees and by
moderate charges for board and rooms. All girls belonging to the Union are
entitled to the privileges of the evening classes in the common English branches,
plain sewing and dressmaking. The nursery takes care of the infants of work-
ingwomen while at their tasks. Girls from 8 to 14 years of age are trained in the
kitchen garden for domestic service. Meetings of working mothers are held once
743
HOME FOR THE AGED.
The object of this institution, a.s declared in its constitution, is "the care, sup-
port and maintenance ofold people." The movement which resulted in its estab-
lishment beii'an "ith a charity ball, said to have been the first of its kind in Col-
umbiis, held ai the Princess Rink, West Sprjni;- Street, on December 30,1886.
From this ball, gotten up for the especial benefit of the Home project, and chiefly
organized and managed by Mrs. Maria Monypeny, the sum of 11,400 was real-
ized. This success furnished a basis as well as encouragement for further active
|irocecdings, and on January 10, 1887, the following trustees for the institution
were cho.scn by the Home "Association : J. M. Westw:iter, D. S. Gray, A. G. Pat-
ton, 1j. (\ Newsom, Mrs. Maria Monypeny, Mrs. N. E. Lovejoy and Mrs. A. D.
liodii-ei's. Prom the beginning of the association until the present time Mrs.
Maria M(uiy|KMM has been its jiresident. Mrs. A. D. Rodgers, Mrs. W. H. Akin
and Mi'^. I>. S, (iray were the original vice presidents, Mrs. Charles Monypeny
was the first treasurer, and Mrs. Ira Hutchinson was the first secretary. On Feb-
ruary 22, 1887, a •' Martha Washington tea].)arty " for the benfit of the Home was
held at the Columbus Club House.
Dui-ing the following spring the project received a most important impetus
from the generosity of Mr. William Monj-peny, who donated to the association as a
]iermanent site for its projjosed institution a lot opposite to the eastern portion of
Franklin Park, on East Broad Street. To this lot, 100 x 180 feet, a tract 50 x 180
leel, on which it is intended to erect a home for aged men, has since been added
by iHircliasc. Pending the preparations to build on this tract Colonel A. G.
Pattou granted to the association the use without charge, of a large dwelling-
house with ample and beautiful grounds, situated a few hundred yards west of
Franklin Park on East Broad Street. This generous offer was accepted, and in
the house the use of which was thus acquired the Home was opened in April,
1887.
A " French market " for the benefit of the building fund of the Home was
held, beginning December 5, 1887, and proved to be one of the most interesting
social events in the history of the city. The " market" took place at the West
Spring Street skating rink, then used as the Fourteenth Regiment Armory, and
attracted an extraordinary patronage. On the evenings of December 6, 7, 8, 9
and 10 musical and dramatic entertainments were given in which the most accom-
plished amateurs of the city took part, and which were acknowledged on all sides
to have been extremely well rendered. The bazar was very skilfully arranged
and presented a great variety of original and curious attractions. The net pro-
ceeds of the market amounted to $2,012.24, and raised the cash resources of the
association to the sum of $6,891.83
On June 26, 1888, the cornerstone of the permanent Home building was laid
with a]5propriate ceremonies, followed by a lawn fete on the grounds of the tem-
porary Home. The building was completed during the year 1888, with twenty-
one rooms. Its architect was Charles A. Stribling; the members of the building
committee were William Monypeny and E. T. Mithotf. The present indebtedness
of the institution is about $1,700. Annually a " harvest home " for its benefit is
held in October. Applications for admission to the institution are made to t\\e
Board of Lady Managers. All persons admitted must have resided in Franklin
County at least three years, and must be at least fifty years of age. At fifty
the admission fee is $500 ; between fiftyfive and sixty $400 ; at and above sixty
$300. The Home at present receives aged ladies only.
744 History of the City of Goli'mbus.
NEWSBOYS' HOME.
In Oclobcr, 1885, a i-L-uiliiiu' iMorn ;ii which iK'w.sbo3-s might spend their even-
ings Wiis opened, through the efforts uf Mrs. Ii-a J. Bailey, at Number 29 West
Rich Street. In a shoi-t lime a Sunday-school was added and was attended by
about thirtj' boys. Some of these hids apparently having no home, some of the
benevolent ladies of the city interested themselves in their behalf and eots, with
bedding, for boys who had no lodging places were provided. The sum of three
cents each was charged for the use of the cots, and all of them were occupied.
As the number of boys patronizing the home ste;idil,y increased, a sixroom frame
house on East Long Street was rented, and additional cots were procured. On
January ], 1886, the establislinient was transferred to a brick building on West
Town Street, and Miss A. E. Pumphrey was engaged as its matron. Hijre classes
ill the common English branches of instruction were organized, and at the close
of each week an entertainment consisting of dialogues, recitations and music was
given. A savings bank in which the boys could put away their pennies was also
provided. Of the average yearly expense of maintaining the Home the boys
paid about onethird. The residue was obtained mainly from donations and from
fees paid by members of the association by which the Home was established.
The officers and directors of this association and of the Home, in 1886, were the
following : N. S. Smith, president ; W. D. Brickell, vice president ; F. W. Truman,
secretary and treasurer; George W. Bright, Nelson A. Sims, Clarence Maris, E. S.
Smith, L. L. Rankin and W. B. Page. There was also a board of lady managers
representing the different churches. The Home is at the pressent time in a state
of suspension.
HUMANE SOCIETY.
The first organization under this name took place in December, 1873, and
seems to have been prompted by the presence in the city at the time of the emi-
nent champion of abused brute creatures and children, Mr. Henry Bei'gh, of New
York. The object of the society was declared to be to enforce existing and future
laws for the prevention of cruelty to animals. James L. Bates was chosen presi-
dent and J. A. Scarritt secretary. In 1874 the directors were D. W. Brooks,
president; J. A. Scarritt, secretary ; E. L. Hinman, B. L. Taylor, William Riches,
J. J. Voglegesang, Walter C. Brown, Theodore Comstock, Yeatman Anderson,
T. W. Tallmadge, T. Ewing Miller, John G. Mitchell, William B. Hayden, Wal-
stein Failing, Richard Nevins and P. W. Huntington. The annual fee for mem-
bers was S5; for patrons SI. Police officers and patrolmen were asked to render
the society whatever aid they could in the prevention of cruelties forbidden by a
statute of April 4, 1871.
This association seems not to have been permanent, for under date of November
21, 1883, we read of a meeting of ladies and gentlemen for the purpose of organiz-
ing in Columbus a branch of the State Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals and Children. J. A. Scarritt was chairman of this meeting and J. J.
Charities. 745
Jauney .secretary. A constitution was adopted and a eoniinittee to nominate offi-
cers to an adjourned meeting was appointed. On December 7, 1883, the a.ssoeia-
tion wa.s incorporated as the Humane Society of tiie City of Columbus. "After a
period of inactivity " this society met in Decemlicr, 1SS4, and elected the foUowinsj;
officers: President, H. M. Nei'l ; vice presidents, .1. A. .^cai-ritt, GeoriiC K. Nash
and Miss Lou. Phillips; seci'etary, J. W. Myers: tivasiiier. W. H. Albery; also a
board of directors. Tiie objects of the society were at this time declared to be to
prevent cruelty to animals, to protect neglected children and to create a puldie
sentiment against the abuse of innocent creatures whether of the brute kind or
human. As an auxiiiaiy movement the children of the public schools were organ-
ized in Bands of Mercy, preliminary to joining which they signed the following
pledge: " 1 promise to be kind to all creatures within my reach, and to protect
them as tar as I can from cruelty and illusage." On December 14, 1885, the soci-
ety elected the following officers: President, F. C. Scs.sions ; vice presidents, Mrs.
H. E. Ide, W. H. Slade, Miss Lou Phillips; secretary, J. W. Myers; treasurer,
W. H. Alberj-; also a board of directors. At an anniversary meeting of the
society on December 9, 1889, an address was delivered by its president, O. A. B.
Senter, and a legacy of one thousand dollars was received from Mrs. Mary N.
Bliss. The present officers of the society are: President. E. C. Hotfman ; vice
presidents, Frank C. Hubbard, Mrs. Lafayette Backus ; secretary, E. O. Randall ;
treasurer, W. H. Albery; attorneys, Frank C. Hubbard and E. O. Eandall. The
first agent of the society was Mr. Eraser, the second C. M. Morris, the third T. B.
Vause, who is now in service. The society is supported entirely by voluntary
donations. The annual membership fee is one dollar.
CHILDREN'S HOSPIT.\L.
Plans for an institution bearing this name were conceived early in 1890, and
on February 27, 1891, articles of incorporation of the Children's Hospital of
Columbus were filed with the Secretary of State. The movement aims to provide
for the care of sick chidren, pursuant to the belief that this can be done best in
an institution devoted to children exclusively. The trustees are James Kilbourn,
George W. Sinks, Herman G. Dennison, Ch:irles Parrott, A. B. Cohen, Thomas C.
Hoover, Edwin Kelton. Starling Loving, F. C. Eaton, John Siebert, C. F. Clark,
C. C. Waito, G. C. Hoover, W. F. Goodspeed and H. A. Lanman.
CITY POOR FUND.
This fund is disbursed by the City Infirmary director, who states in his report
for the year ended March 31 , 189l,"that 9,;^07"persons, or about onetenth of the
population of the entire citj^ had received during that year the benefit of this
charity. The number of families relieved was over eleven hundred. Only to
persons who have been hoiM fide residents of the city for at least one year can the
fund be disbursed. The amount of such disbursements during the 3'ear ended
746 HiSTORT OF THE ClTY OF CoLUMBUS.
March 31, 1891, was $2,346.20. Tbe disbursements of the County Infirmary
directors in Montgomery Township during the same year were $15,272.58. The
dispensation of the city fund is limited to the demands upon the city infirmary
office.
NOTES.
1. Ohio Slak Journal.
2. About $1,000 of this money remained after all calls were satisfied, and was ordered
to be refunded to the donors.
:!. An act of the General Assembly passed February 15, 18S4, appropriated $200,000
for the relief of the Ohio flood sufferers. Pursuant to this act a State Relief Commission was
appointed, of which P. W. Huntington, of Columbus, was treasurer. The report of this
commission showed total receipts amounting to $145,077.48, of which sum $45,077.48 was
derived from private sources.
4. Semicentennial Manual, 1888.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. These buildings and grounds were purchased for tlie mission October 20, 1869. The
amount paid was $12,000. The money with which the first payment was made was collected
chiefly by Mrs. Doctor W. E. Ide and Mrs. Doctor S. M. Smith.
8. The letters here referred to by Mr. Deshler, are the same quoted in Chapter XIV of
Volume I of this work.
9. This ordinance provided that all rents and income of whatever nature which might
be derived from the Hare legacy should be set aside forever for the support of the inmates of
the institution and other purposes connected therewith, and that the institution should
receive all orphan foundlings and abandoned children of the city which should be brought
to it. The organization and management of the Home were placed under the control of four
trustees to be chosen by the council.
CHAPTER XLVl
ASSOCIATIVE ORGANIZATIONS — I.
MASONIC BODIES.
BY UAVID
The Mount Vernon Commandery. — From the records of Mount Vernon Coni-
mandery Number One, now stationed at Columbus, Ohio, we learn that in
answer to a petition signed by two Knights Templar (John Snow and Frederick
A. Curtis) and five Royal Arch Masons, (James Kilbourn, Chester Griswold,
Chauncey Barker, Levi Pinney, and Mark Seely) members of Horeb Chapter
Number Three, located then, as now, at Worthington, Ohio, a dispensation was.
issued by Thomas Smith Webb, Deputy General Grand Master of the United
States. The following is a copy of the document :
By Thomas Smith Webb, Esq., Deputy General Grand Master of the General Grand
Encampment of the United States, to John Snow, Knight Templar, Knight of Malta and
of the Red Cross ;
Sir Knight: You are hereby authorized and empowered to congregate and assemble
together in the town of Worthington in the State of Ohio a sufficient and legal number of
Knights of the above mentioned orders, and to open a Council and Encampment in the said
town and therein confer the said orders from such tried and worthy companions of the Royal
Arch as may make application for the same, conforming in all your doings to the Constitu-
tion of the United States of America ; this dispensation to remain and continue in force for the
space of three months from the date fvcreof, unless sooner revoked, and at the expiration of
which time the said dispensation to be returned to me, with an account of your proceedings, by
virtue of the same, it being expressly understood thatany work performed underthis author-
ity is to be done in behalf of the General Grand Encampment and for the benefit of its
funds, unless a charter should hereafter issue for the permanent establishment of an
Encampment in said town consequent upon this dispensation.
Given under my hand and seal the Uth day of March 1818.
Thomas Smith Webb,
Deputy General Grand Master, General Grand Encampment of United Staler.
Under the authority of this dispensation Sir Knight John Snow summoned
all of the Sir Knights living within the distance of forty miles to assemble at the
[747]
748 History of the City of Columbus.
Masonic Halt in tbe Academy in Worthiugtou, Ohio. On March 15, 1818, in
obedience to this summons, Thomas Smith Webb, hailing; from the General Grand
Encampment of the United States and the Grand Encampment of Massachusetts
and Rhode Island: John Snow, hailing from St. John's Encampment, Rhode
Island ; and Frederick Curtis, hailing from Ireland, as we believe, the only Tem-
plars in Ohio, met. They exclianged credentials, read the petition and dispensa-
tion, and under the authority of the foregoing dispensation proceeded to form and
open a council of Red Cro.ss Knights. The council then " resolved to proceed to
confer the orders of knighthood on such approved companions as may make
application for the same.' James Kilbourn and Chester Griswold were elected
and created and dubbed Knights of the Red Gross after which the council " dis-
banded in good harmony." Thus began the history of Mount Vernon Command-
ery Number One.
On March 17, 1818, Chauncey Barker, Levi Finney and Mark Seely I'eceived
the order of the Red Cross. On March 20,. 1818, an encampment of Knights Tem-
plar and Knights of Malta of the order of St. John of Jerusalem was opened.
'' Ciiester Griswold having been proposed and elected, having been duly prepared
and eonductetl through the various ceremonies appertaining to the orders with
firmness and constancy, was dubbed and created Knight of the Valiant and Mag-
nanimous orders of Knight Templar and Knight of Malta of the order of St. John of
Jerusalem, the encampment was disbanded in good harmony ' On March 25, 1818,
Chauncey Barker and James Kilbourn were created Templars. On April 10, 1818,
Levi Finney and Mark Seeley received the order of the Temple. This closed the
list of original petitioners. Joseph S. Hughes and "William Little received the
order of Red Cross May 29. June 5, Roger Searle, Benjamin Gardiner and Pardon
Sprague received the Red Cross. An encampment was then (iixiied and Joseph
S. Hughes and AVilliam Little received the orders of the Teniplu ami Malta. On
the sixth of June Benjamin Gardiner and Roger Searle received ibe orders of the
Temple and Malta. These two men were clergymen and their fees were remitted.
Thomas Smith Webb, who had been present at all the meetings, now disap-
IJears and on the twentyseventh of January, 1820, we find at a meeting of Mount
Vernon Encampment the following roster of officers ; M. E., Sir John Snow, Grand
■Commander; E, Sir Chester Griswold, Generalissimo; E., Sir James Kilbourn,
Captain General ; Sir Joseph S. Hughes, Frelate ; Sir Chauncey Barker, Senior
Warden and Sword-Bearer ; Sir Mark Seely, Junior Warden and Treasurer ; Sir
William Little, Recorder and Standard Bearer; Sir Levi Finney, "Warder.
At this meeting the charter was received which had been issued September
15, 1819. In this document we find the names of the following Knights: Sir
John Snow, who was the first Commander; Sir Chester Griswold, who was the
first Generalissimo ; Rev. Sir Roger Searle, who was the first Captain-Gen-
eral; Rev. Sir Joseph S. Hughes, who was the first Prelate; Sir James Kil-
bourn, who was the first Senior "Warden ; Sir Levi Finney, who was the first
Junior Warden ; Sir Benjamin Gardiner, who was the first Treasurer; Sir Wil-
liam Little, who was the first Recorder. To this charter were signed the names
of Dewilt Clinton, General Grand Master; Henry Fowle, Deputy General Grand
Master; John Snow, General Grand Generalissimo; Ezra Ames, General Grand
Captain-General. From the language of the charter we are led to infer that
Thomas Smith Webb was already dead and that Mount Vernon Encampment was
the last .Masonic body to feel the touch of his fostering hand.
On February 22, 1820, the committee on accounts reported that after all just
debts were paid there remained in the treasury- nine dollars and eight cents. On
this evening the first election was held under the charter which resulted as follows :
Sir John Snow, Grand Commander; Sir Chester Griswold, Generalissimo ; Sir Ben-
jamin Gardiner, Captain-General; Sir Jo.seph Hughes, Frelate ; Sir Mark Seely,
Associative Oeganizations - I. 749
Senior Warden; Sir James Kilbourn, Junior WarJen ; Sir Levi Pinnuy, Treas-
urer; Sir Williani Little, Recorder ; Sir Pardon Sprague, Sword Bearer; Sir Eras-
tus Webb, Standard-Bearer; Sir Chauncej' Barlier/Warder. ''No fiirtlier busi-
ness appearing, the council was dissolved in good harmon}-."
On May 21, 1820, there was a meeting at which the Red Cross was coaferred
and these' zealous Knights met no more until February 22, 1821. At this meet-
ing a committee was appointed to compare the original and transcribed minutes.
The committee on bylaws reported a code for the government of the encamp-
ment. " A verj' respectful communication having been received from Sir Ben-
jamin Gardiner stating his reasons for non-attendance they were considered satis-
factory bj' this council. Satisfactory evidence was given that Sir William Little
was not within a distance of forty miles at the issuing of this summons for con-
vening this encampment. It being made known satisfactorily that Sir John
Snow was absent on Masonic duties, it was considered sufficient reason for his
absence. Sir Levi Pinney being absent, and no reason being assigned, it is there-
fore ordered that a summons be issued requiring him to attend the next meeting
and account for his absence.'' At this meeting the second election for officers took
place. Chester Grriswold declined the office of Generalissimo. Such a surprising
circumstance is not known to have occurred again in the history of thisbod}-. At
the next meeting, June 1, 1821, Pinney was excused. Piatt Benedict, many years
after efficient in Masonic labors in the city of Toledo and Republic, petitioned for
the orders. On February 22, 1822, Samuel E. Milllcr, of Cincinnati, Calvin Co-
nant, Blias Fowler of Putnam, Ohio, and Ezra Griswold, of Delaware, made applica-
tion for the orders. The encampment voted to pay postage on all letters directed
to members of this encampment, which was no small expense at that period.
We find in 1823, that at a meeting on February 22, ten dollars were ap]n-opriated
to be divided equally among the Sir Knights, members of this encampment, resid-
ing at Delaware, as a remuneration of their expenses in obtaining lectures for the
benefit of the institution. On February Iti, 1824, the petition of William Field-
ing, of Franklin, Warren County, was presented. Thi.s brother was long noted as
a blue lodge lecturer throughout the country, and was Grand Master of the Grand
Lodge of Ohio.
To show that many points of interest have been dropped in these records, we
cite the following : On Februarj' 23, 1824, Bela Latham was elected Prelate of
Mount Vernon Encampment, yet the records are silent concerning whence he
hailed or how he secured his membership. At this meeting a resolution was
passed as follows :
Resolved, that this Encampment pay out of any funds in the Treasury a reasonable com-
pensation to Sir John Snow for instructing Sirs E. Griswoli and B. Latham members of
this Encampment, in the lectures so as to enable u^ to perform the ceremonies of conferring
the degrees of Knighthood with propriety, and that all the necessary expenses incurred by
said Sir Knights while acquiring the same be paid also by this Eacampment.
Later we find thirty dollars were voted for this purpose which wei'e declined
by Sir Knight Snow in an affectionate address.
The rules, regulations, statutes and by-laws were very elastic along in 1825.
In January of this year we find the following : " On motion, unanimously resolved
that the by-laws of this Encampment, so far as relates to the admission of candi-
dates, be dispensed with." About this time it was a charming exhibition of
knightly courtesy to make the Sir Knight recommending a companion the com-
mittee of investigation. During all the period which we have traversed the fees
for the orders were $25. In 1825, at the May meeting, General George Sanderson
was elected. Ee for many years lived in Lancaster, where he died and was buried
with knightly honors a few years since. He was one ot the charter members
750 History of the City of Columbus.
i)f Lancaster Encampment in 1837. At this meeting the Eeeorder was allowed
ten dollars per annum for the faithful discharge of his duties; also ordered that
the reasonable expi^n.ses of Sir Bela Latham and Sir Ezra Griswold be paid from
the funds of the Encampment so long as they shall continue to discharge the
laborious duties of Prelate and Junior Warden.
On December 23, 1825, Thomas Corwin applied for the orders of Knighthood
and with Charles E. Sherman was elected January 12, 1826. Charles R. Sherman
was the father of Senator John Sherman and General W. T. Sherman. Thomas
Corwin was subsequently Governor of Ohio and one of the most distinguished or-
ators of the country. Both also became Grand Masters of Ohio. Corwin was first
commander of Reed Commandery at Dayton. At this meeting an application for
an encampment at Chillicothe was presented by several Sir Knights of Chillicothe ;
also a similar petition from Sir Knights of Lebanon and the vicinity for the
establishment of an encampment at Lebanon, Ohio. At the next meeting the pe-
titions of the Knights of Chillicothe and Lebanon were taken up and on motion of
Sir Bela Latham their petitions were favorably endorsed. This seems to have
been the last of these matters so far as Chillicothe was concerned. Henry Brush
was knighted. At the meeting in February, 1826, arepoi't was made to the Gen-
eral Grand Encampment whence it appears fiftytwo Knights had been made since
the organization of Mount Vernon Encampment. There had been ten admissions
by affiliation and the indebtedness of Mount Vernon Encampment to the General
Grand Encampment was $94. At the meeting January 3, 1827, nine petitions
were presented for the orders which shows a great interest had been awakened on
the subject of Masonic knighthood. On February 22, 1827, the election of officers
occurred. Affairs proceeded in the usual manner, with new candidates at
each meeting, until .September 12, 1827, when the storm of anti-Masonic excite-
ment burst, and for three years no records of any meetings are found. At the last
meeting, Highland Hurlburd and William T. Snow were elected, and Otto M. Her-
ron and Joseph Grubb were knighted.
Here follows a gap, or interregnum, of three years. The first shock of the
battle was past, and a meeting was held May 22, 1830. " The old Guard was
there," with John Snow at the head, and with him were James Kilbourn and Levi
Pinney, who had worked all these years since they petitioned as Royal Arch
Masons for this encampment. At this meeting William J. Reese, of Lancaster,
and William Nilly petitioned for and received the orders of Knighthood, and the
same night were elected officers of tlie encampment. We append the roster : Com-
mander, M. E. Sir John Snow; Generalissimo, E. Sir Ezra Griswold ; Captain-Gen-
eral. E. Sir Daniel Upson; Prelate, E. Sir Bela Latham; Sen. Warden, Sir Levi
Pinney; Junior Warden, Sir Jonathan M.Smith; Treasurer, Sir Potter Wright;
Recorder, Sir Joseph Seely ; Swordbearer, Sir John Noble; Standardbearer, Sir
W. J. Reese ; Warder, Sir George Sanderson ; Guard, Sir William Nilly.
The rest is silence for eleven years. When next the encampment was opened
on June 3, 1841, of the officers elected at the last meeting only Ezra Griswold,
Bela Latham, Joseph Seeley, Potter Wright and Levi Pinney appear. William J.
Reese was at that time serving as the Captain-General of the General Grand En-
campment of the United States. He had issued a summons to the members of
Worthington Encampment to meet, elect officers, and proceed to business. Mr.
Reese, at this period, is said to have been one of the most impressive workmen in
the rites of the order. He was tall and very erect, with a decided-military air, great
dignity and very graceful diction, lie was a scholar, and in all points a perfect speci-
men of the gentleman of the old school. His work was done before the era of the
templar uniform, but he was always as faultlessly dressed in the Masonic hall as ever
at any evening I'eception. John Barney was Commander pro tern. Officers were elect-
ed as follows : Sir John Barney, Commander; Sir Ezra Griswold, Generalissimo ; Sir
Associative Organizations — I. 751
Bela Latham, Captain-General; Sir James Donahoo, Prelate; Sir J. W. ropelaiul,
Senior Warden ; Sir Levi Pinney, Junior Warden ; Sir Potter Wriijht, Treasurer ;
Sir Joseph Leiby, Recorder; Sir Caleb Howard, Siandar^lbo.ircr ; Sir Svlvanus
Baldwin, Swordbe:\rer ; Sir George Copeland, Warder; Sir B. F. Willoy, Guard.
John W. Milligan was proposed for the orders and, as ever before, under brighter
skies, the encampment " disbanded in good harmony."
The next meeting was held in October, 1842, and the next in April, 1843.
At this meeting the fees were reduced to the lowest constitutional limit, |20, and
the officers were reelected.
On February 22, 1844, we read the following note; "On motion of Sir
Knight Levi Pinney, Sir Knights Eichard Stadden, G. M. Herancourt, William B.
Hubbard and James Dalzill were unanimously admitted and recognized as mem-
bers of this Encampment." William B. Hubbard, who was to exert so great an
influence upon the fortunes of Templarism, was elected Generalissimo of Mount
Vernon Encampment at this meeting and Bela Latham its Commander. Huh-
bard attained the highest position in the General Grand Encampment, and Bela
Latham became the Second Grand Commander of the Grand Encampment ot
Ohio. He died occupying that station after his reelection in 1847. At this meet-
ing it was unanimously resolved to accept the order of the Grand Encampment
made at its late communication at Lancaster authorizing and empowering this
encampment to hold its place of meeting a portion of the year at Columbus and
a portion of the year at Worthington, Ohio ; " and furthur resolved unanimously
that the next meeting of this encampment, and until further notice, be held in
Mason's Hall' in the city of Columbus. It was moved that the officers of this
Encampment take such part of the furniture of the said Encampment as may be
wanted at Columbus. On motion, adjourned to meet at Columbus on Saturday
evening next."
Mount Vernon Encampment never returned to Worthington to hold another
meeting. At Worthington sixtytwo candidates were knighted and ten were affil-
iated, making a total of seventytwo. John Snow had been commander from 1818
until 1830. Frederick A. Curtis disappears after the first meeting, and we have
already seen that Webb was dead when the charter was issued. Evidently the
transference of the encampment from Worthington to Columbus (this we read
between the lines) was not accomplished without heartburnings, for, on February
24, 1844, Bela Latham, the Commander, was authorized and empowered to adopt
such measures as seemed to him expedient to procure for the use of this encamp-
ment the residue of the swords, flags, banners, and other insignia and property
belonging of " wright ' to this encamjDment. On motion it was resolved to have
the I?ecorder procure a copy of the order authorizing the removing of this
encampment from Worthington to Columbus for a portion of the time. At the
tirst meeting in Columbus we find that ten companions petitioned for the Tem-
plar orders, not one of whom is now living. Mount Vernon Commandery came to
Columbus from Worthington on horseback and by night to avoid an injunction,
for at that time Worthington had many who relied on the legal injunction to set-
tle Masonic matters.
The year 1844 was a year of great activity in Mount Vernon Con-imandery.
Twentyseven meetings were held during the year after February 24. Up to this
time we have found no blackball cast, and the only thing which shows the worldly-
mindedness of the Knights and an increasing love of filthy lucre is found in their
refusal to confer the orders on preachers any longer gratuitously, a thing con-
stantly done in the early historj' of the encampment. It is worthy of notice that
although Mount Vernon Encampment never again met in Worthington after its
removal to Columbus under the permission of the Grand Encampment, the com-
mittee on by-laws reported August 16, 1844, the following relative to meetings:
752 History of the City op Columbus.
•' The stated regular meetings of this Encampment shall be held on the third
Tuesday of August and February, semi annually, alternately in Columbus and
Worthingtoii." At a meeting held May 19, 1847, the following resolution was
passed :
Resolved that this Encampment recommend to the Grand Master of the Grand Encamp-
ment of Ohio the granting of letters of dispensation to the following Sir Knights to wit :
John P. Worsted, Piatt Benedict, Adam Poe, John P. Dunnan, Joseph Hildreth, John Mere-
dith, William 8. Harris, Thomas Clark, second, William H. Newton, George W. Home,
Kimball Porter, and H. Humphrey to organize a Council of Red Cross and an Encampment
of Knights Templar and Knights of Malta to be held in the town of Toledo, Lucas County,
Ohio, and that we are fully convinced that the granting of such letters will greatly conduce
to the best interests of the order, and that the Sir Knights abovenamed possess undaunted
courage and fortitude, soldiers well trained and zealons and panoplied with the armor of
Christian virtues.
Resolved that we concur in the name selected by said Sir Knights, viz, Toledo Encamp-
ment Number Seven.
See how these brethren love one another, and this from Columbus to
Toledo !
The Grand Lodge of Ohio has, it seems from these records, had its fads before
" Masonic widows' and orphans' homes "' claimed its attention. On December 26,
1846, we meet the minute of a circular from a committee of the Grand Lodge
of Ohio on the subject of establishing a Masonic School, which was read and
referred to Sir Knights Thrall, Latham and Donahoo. The committee buried
it as far as we can learn. An item of interest is the banquet upon this occasion,
at which refreshments were served at a cost of 871 cents for a Red Cross meeting.
W. B. Thrall, afterward Grand Commander of Ohio, appeared in Mount Vernon
Encampment May 30, 1840, was made a member by affiliation August 28, 1847,
and elected commander on the same day, succeeding Bela Latham, who was first
elected February 22, 1844.
In 1857 we find the following note : " A communication was received from
the Grand Master of Knights Templar for the United States which was referred to
a committee consisting of Sir Knights William Savage, Woodbury and John Stone
witb instructions to report at a special meeting in two weeks from this evening."
The Recorder was directed to issue a summons to every member to be present.
Twentysix are recorded as having responded. The matter considered was the
withdrawal of Ohio from its allegiance to the general Grand Encampment of the
United States. This action of the Grand Encampment of Ohio is of interest to
Mount Vernon Commandery mainly because William B. Thrall, so long its com-
mander, headed the rebellion in the Grand Encampment at Hartford. The Gen-
eral Grand Encampment held in 1856 changed its constitution so far as the names
of the subordinate Grand bodies were concerned, by calling them commanderies '
instead of encampments, reserving the term encampment for itself alone. The
names of the officers were also changed. The Grand Encampment, which some had
supposed must end from its own i nherent constitution, took on new life aud became
permanent. This caused a great commotion in Ohio, and something of a storm in
Indiana, but in no way to be compared to that in Ohio. Where William B. Hub-
bard was best known there was the intensest feeling shown. Horace M. Stokes,
Grand Master of Ohio, was on the committee with William B. Thrall, which
reported the resolution adopted I13' the Grand Encampment of Ohio declaring
non-allegiance.
William B. Hubbard was a proud, earnest and very talented JVIason. He had
very high regard for the dignity of the position which he held and adorned for
twelve j'ears. It can be truthfully said that Templarism in the L^nited States
owes more of its present prosperity and respectability to William B. Hubbard
~c_^^?-7-E,^2,£3i_-^2^ 1^ ^^^^-^y-^-
Associative Organizations — I. 753
tbau to auy other man living or dead. The above cited episode aroused great
bitterness of feeling, and doubtless had no small influence in shaping the course
of Ohio under the lead of Thrall and Stokes, both of whom were Past Grand Mas-
ters of the Grand Lodge of Ohio. For keen, cutting, bitter controversial writing,
bj' men who could use the English language with all the " vim and vigor" in it,
we commend as a model the protest of Lancaster Comandery Number Two, written
by William J. Reese, found in the appendix to the proceedings of the Grand
Encampment of Ohio, 1857. This was a special communication of the Grand
Encampment of Ohio, at which William B. Hubbard appeared, and we think
fiiU}^ vindicated the position of the Grand Encampment of the United States.
This meeting, which was held in Columbus, chronicles the first appearance of
Enoch T. Carson in the Grand Commandery of Ohio. This trouble was not
adjusted for many 3-ears, and during all this time members of Mount Vernon Com-
mandery were conspicuous as leaders of the reliellion. When we read the reports,
charges and countercharges, and the discussions of the " giants in those days,''
the whole matter seems much like a " tempest in a teapot."
The following Grand Masters of the Grand Lodge of Ohio, F. & A. M., were
members of Mount Vernon Encampment: 1813, Henry Brush, knighted July,
1826; 1818, Chester Griswold, knighted March 20, 1818 ; 1819-23-29, John Snow,
knighted ; 1824, Charles K. Sherman, knighted January, 1826 ; 1826, Samuel
Wheeler, knighted January, 1823; 1827, John M. Goodenow, knighted January,
1823; 1828, Thomas Corwin, knighted January, 1826; 1830, William Fielding,
knighted February, 1824; 1831, John Satterthwaite, knighted January, 1823;
1833, Timothy Parker, knighted December, 1821; 1834-42, William J. Reese,
knighted May, 18.-i0 ; 1843-46, William B. Thrall; 1850, William B. Hubbard;
1866, Thomas Sparrow ; 18—, William M. Cuiinin-ham. The following Grand
High Priests were also members of this encampment: Henrj' Sage, William J.
Reese, William B. Thrall, William B. Hubbard.
The Commanders of Mount Vernon Commandery, since its organization, were :
1818-41. John Snow; 1841-43, John Barney; 1843-47, Bela Latham ; 1847-52, Wil-
liam B. Thrall ; 1852-53, William M. Savage; 1853-54, William B. Thrall; 1854-55,
D.T.Woodbury; 1855 57 Dwight Stone ; 1857 59, WiHiain B. Thrall; 1859 61, B. F.
Martin ; 1861-65, Thomas Spiirrow ; 1865-66, J. M. Smart; 1.S66-67, William A. Her-
shiser; 1867-68, W. S. Phai'es ; 1868 69, A. B. Robin.son ; 1869-70, Thomas Sparrow ;
1870-71, Samuel M. Hotchkiss ; 1871-73, J. M. Stuart; 1873-74, Edward Morrell :
1874-75, B. F. Roes; 1875-76, James H. Gushing; 1876-78, A. B. Robinson; 1878-79,
H. O'Kane; 1879-80, O. A. B. Sonter; 1880-81, G. A. Frambes; 1881-82, C. S.
Ammel; 1882-83, R. R. Ricklv, I8S3-84, R. T. King': 1884-85, W. O'Harra;
1885-86, J. T. Harris; 1886-87," J. T. Arnett; 1887-88, J. P. McCune ; 1888-89,
W. H. Darrah ; 1889-90, D. N. Kinsman ; 1890 91, L. K. Valentine; 1891-92, George
L. Hamrick.
Mount Vernon Commandery has been represented in the (xrand Encampment
of the United Slates as follows : W. B. Hubbarrl as (xcneral Grand Master, and John
Snow as General Grand Generalissimo.
Grand Commanders of Ohio, Bela Latham, 1845-46-47 ; W. B. Thrall, 1850 ;
Deputy Grand Commanders, Thomas Sparrow, 1859-60-61-68-69-70 ; Thomas
Orr, 1853; William A. Hershiser, 1867 ; Grand Generalissimo, 0. A. B. Senter,
1886,1887; Joseph M. Stuart, 1872; Grand Captain-General, James H. Gushing,
1871, J. P. MeCune, 1892; Grand Prelate, John Barney, 1843; James T. Donahoo,
1845 ; Zachariah Connell, 1857-58-59-62-63- 64-65 ; Grand Senior Warden, Leander
Ransom, 1844 ; Isaac Davis, 1845-46-47 ; Piatt Benedict, 1849 ; J. W. Milligan, 1851 ;
Grand Junior Warden, Doctor L. Woodburv, 1852 ; Grand Treasurer. Timothy
Griffith, 1846-47-48-49,
754 History of the City of Columbus.
Mount Yenion Comraanderj was the first Couimandery organized west of
the Mountains. At her altars have knelt postulants from all sections of Ohio, and
as far south as Granada and Natchez, Mississipjji. " Dis{)ensated " in 1818, which
was 49 years after the first Knight Templar was made in St. Andrew's Lodge, in
Boston, Massachusetts, its histor3' now covers threefifths of that of the Templar
order. Around it raged all the ami-Masonic excitement which followed William
Morgan's abduction in 1826 ; for New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, after Ver-
mont, participated more in this excitement than any other States in the Union.
Its altar fires, extinguished in 1827, were again rekindled in 1830 with a fitful blaze
which expired after having illuminated William J. Reese with its dying gleams.
Reese became afterward one of the most influential Teniplars in Ohio, and
again revived the encampment. For a period of eleven years, or until 1841,
Mount Vernon Commandery has no I'ecords of any meetings. If there were any
they must have been hold in that famous openair lodge, which Masonic tradition
say's was held in a low valley, while the anti-Masonic storm sweptthe country. Tra-
dition is that tylers were hidden behind rocks and perched in treetops to observe the
approach of "Cowans and caves droppers " during a long period, and that the
meetings of New England Lodge could not be safely held in their regular lodge-
room but they met in a certain cave location now lost. The records are silent on this
point, nor do they give any indication, in 1827, or 1830, nor yet in 1841, why the
craft was so long idle. Upon its removal to Columbus, Mount Vernon Command-
er}' entered upon a career of prosperity. Year after year, in the lengthening list
of Templars made, we can trace the griefs and joys of the community in the ebb
and flow ot Templar enthusiasm. In 1862 one Templar was created, and in 1863
two. The valiant souls whose members recruit the Templar army, were at the
front ready to " do or die " in the cause of humanity, and amid smoke and flame
to "seal their faith."
So far as can be ascertained the Templar degree was first regularly conferred
in a Masonic bodj- in August, 1769. It was done in and by Saint Andrew's
Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The
modern heresy that the Blue Lodges can know nothing of the Masonic regularity
of the " highei- grades ' of Masonry had not risen. The Red Cross degrees were
not at that time a prerequisite to the order of the Temple, nor is it in England
to-day. The present series of degrees in the Commandery was formed as early
as 1783, for in an old diploma of that date issued by St. Andrew's Lodge, Number
One, Ancient Masons, we find the following order: '• Knight of the Red Cross,
XXX Knight Temjilai-, Knight Hosplar, Knight of Rhodes and Malta."
The General Grand Encampment of the United States was organized in the
City of New York by the following named bodies, which formed and ratified a
constitution for the government of Templars in the j-ear 1816 : Boston Encamp-
ment, Boston, Massachusetts; St. John's Encampment, Providence, Rhode Island;
Ancient Encampment, New York, New York; Temple Encampment, Albany,
New York; Montgomery Encampment, Stillwater, New York: St. Paul's En-
campment, Newburyport, New York; Newport Encampment, Newport, Rhode
Island; Darius Encampment, Portland, Maine. Not a single State organization
participated. The following were officers of this body : Dewitt Clinton, New
York, General Grand Master: Thomas Smith Neff, Boston, Deputy General
Grand Master; Henry Fowle, Boston, General Grand Generalissimo; Ezra
Ames, Albany, General Grand Captain General ; Rev. Paul Dean, Boston, Gen-
eral Grand Prelate ; Martin Hoff'man, New York, General Grand Senior Warden;
John Carlisle, Providence, General Grand Junior Warden ; Peter Grinnel,
Providence, General Grand Treasurer ; John J. Loring, New York, General
Grand Recorder; Thomas Lounds, New York, General Grand Warder; John
Associative Organizations — I. 755
Smow, Providence. General Grand Standardbearer ; Jonathan S. Chriffilm, New
York, General Grand Sword-Bearer.
On September 17, 1841, the General Grand Encampment of the United
States issued its warrant to Eobert Punshon for the establishment of the Grand
Encampment of Ohio. In the organization of this body, which took place in
1843, five subordinate commanderies participated, to wit : Mount Vernon, Num
ber One, located at Worthington, Ohio, dispensation for this body was issued
March 14, 1818, the charter was issued September 16, 1819, and the organization
under the charter was made January 27, 1820 ; Lancaster Commandery, Number
Two, located at Lancaster, Ohio, whose charter was voted December 9, 1835, and
issued in December, 1837, was organized April 4, 1838 ; Cincinnati Commandery
Number Three, located at Cincinnati, Ohio, dispensation granted in 1840,
chartered September 17,1841; Massiilon, Number Four, located at Massillon,
Ohio, flispensation issued by William J. Eeese, July 5, 1843, chartered October 5,
1844; Clinton, Number Five, located at Mount Vernon, Ohio; dispensation
granted by William J. Reese, July 22, 1843. date of charter not at hand. All
these bodies were known as encampments until the year 1862, when we find the
term commandery taking the place of encampment. This change was proposed
in 1858.
In 1826, a dispensation had been issued for the establishment of a com
mandery at Lebanon, Ohio, but this body had become extinct at the organization
of the Grand Encampment of Ohio. VVe find that Mount Vernon Commandery
had consented to its establishment in 1825, as well as the founding of an encamp-
ment at Chillicothe which was not done until many years after.
Symbolic or Blue Lodge Masonry in Columbus.— Theve have been six Blue
or Symbolic Lodges of Free and Accepted Masons organized in Columbus. Ohio
Lodge, Number 30, was organized in 1815, and became extinct in 1836. Colum-
bus Lodge, Number 30, which arose upon the ruins of Ohio Lodge, was organized
in 1841. In 1817 Magnolia, Number 20, was chartered and it took its number, 20,
from a lodge which had become extinct at Belpre, Ohio. It was the custom for
new lodges to assume the numbers of extinct lodges, so that precedence in num-
ber is no evidence of seniorilj- among the lodges in Ohio previous to the year
1850. There is no better evidence of the evil times on which Masonry entered,
from 1826 to 1840, than the number of lodges which had ceased work. Goodale
Lodge, Number 372, was organized in 1866. Humboldt, a German lodixe, was
organizeii in 1871. Within the year 1890 this lodge began to work in the English
language. The four lodges now working are prosperous and harmonious. York
Lodge, Number — , was organized in 1891. Ohio Lodge, Number 30, was instituted
in Franklinton, Ohio on the eleventh day of June, 1815. Its charter members
were: Abner Lord, first Master; John Kerr, first Senior Warden ; Alexander
Morrison, first Junior Warden ; Lincoln Goodale, Treasurer ; Joel Buttles, Secre-
tary ; Benjamin Gardiner, Senior Deacon : Horace Walcott, Junior Deacon ; Caleb
Huston, and James Kooken, Stewards; Samuel Shannon, Tyler. To these men
were committed the interests of Freemasonry in Columbus soventj-five years ago.
They were worthy of the trust. The other members of the lodge were : Benja-
min Pike, A. B. Washburn, Onesimus Whittaker, all of whom were present at the
constitution of Ohio Lodge.
The first man who was "raised'" in this new lodge was Gustuvus Swan,
This took place October 16, 1815. The records show that his interest in the
affairs of the lodge was active until his death. Eleven other Master Masons were
made in Fi'anklinton, the last of whom was Abram 1. McDowell, the father of the
late Major-General Irwin McDowell, who was born within the limits of the present
city of Columbus. Abram I. McDowell became Master of Ohio Lodge and con-
ferred the symbolic degrees upon John L. Gill in 1828. William Armstrong had
756 History of the City of Columbus.
received the degrees in 1822. These are the oldest two Masons living in Coluni-
bus, if not in Ohio, having been sixtj-two and sixtjeight years in the order, re-
spectively. All the other members of Ohio Lodge, which became extinct fiftyfour
years ago, have joined the army of silent ones.
From Mr. Gill we received the following reminiscences of Abrain I. McDowell :
He was In' birth a Kentuckian and a stanch Republican. During General Mc-
Dowell's boyhood a French Prince turned up in Columbus and was employed to
teach the French language to the boy, who afterwards accompanied his tutor to
France. While there he was dazzled with the splendors of the court and became
interested in looking up his own family tree and the coat of arms of the Mc-
Dowells. He wrote his father concerning them but received no reply. He sent
a second letter of inquiry. His father then replied and for the coat of arms gave
the drawing of a man suspended by the neck from a gallows. This is said to have
completely satisfied the young man's curiosity and he lost interest in the study of
heraldry.
In December, ISKi, Ohio Lodge was transferred to Columbus, and occupied
for a time the north room of the old brick building standing on the Capitol
Square, then used as the State library. At one time the lodge appears, from the
records, to have held its meetings in the rooms occupied by Bela Latham, in the
Franklin House. For many years, indeed, until long after the removal of Mount
Vernon Comniandery from. VVotthington to Columbus, "Masons' Hall'' was
located in the upper story of the Franklin Bank building, said to have occupied
ground just south of the Neil House. Then they migrated to the southeast cor-
ner of State and High streets, and thence to the Johnson building, where they had
quarters for many years. Columbus Lodge, for a term of years, met in the Mony-
peny block, between Long and Spring streets. Finally all the Ma.sonic bodies of
Columbus have found a common home on East Town Street.
The color line was strongly drawn in the Masonic bodies of Ohio very early.
In 1822 we find Ohio Lodge voted, " it is inexpedient at this time, or any other
time, until we receive an expression from the Grand Lodge of Ohio, to admit
persons of color to a seat in the lodge. " During all this time the business of the
lodge was transacted in the Entered Appi-entice Degree, and it was not finally
transferred to the Master Degree until late in the fifth decade of this centuiy. Such
was the custom in 1847, when Magnolia Lodge was constituted. The lodge room
was not then necessarily devoted exclusively to Masonic uses, for we find Ohio
Lodge offering its lodge room for use as a school room and for the accommodation
of a church fair.
One hundred and four Master Masons were made in Ohio Lodge. There
was prosperity from 1815 to 1826; then came the withering touch of anti-
Masonic excitement, and in January, 1829, the work ceased. The organization
was maintained by the election of officers from year to year. In 1832 four Masons
were made. Four years longer annual elections were held, but in 1836 the lights
went out and Ohio Lodge became extinct. During its organization eleven Wor-
shipful Masters presided over its deliberations. ■ During these years the fees for
the degrees were low and the struggles of the brethren to meet their obligations
were at times painful. Here endeth the first lesson.
In 1841 VVilliam J. Keese, Grand Master of Ohio, issued a dispensation to
form and open a new lodge in Columbus under the name of Columbus Lodge,
No. — . VVilliam B. Hubbard was made first Master; J. M. Milligan, first Senior
Warden, and Eobert Eiordan, first Junior Warden. The Masons of the city of
Columbus were assembled. The Grand Master, with the assistance of the Deputy
Grand Master, William B. Thrall and J. W. Milligan, opened a lodge of Entered
Apprentices, aud the election of the following officers took place : John Green-
wood was elected Treasurer ; J. C. Broderick, Secretary ; J. Young, Senior Dea-
Associative Organizations — I. 757
con; Joliti Zeinler, Junior Deacon; B. B. Brown, Tyler. This completed the
organization and thus Columbus Lodge began its career. The first candidate
for admission was Xoah H. Swayne, afterwards a Justice of the Supreme Court
of the United States.
To Lanca-icT Lodge, we believe, belongs the distinction of having maintained
its organi/.athMi i In ring the time of Masonic depression. At least we find Lancas-
ter Lodge on [mud with a set of temperance resolutions for the edifi.cation of this
new lodge soon after its liirtli. Lancaster wanted everyone petitioning for the
degrees of Symbolic Masonry to take a pledge to forever abstain from the use of
all into.xicati'iig beverages. This was submitted to Columbus Lodge for its adop-
tion. A committee re]iorteil it was an " innovation in the body of Masonry," a
" new landmark; and the lodge did not adopt it. This was in the whirl and
excitement <if' the Washingtoniaii temperance movement of fifty years ago. Men,
then,asn()\v. thonghi that Vefi)rm was built on emotion and that human nature could
be changeil \>y a .set of resuhitions. That such a resolution as emanated from Lan-
caster Lodge would "remove an ancient landmark," we can readily believe, when
we find on the records of a lodge still existing in Franklin County a resolution
that " the Tyler be ordered to procure one barrel of rum ami two tin cups for the
use ot the Lod^-e.''
In li-U7, .lohn W. Milligan, Nathaniel Merion, Harvey Fletcher, D. T. Wood-
burv, James E. I).. nahoo, Benjamin F. Martin, Bela Latham, Harvey Bancroft and
William Harrison, iietitioned to the Grand Lodge for the establishment of a new
Lodge under the t'itie of Magnolia, Number 20. Columbus Lodge favored this
enterprise and |iasseil the following resolution: " Resolved, That we vouch for
the moi'ai and .Ma.sonic standing of said brethren as worthy Ancient and Accepted
Free Masons, and recommend that the prayer of their petition be granted." In
order that the new lodge might enter upon its labors at once, Columbus Lodge
tendered them the use of their hall and properties. Lodge meetings were
adjourned from day to day and often were not closed for months, showing that
what are now deemed traditions of the order have, like other institutions, under-
gone evolution in modern time. Visiting Masters or Past Masters were
almost always invited to preside in the meetings of the lodge they visited. The'
object was two-fold ; it was a complimentary distinction and it enabled the craft
to'improve by the adoption of new forms which pleased them. It must be kept in
mind that the present code was not brought forth except as the result of years of
comparison and observation.
Li 1H49, Asiatic cholera prevailed in Columbus. We find the following touch-
ing note : " Owing to the prevalence of cholera throughout the country and this
city, no meetings were held from the twelfth day of June to the eleventh of Sep-
tember, 1849. Many a family circle was made desolate by the ravages of the epi-
demic. Several distinguished citizens of the city were its victims. Among the
number was our lamented brother, Benjamin F. Gard, M. D., who nobly fell while
engaged in the discharge of his professional duties. It may be regarded almost
Providential that among the very numerous instances of mortality around us,
Brother Gard, whose loss we deplore, was the only member of the Fraternity who
fell a prey to the mysterious and dread destroyer, though none shrunk from their
duty and some were eminently exposed." Two years later the brother who
traced this eulogy upon his brother died of the same disease.
Members of Columbus Lodge visited Magnolia and voted on all applications
for membership in the latter lodge, and Magnolia exercised similar privileges in
Columbus Lodge. This custom continued for many years. But Masons are not
free from human passions. A cloud no larger than a man's hand arose over this
fair scene and grew until a storm came which rent their lodges asunder, embitter-
ing the hearts of the brethren. We would omit this, but a history which deals
758 History of the City of Columbus.
with but one side of a question is not true to tiie purpose for which it should be
written.
Ill the process of time, Magnolia Lodge, which had used the properties and
hall of Columbus Lodge, had become its landlord The Master of Magnolia Lodge
caused the arrest and imprisonment of the Secretary of Columbus Lodge for
entering the hall of Magnolia Lodge for improper purposes between the stated
meetings of Columbus Lodge. Columbus Lodge declared non-intercourse, and
the Master of Magnolia Lodge preferred charges against Columbus Lodge for this
act. The matter came to the notice of the Grand Lodge of Ohio. A plan of recon-
ciliation, or plebiscitt, was proposed and adopted, but before Magnolia Lodge carried
out all of its provisions its charter was arrested for contumacy. This severe dis-
cipline brought obedience and compliance with the ordei' of the Grand Lodge.
Peace was restored and for years has not been disturbed. This was long ago, as
measured by the life of man, and most of the actors in this drama have passed
away. Over their faults and foibles be the mantle of Masonic chaiity spread as
we hope for :i like meed for ourselves. Columbus Lodge for many years abode
apart from the other Masonic boilies. Three or four yeai'S ago il returned to the
common fold and entered upon a career of prosperity unknown before in its his-
tory.
The life of Ohio and Columbus lodges covers threefourths of a century. The
members thereof have been the builders of Cjlumbus. Every enterprise in the
city has felt their touch and known theii' care They have labored for that which
made man better and have in the midst of their imperfections lightened the bur-
dens of humanity. We claim this for them for they were good men, therefore
good Masons. They erred, for they were human, but they have rendered the lot
of manj' a sorrowing one easier to be borne and they have carried blessings to
many darkened homes ; they have borne one another'.s burdens. Forty Masters
have presided in Ohio and Columbus Lodges.
Magnolia Lodge, Number 20. — On the first day of June, 1847, a meeting of
Masons was held looking to the establishment of a new Lodge in Columbus. The
following preamble was offered by Brother James T. Donahoo and adopted by
those present :
Whereas, Bela Latham, Benjamin F. Martin, Henry \. Field, John T. Donahoo, Nathan-
iel Merion, Harvey Fletcher, Harvey flancroft and William Harrison, all Ancient Free and
Accepted Master Masons, the more eflfectuallyto encourage sobriety, suppress profanity, and
diffuse the sublime principles of universal benevolence, and thereby carry out tlie genuine
precepts of Free Masonry, have associated themselves together under the name, style and
title of Magnolia Lodge, Number 20, under the authority and jurisdiction of the M. W. Grand
Lodge of the State of Ohio ; they, therefore, for their future government, do make, ordain
an<l adopt the following: [Here follow the bylaws of the proposed Lodge.]
B. F. Martin was appointed to arrange the necessary preliminaries for the
organization. He subsequently reported that Columbus Lodge, Number 30, had
by a unanimous vote granted their permission for the formation of a new Lodge
in its jurisdiction.
On June 10, 1847, William B. Thrall, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of
Ohio, issued a dispensation for the formation of Magnolia Lodge, Number 20. In
this instrument Bela Latham was appointed first Master ; B. F. Martin, first Senior
Warden ; Henry A. Field, first Junior Warden. On the same day the lodge met
under authority of the dispensation and completed the organization by electing
J. W. Milligan, Treasurer ; Harvey Banci-oft, Secretary ; Nathaniel Merion, Sen-
ior Deacon; William Harrison, Junior Deacon, and J. W. Donahoo, Tyler. Wil-
liam M. Savage was the first petitioner for the degrees in this lodge. He afterward
Associative Organizations— I. 7,t9
was Worshipful Master six consecutive years, tlie longest term of otHce held by
any Master of this lodge. Thomas Sparrow was next in service and held the
office for four years. The charter was issued July 20, 1847. At a meeting of
Magnolia Lodge, during this year, several Chippewa Indians arrived in Columbus on
their way to Washington, D. C. They claimed to be Masons, and applied to Magnolia
Lodge for recognition in thisciiaracter. William B. Hubbard and Samuel Reed, both
well known as '' expert«Masons," were a committee on behalf of Magnolia Lodge
U> examine into their qualifications. Their report shows what Masonic enthusiasts
the}' were, and how readily they found the '' lost jewels " when they sought them.
This examination was conducted through an interpreter. The interest aroused in
the committee was so great that they recommended that the examination should
be conducted before the members of" the lodge in committee of the whole. The
lodge was called from "labor to refreshment." The Indians were admitted, and
after further examination they were recognized as posses.sing certain mysteries
which resembbd Masonry. After a mutual interchange of sentiments the Indians
withdrew. John Baptist Martell was the interpreter, and he was formally healed
by Magnolia Lodge some time ifter. In his petition he sets forth his occupation
as "Justice of the Peace and p'-oprietor of a temperance house." Such a hostelry
on an Indian reservation the",, as now, would be a novelty. Magnolia Lodge
granted him a diploma when he left the city. •
In 1850, cholera interrupted the meetings of this lodge. The history of Mag-
nolia Lodge was closely interwoven with that of Columbus Lodge during the first ten
years of its existence, and much of this common lodge history has been told already.
Magnolia Lodge has had a prosperous career, and has today the largest member-
ship of any Symbolic lodge in Ohio. Thirtyone Masters have presided in its Ori-
ental chair. One of the martyred Presidents of the United States received the
Symbolic Degrees of Masonry in Magnolia and Columbus Lodges. The record
stands: "James A. Garfield received the E. A. Degree November 22, 1861, and
the P. C. degree December 3, 18G1, in Magnolia Lodge. The Master's degree was
conferred upon him by Columbus Lodge, November 22, 1864."
Good ale Lodge, JVtimher 372, was organized under a dispensation issued July
20, 1866. The following officers were named in this dispensation : James VVil-
liams, W. M.; William S. Phares, S. W., Harry Tarbill, J. W.; D. G. Smith was
appointed Treasurer; A. B. Robinson, Secretary; W. A. Hershisher, S. D.; J. B.
Romans, J. D.; W. R. Thrall, Tyler. The lodge was chartered October 17, 1866,
and constituted by Grand Master Thomas Sparrow October 26, 1S66. The char-
ter members promulgated the following preamble to the by-laws:
Whereas, James Williams, Dolphin G. Smith, William S. Phares, Ashley B. Robinson,
William A. Hershiser, John B. Romans, Edwin 0. Beach, Charles A. Wiggins, Charles C.
Walcutt, Albert G. Byers, Samuel Thompson, William Ewing, Otis B. Perkins, Isaac C. Aston,
William R. Thrall, Moses P. Smith, Martin P. Ford, Harry Tarbill, Jacob B. Beauman, Wil-
liam McDonald, Denman R. Kinsell, Stephen V. R. Carpenter and Jacob H. McColm, Free
and accepted Master Masons, the more effectually to diffuse the exalted principles of Broth-
erly Love, Relief and Truth ; to encourage the more constant practice ot the cardmal virtues
— Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice — and to inculcate the genuine moral pre-
cepts of Freemasonry, have associated themselves together under the name and title of
(ioodale Lodge, under the jurisdiction and authority of the Grand Lodge of Ohio, and they
do, therefore, adopt for their future guidance and government the following by-laws [etc.].
The first elected officers were: W. S. Phares, W. M., A. B. Robinson, S. W.;
C. C. Walcutt, J. W. ; D. G. Smith, Treasurer ; Theo. P. Gordon, Secretary ; W.
R. Thrall, S. D.; John B. Romans, J. D.; Edward West, Tyler. The first candi-
date to receive the degrees in Goodale Lodge was Theodore P. Gordon, since the
Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge, and active in business and Masonic affairs
in Columbus. The lodge was named Goodale in honor of Lincoln Goodale, long
prominent in the Grand Lodge of Ohio, having been Treasurer for twenty years,
760 History of the City of Columbus.
a charter member of Ohio Lodge, and a benefactor in many ways of the city of
Columbus. He was made a Mason in New England Lodge, at \Vorthington, in
1808, and was livins: in Columbus when this Lodge was constituted in 1866. He
died in 1868, at the age of 86 years. Lodges, like persons, must become hoary-
headed before they can have much of a history. Their life must exceed that of
those wlio formed them, and many of the charter members of Goodale still live
and are active in affairs. The lodge is prosperous and is now steadily increas-
ing. It has been ruled bv twentvfivc Masters and has a membership of about
200.
Hiiiiihohlt Loili./f. Xmnhfr 476, was organized under the authority oi' a
dispensation which was issued by Grand Master A. H. Battin, August, 1873.
Under this instrument O. A. B. Senter was W. M. ; J. H Heitman, S. W. ; Louis
Kahn, J. W. ; Conrad Born. Jr., J. D. ; Charles T. Pfaff, Treasurer; E. Kiese-
wetter. Secretary ; C. H. Lindenberg, S. D. ; H. Schwartz, Tyler. A charter
was issued to the following brethren as charter members, October 22, 1873 : O.
A. B. Senter. J. H. Heitman, Louis Kahn, Charles Heide, Henry Siebert, Charles
H. Lindenberg. C. T. Pfaff, Conrad Born, Jr.. H. Harmon, Jacob Goodman, John
C. Fraas, T. J. Kramer, Henry Schwarz, Emil Keisewetter, P. E. Blesch, Charles
T. Kampman, N. Gundersheimer, Joseph Gundersheimer, Ij. P. Hosier, J. S.
Sorgen, Louis Hoster, Louis Heinmiller, Ernst J. W. Schueller.
At the first election under the charter the officers above mentioned were re-
elected. The first initiates were Henr}^ Lindenberg and J. A. Kremer. Tiiere is
now a membership of 54, and the following Masters have occupied the oriental
chair: 1. O. A. B. Senter; 2. J. H. Heitman; 3, J. Kremer: 4, G. Blesch;
5, E. P. Blesch ; 6, Charles H. Lindenburg: 7. W. F. Kemmler ; 8, J. Braun ;
9. Julius A. Kremer; 10, Julius A. Kremer.
Capitular Masonry. — A dispensation was granted to Ohio Chapter, Number
Twelve, November 27, 1824, and from a report made to the Grand Chapter held
January 12, 1825, we learn that the following companions were the officers: Bela
Latham, High Priest; Daniel Turney, King: Joel Buttles, Scribe; A. J. Mc-
Dowell, Principal Sojourner: James Pobinson, E. A. Captain; John Warner,
Master of Third Veil ;' Caleb Houston, Master of Second Veil ; A. Benfield. Master
of First Veil ; L. Goodale, Treasurer ; Joseph Leiby, Secretary : B. F. Wile3-,
Tyler. Besides the officers, there were four members: A. Shaughnessej-,
William T. Snow. Henry Brown, Robert Russell, the last two having been the
first two exalted in Ohio Chapter. At the meeting of the Grand Chapter in 1826,
Ohio Chapter was continued under dispensation, with an admonition from the
grand body to strictly observe the constitution and regulations relative to the
admission of members. Horeb, of Worthington, had complained of the com-
panions of Ohio for invading its jurisdiction.
Ohio Chapter iu 1826 reported twelve exaltations. In January, 1827, a
charter was granted to Ohio Chapter November 12, and the membership had risen
to thirtysix. In 1828 the membership had fallen to twenty, half having left on
account of the anti-Masonic storm, and the membership remained the same for
1829. In 1837, of the whole number of chapters (twenty) in Ohio, but five were
represented at the Grand Chapter, and Ohio Chapter was one which did not
answer at the roll-call ; nor is Ohio Chapter again mentioned as having an exis-
tence until, in October, 1841, permission was granted by the Grand Chapter for
Ohio Chapter, November 12, to resume their Masonic lahoi-s under their charter.
The old ctnarter havinsr been lost or mislaid, the Grand Secretary was authorized
to issue a new one. The following are the names on this instrument as charter
members: Bela Latham, John A. Brran, John Greenwood, P. H. Olmsted,
Joseph Leiby, William B. Hubbard, William B. Van Hook, J. W. Milligan, Robert
Lincoln Goodale. Bela Latham was the first High Priest under the new
^-y}y\(Q>M^^
Associative Oruanizations — I. 761
charter, as he . had been under the old. P. H. Olmsted was King, John A.
Bryan, Scribe ; Charles E. Sherman was Grand High Priest when the first, and
O. M. Spencer when the second charter was issued.
Temple Chapter, Number 155, R. A. M., was organized under ilispeusation of
J. L. H. Long, Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Ohio, May 5, 1886,
with C. S. Amniel first High Priest, D. N. Kinsman first King, and Edwin Morrcll
first Scribe. A charter was issued October 8, 1886, to tlie following charter mem-
bers : C. S. Ammel, Edwin Morrell, John P. McCune, W. H. Darrah, Henry C.
Will, William C. Orr, William "M. Mucbmore, Joseph W. Weil, and D. N. Kinsman.
This body has now about one hundred and fifty members. The following com-
panions have graced the oriental chair : O. S. Ammel, Edwin Morrell, William H.
Dorrah, John P. McCune, Wheeler C. Wikoff, Josiah Medbery, M. D.
Columbus Council, Xuinher Eight, Royal and Select Masters, was instituted
by letter of dispensation, issued by William B. Thrall, Puissant Grand Master of
the State of Ohio, on (Saint John's Day^ the twentyseventh day of December,
1841, 2841, A.-.Dep. -.to companions Bela Latham, Leonard Humphrey, John
W. Milligan, G. M. Herancourt, James Cross, Isaac Davis, R. Buckbee, John R.
Barney, "William Y. Emmett, John Bartram and James T. Donahoo, authorizing
them to assemble on the same day in the city of Columbus, and organize a coun-
cil, to be called Columbus Council, Number — , of Boyal and Select Masters.
The letter of dispensation, under which they acted, appointed coin|ianions Bela
Latham, T. I. G. Master; Leonard Humphrey, Dep. L G. Ma.ster . John W.
Milligan, P. C. of Work. The charter was dated at Lancaster, October 21, 1842,
dating back to December 27, 1841, and signed by the followin;; Grand Officers :
William J. Reese, Puissant Grand Master: G. D. Hine. Dep. III. Grand Master:
C. F. Hanselmann, Dep. 111. Grand Master: A. J. Sanfurd. Gr. P. C. of Work.
Attest James D. Caldwell, Gr. Peonler. Thr incMnbershi], is alM.ui .HOO.
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Itdr i„r the Xnrthm, M,isu„,c Jurisdiction of
the United States of A7nenca.—Remy Howe says in his history ^' That William
J. Eeese, of Lancaster, was the first Scottish Rite Mason in Ohio." Where he
got his degrees we do not now know, hut probably in Philadelphia, for there his
family lived. This rite was introduced into Ohio in 1851. That year Killian H.
Van Rensselaer. 83 ° , Deputy for the Supreme Council for Pennsylvania and
Ohio, under authority from" Edward A. Raymond, M. P. G. Commander, organ-
ized Adoniram Lodge of Perfection and Ohio Council of Princes of Jerusalem,
at Colujnbus. This body of Masons met in rooms over McDonald's & Steube's
grocerv on South High Street. Among the members of these bodies we may
mention William B. Hubbard, 33°, Thomas Lowe and Henry Fields, who arc
now dead. B. F. Martin is the only living member so far as we can learn. In
1852 the lodge was destroyed by fire and the work ceased.
On December 17, 1852, George Hoadly, Jr., subsequently Governor of Ohio ;
Absalom Death, John Conn, John H. Gerrard, George R. Cramer, Charles Brown
and Enoch T. Carson, all of Cincinnati, Ohio, received the grades from fourth to
sixteenth, inclusive, in Columbus, at the hands of Killian H. Van Rensselaer.
From this time there was no work done in the Scottish Rite Degrees in Colum-
bus, until Enoch Grand Lodge of Perfection was organized, under dispensation
granted by Henry L. Palmer'^ 33°, M, P. G. Commander of the Northern Ma-
sonic Jurisdiction of the U. S. A., William B. Hubbard, 33°, of Columbus,
assisted in the organization of Ohio Consistory, December 27, 1853. Enoch
Grand Lodge of PeVfection was organized May 25, 1877. William Cunningham,
33°, was the first T. P. G. M. u'nder the dispensation. At the first meeting.
May 25, 1877, a class of twentytwo applied for the grades conferred in Enoch
Lodge. M, J. Mack, 33°, the'T. P. G. Master of Gibulum Lodge of Perfection,
presided, and E. T. Carson, 33°, then as now Deputy for the Supreme Council of
762
History of the City of Columbus.
Ohio, acted us the Master of Ceremonies. Other bretiireu were present from
Cincinnati and assisted. Among them was William B. Melish, 33°, later Grand
Commander of Ohio. The charter of Enoch Grand Lodge was issued March 19,
1877. The following were the charter members: William M. Ciinninsiham,
W. A. Ilershiser, David Jones, William E. Moore, B. F. Rees, G. S. Ammel, H.
O'Kaue, George F. Wheeler, J. M. Stuart, Sidney Moore, Frank Pitman, L. S.
Dimgan, B. F. Martin, T. B. As|&bury, H. W. Wright, J. B. Potter.
The presiding oflScers in Enoch Lodge have been: William M. Cunning-
ham, 33=; B. F. Eeese, 33°; H. O'Kane, 32°; D. N. Kinsman, 33°.
On May twentieth, 1878, charters were issued by the Supreme Council of the
ISlortherrj Jurisdiction A. and A. S. Kite for the United States of America, to
Franklin Council Princes of Jerusalem, and Columbus Chapter Rose Croix. The
following is a list of charter members for both bodies : W. A. Hershiser, Henrv
O'Kane, J. M. Stuart, R. R. Rickly, A. G. Patton, A. B. Coit, O. A. B. Senter,
Edward West, T. B. Ashbury, M. 'D. ; S. E. Brown, Sidney Moore, Delaware,
Ohio; William E. Moore. Delaware, Ohio; Horace W. Wright, Wortbington,
Ohio ; G. A. Frambes, C. H Lindenberg, Charles Huston, George F. Wheeler,
Frank C. Piltman, B. F. Rees.
G. A. Frambes, R. R Ricklj- and J. C. Fenimore have presided in Franklin
Council W. A. Hershiser, C. H. Ostrander, O. A. B. Senter, Theodore P. Gordon
and John E. Sater have presided in the chapter. The membership numbers
about 3(i0.
ANCIENT ACCEPTED RITE, FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THEIR
TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES.
J. STODDAB
Foreiyh Misfort/. — In the year 1761, there existed in France an order styling
itself " tlie Grand and Sovereign of St. John, established at the Grand East of
Paris." On August 27, 1761, this " Sovereign Lodge" granted a patent to a Brother
Stephen Morin, with the rank and title of a " Grand Master Inspector," author-
izing him to " establish Perfect Masonary in every part of the world." Clothed
with those powers Morin sailed for America. At Jamaica, West Indies, he con-
ferred the grades in his possession upon many brethren, giving a number of them
patents and the title of Deputy Grand Inspectors-General, with power to confer
the degrees and establish bodies. Morin deputized Henry A. Franken, who, in
turn, authorized brethren at Albany, New York, in December, 1767, to organize a
lodge and confer the degrees " from Secret Master to the twentyninth degree."
In 1768, Morin verified an official signed by De Joinville, Count de Choiseul,
Prince de Rohan and others as members of the thirtythird degree.
United States History.— In 1801, John Mitchell, Frederick Dalcho, Isaac Auld
and Emmanuel de la Motta attempted the organization of a supreme governing
body at Charleston, South Carolina. The movement failed, and the organization
Associative Organizations — 1. 763
was practically dormant for fiftj-eiglij .years thereafter. On October 28, 1807, a
successful effort to organize a supreme body was made in New York City by
Illustrious Joseph Cerneau, assisted by Governor De Witt Clinton, Hon John W.
Mulligan, the Deputy Grand Master olthe Grand Lodge and Unites States Minis-
ter to Greece ; Hon. Martin Hoffman, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge ; C. D.
Colden, Ma^or of the city, and many other dignitaries and illustrious brethren.
Subsequently, General, the Marquis de Lafayette, became Grand Commander of
the order. Its title was, '• The Ancient Accepted Rite, for the United States of
America, their Territories and Dependencies," taking Jurisdiction over all the
States and Territories of the Union, as it was the only active body then in exis-
tence. Under this authority subordinate bodies were organized in Ohio,
Ohio History. — On August 27 and 28, 1884, a delegation from the East of the
Order, among whom was the venerable Doctor R. B.'^Folger, thirtythird degree,
the Masonic historian, and the oldest thirtythird Mason living, arrived in Colum-
bus upon invitation and proceeded to organize under dispensation four new bodies
of the rite with the assistance of fifty of the local brethren. Before the close of
the year the new bodies so prospered that the Supreme Council granted charters
to all of them. The four bodies — Lodge, Council, Chapter and Kadosh— con-
trolled and conferred upon candidates all the grades from the 4° to the 30°,
inclusive. The following j-ear similar bodies were organized in different parts ot
the State. Each place where two or more bodies were or<ranized was designated
as a valley; the whole State was known as the Orient of Ohio.
On September 4, 1885, the Sovereign Grand Consistory of Ohio, S . ■ . P . • . R '
. • . S . • . 32 = , was or.ganized and instituted in Columbus by delegations from the
different valleys in the State. The ceremonies were held jointly in the City Hall
and in the rooms of the rite in the Johnson Buildin;: on South Uii;li Street. The
Grand Consistory controls and confers the 31 ° and 32 - , and is I he governing body
of the rite in the State, being clothed with executive and lei^islativc powers. It is a
representative body, all 32 degree members holding membership therein.
On June 24, 1886, the Grand Consistory and local bodies dedicated with
imposing ceremonies, for their joint use, the "Masonic Cathedral," located at 186
South Third Street. It had been purchased and erected for their benefit by a joint
stock company. The building, especially in its interior arrangement for confer-
ring the grades and its decoration, is one of the finest of the kind in the world.
The occasion was a notable one in the history of the city, the building being
crowded to its utmost capacity by the members of the rite, their ladies and
invited guests. The press at the time paid a glowing tribute to the order and its
work. The officers of the Grand Consistory for the present year are ;
J. J. Stoddart, 33°, HI -.Commander in Chief; A. B. Coit, 33° , Hi. • .Dep. • .
Commander in Chief; S. H. Nicholas, 33° , 111. ■ .First Lieut. ■ .Commander ; F. M.
Chandler, 33°, 111. -.Second Lieut. - .Commander ; E. B. Fiuley, 33° , 111. - .Minis-
ter of State and G. - .Orator ; W. Taft, 33° , 111. - .Grand Chancellor ; J. A. Sarber,
33°, 111. -.Grand Treasurer; Jas. C. Kroesen, 33°, HI. • .Grand Secretary and
K. -.ofS. -.& A. -.; C.H.Lander, 33°, 111. - .Grand Prior ; W. C. Gear, 33° , 111. • .
Grand Master of Ceremonies ; B. J. Brown, 33° , III. - .Grand Engineer and Archi-
tect; C. C. Wiles, 33°, 111. -.Grand Marshal; J. D. Mitchell, 32°, 111. - .Grand
Standard-Bearer ; A. B. Broes, 32° , 111. - .Grand Captain of Guards; Rev. Willis
Palmer, 32°, 111. -.Grand Sentinel; A. L. Vogt 32° , III. ■ .Gr. • .Hospitaller.
The bodies subordinate to the Grand Consistory of Ohio, Headquarters at
Masonic Cuthedral of Ohio, South Third Street, Columbus, are as follows:
Valtei/ of Co/i(mb?is— Cohinibus Grand Lo Ige of Perfection, 14'; Columbus Council
Princes of Jeru.=alem, 16°; Columbus Chapter Rose Croix, 15°; Columbus Council Knights
Kadosh, .30°.
7(!4 History or the City op Columbus.
Valley of Bucyrus — Bucyrus Grand Lodge of Perfection, 13° ; Bucyrus Council Princes of
Jerusalem, ltt°; Bucyrus Chapter Rose Croix, 18°; Bucyrus Council Knights Kadosh, 30°.
Valley of Cmcnma(t —Cincinnati Grand Lodge of Perfection, 14°; Cincinnati Council
Princes of Jerusalem, lfj°; Cincinnati Chapter Rose Croix, 15°; Cincinnati Council Knights
Kadosh, 30°.
Valleii of Zanesville —Za,nes\i\le Grand Lodge of Perfection, 14°; Zanesville Council
Princes of Jerusalem, 16°; Zanesville Chapter Rose Croix, 15°; Zanesville Council Knights
Kadosh, 30°.
Valley of Cleveland — Cleveland Grand Lodge of Perfection, 14°; Cleveland Council
Princes of Jerusalem, 16° ; Cleveland Chapter Rose Croix, 15°; Cleveland Council Knights
of Kadosh, 30°.
Valley of McConiiellsviUe—yicConneWsville Grand Lodge of Perfection, 14°; McConnells-
ville Council Princes of Jerusalem, 16°.
l^alley of Newark —Nev/a.Tk Grand Lodge of Perfection, 14°; Newark Council Princes of
Jerusalem, 10°.
Valley of Felicity —FeVKiiy Grand Lodge of Perfection, 14°; Felicity Council Princes of
Valley of Coshocton —Coshocton Grand Lodge of Perfection, 14°; Coshocton Council
Princes of Jerusalem, 16° .
Valley of Upper Sandusky — Upper Sandusky Grand Lodge of Perfection, 14°; Upper
Sandusky Council Princes of Jersualem, 16°.
Valley of />e/aware — Delaware Grand Lodge of Perfection, 14°; Delaware Council Princes
of Jerusalem, 16°.
Since its establishment in Ohio, the Order has been steadily growing in num-
bers and influence Among its member.s are to be found congressmen, judges and
officials of the civil courts, ministers of the Gospel and respected and influential
members of all the professions and trades. It trains man to respect and practice
the duties he owes to his God, his country, his neighbor, his family and himself.
Its teachings and practices are moral and elevating to mankind, pointing the
human mind to a more noble and sublime state of human happiness and existence.
CHAPTER XLIX
ASSOCIATIVE ORGANIZATIONS -II.
ODD FELLOWSHIP.
BY CHARLES L. VOUNG, P. 6. M. AND (
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows is a secret, charitable organization.
Its secrecy consists in the possession of an unwritten and unspoken language,
intelligible only to members, which serves simply for mutual recognition.
In the early years of the last century one of the English organizations held for
awhile to the tradition that the name of Odd Fellow was given to thi.s order by Titus
Csesar iu the year 79 of the Christian era ; but, regardless of Old World traditions
it may truthfully be stated that the Independent Order of Odd Fellows is a com-
paratively modern institution, though it has gained a prominent ascendency in
numerical strength and farreaching influence. Without seeking to establish for
it a veiled origin in the misty shades of the past, it may suffice to say in this con-
nection that among the earliest reliable reminiscences of the order dating back to
the year 1700, or earlier, were unions of various trades or crafts, subsequentl3-
known as Odd Fellow Craftsmen, and still later as the Ancient and Honorable
Loyal Odd Fellows, from whom, early in the present century, there came several
orders or kindred associations, all prompted by considerations of social and fra-
ternal interest. Chief among these was the Manchester Unity, organized in Eng-
land in 1812, and having a membership today of nearly 700,000. From this hist
named institution came American Odd Fellowship.
Odd Fellowship in America. — Attempts were made as early as 1804 to establish
a lodge iu New York ; but the first successful lodge, the first with strength enough
to keep alive, was founded April 26, 1819, at the Seven Stars Inn, Baltimore,
Maryland. Thomas Wildey, John Duncan, John Welch, John Cheatham and
Richard Rushworth united in Washington Lodge, Number One. The beginning
and the success of the movement came from Wildey's zeal and energy. A Grand
Lodge was formed February 22, 1821 ; the " Grand" Lodge of the United States "
was formed January 15, 1825, with Thomas Wildey as Grand Sire. To Augustus
Mathiot the order is indebted (or its emancipation from the convivial character;
to Father Wildey for its early extension and its union in one harmonious body, to
accomplish which ho traveled thousands of miles and gave time and labor; and to
[765]
766 History of the City of Columbus.
James Lot Ridgely (born in 1807, died 1881), who entered the order in 1829 and
became Grand Secretary in 1841, for much of its organization and growth, for its
rise in charaL-ter and influence. Space fails us to tell of Kennedy, Griffin, Colfax,
Cliajjin, Nicholson, Ross, White, Underwood, and others who have helped to make
the order what it boasts itself today.
Since 1843 the order in America has had no connection with that in Great
Britain, and no previous year in its history has witnessed such large increase in
membership, receipts and relief disbursements as the last. The Independent
Order of Odd Fellows extends over the United States and Canada, and to the fol-
lowing foreign countries : Australia, New Zealand, Sandwich Islands, Germany,
Franc-e, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Japan, Cuba, Mexico, Chili and
Peru. There are over 9,000 subordinnte lodges, having upwards of 650,000 mem-
bers within its home jurisdiction, and an associate membership of 60,000 Daughters
ofKebekah, thus making its numerical representation about 710,000 in this country
— the 56,000 brothers constituting the remaining membership of the 2,016 Eebekah
Degree lodges (their whole membership being now over 100,000), and the 108,000
belonging to the 2,133 encampments, with about 25,000 Patriarchs Militant, being,
of course, included in the membership of subordinate lodges. The disburse-
ments for relief purposes during theyear 1890 were over 83,000,000, and the amount
disbursed by the order since its institution in America reaches the immense sum
of over §50,000,000.
Odd FeUouship hi Ohio. — The first meeting to consider petitions for a lodge
was held in June, 1830, in a chamber over the barroom of the Porter House on
the comer ot Third and Walnut streets in Cincinnati. The petition was signed
by Nathaniel E.slling, C. Haskin, J. Brice, J. W. Holt, Thomas L. Bedford and
J. Gill. At a special session of the Grand Lodge of the United States held Octo-
ber 31, 1830, the petition for a charter for Ohio Lodge Number One was granted
and representative James Paul, ol Pittsburgh, was commissioned to institute the
lodge, which he did on December 23, 1830, in a room located in the second story
of Johnson s Eow on Fifth Street, between Walnut and Vine. The first Noble
Grand in Ohio was Jacob W. Holt ; the Secretary was Samuel Cobb. The first
social gathering was held December 24, 1S30, at the Hole-in-the-Wall restaurant,
on the southwest corner of Walnut and Fifth streets, in honor of James Paul, who
instituted the lodge. The first sick benefits paid in Ohio were awarded to Charles
F. Hastings, January 31, 1831, amount, $3. The first parade in Ohio took place
in June, 1831, on which occasion an oration was delivered b}- Brother Joseph
Barclaj'. The Grand Lodge of Ohio was organized under dispensation of January
2, 1832. Brother Richard G. Chepvens was the first Grand Master, and Samuel
Cobb the first Grand Secretary. The first Odd Fellows' funeral was that of
Brother Ezekial Carpenter, of Ohio Lodge Number One, which took place on
April 30, 1832, and the Masonic burial service was used. Grand Sire Thomas
Wildey visited for the first time an Odd Fellows' Lodge in Ohio on December 3,
1832, and was welcomed in an able manner by Samuel Yorke Atlee, N. G. of Ohio
Lodge Number One. The first Encampment in Ohio was instituted some time in
December, 1832, at Cincinnati, by Grand Sire Thomas Wildey, and was named
Wildey Encampment Number One. The first Chief Patriarch was Jacob W.
Holt and the first Scribe was A. A. Pruden. The Grand Encampme-H of Ohio
was organized September 24, 1839, by Patriarcli James Read. The first Grand
Patriarch was R. R. Andrews and the first Grand Scribe was Jacob Keller. The
first Canton, Patriarchs Militant, was mustered in January. 1887. General Henry
M. Iniiis was the first Commandant. The first Rebckah Degree Lodge was insti-
tuted at Cincinnati, October 29, 1869, and named "Ivy.'' John W. Car'^er was
Noble Grand, Julia A. Bird Secretary. The first State Assembly of the Daugh-
ters of Rebekah was organized at Columbus April 13, 1887. Mrs. Lida Leaman,
Associative Organizations — II. 767
of Daytou, was the first President. The first Troop of Hussars was mustered ou
August 15, 1889, at Columbus, J. C. L. Pu2;h commanding.
The pre.sent strength of the order in Ohio (1890) is as follows: Lodge mem-
bers, 60,000; Encampment members, 20,000; Rebekah Degree Sisters, 8,000;
Eebekah Degree Brotliers, 7,000; Patriarchs Militant, 5,000. .
The Order in Columbus. — In 1835 Brother Jacob W. Holt, of Cincinnati, vis-
ited Columbus and met three or four members of the order at Grover's Hotel, on
Broad Street, afterwards known as the Buckeye House, for the purpose of con-
sulting as to the propriety of starting a lodge of Odd Fellows. A person who
was a notorious gambler, hearing of the meeting, put in an appearance, claiming
to be an Odd Fellow, and said he had the documents to prove it, and wished to go
in with them. Brother Holt and the rest, after talking the matter over, came "to
the conclusion to let the matter drop rather than start with any such material.
In 1839 a number of the members petitioned the G-rand Lodge for a charter for
Columbus Lodge Nutnber Nine. That body held a special meeting at four o'clock
p. M. June 27, 1839, for the purpose of considering the petition, and at said meet-
ing the prayer of the petitioners was granted. On July 4, 1839, Grand Master
Churchill arrived at Columbus and at four o'clock p. m. assembled the petitioners,
five of whom presented their final cards, viz.: JSI. B. Kelley, James B. Thomas,
William Flintham, David Bryden and Charles A. Howie, whereupon Grand Mas-
ter David Churchill, assisted by Milton N. McLean, Deputy Grand Master, insti-
tuted Columbus Lodge Number Nine, and the following officers were installed :
N. B. Kelley, N. G. ; J. B. Thomas, Y. G. ; William Flintham, Secretary; David
Bryden, Treasurer ; Charles A. Howie, Inside Guardian. The Lodge was insti-
tuted in the Tontine Building, which stood where Corrodi's Hotel now stands,
and which was currentl_y known as the •' Tin Pan." On July 10, a committee
was appointed to procure a more suitable room for the lodge to meet in, and on
July 24 this committee reported that it had procured rooms in the third story of
John Walcutt's brick building on the east side of High Street, three doors north
of Town. Into these rooms the Lodge was soon afterwards removed, but they
were soon found to be too small ; hence, in January, 1840, other rooms were pro-
cured in the Buckeye Block, on Broad Street. Here the Lodge remained until
the City Bank Building, of which N. B. Kelley was the architect, was erected on
the southeast corner of High and State streets.
Among those who were initiated during the first two terms were John Brough,
afterwards Governor of Ohio ; David Overdier, author of the State Digest ; John
T. Blain, Past District Deputy Grand Sire ; and John Greenleaf, a prominent
merchant. Columbus Lodge Number Nine has been a prosperous one, and is
recognized as one of the leading lodges in Ohio. Its present membership is 362.
The lodge removed from the City "^Bank Building to Piatt's Hall on Bast State
Street, and from there to the Carpenter Block on Bast Town Street, where it
remained some ten years, subsequent to which it was transferred to the present
Temple on South High Street in May, 1870. The cornerstone of this Temple was
laid July 4, 1867, and it ma3- be added that in the erection of the building the
money was paid as fast as called for, so that on the day of completion of the work
not a dollar of indebtedness was on the building, neither has there been any
indebtedness on it from that time to the prerent. The Temple is .valued at
$125,000.
There are at present eleven subordinate lodges in Columbus, viz.: Columbus
Lodge Number Nine, Central Lodge Number Twentythree, B.>wcelsior Lodge
Number 145, Capitol Lodge Number 33 1, Harmonia Lodge (German) Number
358, Junia Lodge Number 474, National Lodge (German) Number 509, Stauring
Lodge Number 512, Greiner Lodge Number 540, Dennison Lodge Number 741,
Eobert Curtis Lodge Number 762; total membership, 3,000. There are also the
768 History of the City of Columbus.
following Bncampiiients : Columbus Encampment Number 6, Concordia Encamp-
ment Number 96, Buckeye Encampment Number 148, Ridgely Encampment
Number 189; total membership of the Encampments nearl}* 1,500. The Degree
Lodges of Daughters of Rebekah are ; Naomi Number 6, Germania (German)
Number 159, Indianola Number 199, Ella Dill Number 26-1, Superior Number
298 ; total membership, nearly eight hundred. The two Cantons of the Patri-
archs Militant are Grand Canton Ohio Number One, and Canton Columbus
Number 65: membership, nearly 200. To these should be added the Junia Hus
sars Troop Number One. Canton Number G8 ; Brigadiei'-General J. C. L. Pugh.
The membership of the troop numbers about fifty. The Odd Fellows Beneficial
Association of Columbus was organized in January, 1868. Past Grand Master
Joseph Dowdall was its secretary until 1882, when he was succeeded by the
present efficient officer, Edward Pryce. This association has paid out over $3,000,-
000. The second Tuesday of June has been designated as Memorial Day, and
annually on that date the order assembles in its lodge rooms, or in churches
or halls and holds exercises appropriate to the occasion.
THE MANNERCHOR.
The Columbus Maunerchor, the oldest musical society in the city, was first
organized on October 24, 1848. Its original members were J. P. Bruck, William
Siebert, W. F. Marks, Andreas Schneider, Philip Conrod, C. Schneider, C. Bau-
mliller, Frederick Noll, Heinrich Freyer, Martin Krumm, Jonas Kissel, Daniel
Konig, William Rairie, Junior, and George Schneider. The first officers were :
President, William Siebert; secretary, Jonas Kissel; treasurer, A. Schneider;
director, Carl Schneider. For a time the society met in small private apart-
ments and in an attic over the store of W. H. & D. M. Aiken. In 1867, it met in
Hettenheimer's Hall ; in 1867-8 in Naughton Hall ; from 1868 to 1872 in Schrae-
der's Hall. In December, 1872, it removed to Germania Hall, erected for it by
J. & L. Zettler on the corner of Friend and Fourth streets. Here it look a lease
for ten years. Its present headquarters are in the Wirthwein building, on South
High Street. Among its musical directors, named in the order of service, have been
Carl Schneider, I. Machold, A. Gutman, Charles Miinster, Otto Dresel, A. de
Prosse, H. Nothnagel, K. Spohr, Carl Schoppelrei and Herman Eckhardt.
In its earlier career the musical efforts of the Mitnnerchor were unpreten-
tious and limited to local occasions, but after nearly a score of years of practice and
training it entered upon a larger field and achieved wide distinction. In the fourth
festival of the North American Sangerbund, held at Columbus in June, 1852, it
took a prominent part. It sang the welcome in a grand concert at Neil's New
Hall on June 5, and on the same day was presented with a banner by the Ger-
man ladies of the city. The pi-esentation address was spoken by Miss Wirth and
responded to by Mr.' Krumm. On April 28, 1854, the society gave a grand con-
cert at the City Hall. In June, 1856, it took part in a great musical festival held
bj- the North American Siingerbund at Cincinnati ; in June, 1859, it attended the
eleventh anniversary of the sume organization at Cleveland. In a great Sanger-
fest held at Louisville in July, 1866, it won a massive silver goblet valued at $250,
off'ered as a prize by the New York Liederkranz. On its return from this exploit
it was received with much enthusiasm by its Columbus friends and admirers,
many buildings being decorated in its honor.
%:
i'
Associative Organizations— II. 769
Its local performances from this time on were frequent ;iiid notable. A
scries of concerts wliich it gave at Naugliton Hall during the winter of 1869
•attracted much attention, and did mncli to awaken musical inierest in the city.
Among the most accomplished instrumentalists and vocalists who cooperated in
its performances of this period were Miss Fanny M. Smith, Miss Laura Backus,
Miss C. C. Bailey, Miss Emma J. Lathroi) and Miss Caroline Schneider, As a
compliment to Miss Smith's admirable voealism the society, on March 6, 1868,
presented to her a superb set of jewelry. On May IS, 1868, the Mannerehor was
reincorporated, its declared object at tliat time being " to encourage and cultivate
a taste lor music." In behalf of the ladies of the society a beautiful silk flag was
presented to it on July 6, 1869, by Misses Sehatz, Biihl and Siebdrt; response by
Joseph Falkenbacb. "^ On October 25, 1869, the twentyfirst anniversary of the
society was celebrated by a concert and banquet.
ill May, 1871, the Maunerchor ventured into the operatic ti^dd, and under the
skilful leadership of Professor Carl Schoppelrei, gave two |)erforniinces of
Lortzing's opera entitled Z.'irand Zimmerman. In a national Saiigerfest held at
St. Louis in June, 1872, the so-iety bore a conspicuous part. On February 6, 1873,
it successlully performed Von Weber's (i]jora, Der Freischutz, at the Opera House.
It gave a testimonial benefit on this occasion to its accomplished leader. Professor
Herman Eckhardt.
The thirtieth anniversary i>f the society was celebrated at the Germania Hall
on October 24, ISTX. Its thirtyseventh anniversary was celebrated in October,
1885. Of its original members only Henry Freyer was then living. On October
24, 1887, the thirtyninth anniversary was commemorated by a banquet at which
about 250 persons were ])resent. In June, 18SS, both the Mannerchor and the
Liederkranz attended the National Sangertest at St. Louis. On October 24, 1888,
the Mannerchor celebrated its fortieth anniversary at Wirtliwein Hall. A ban-
quet was spread on that occasion by the ladies of the society and was accompanied
by toasts, speeches and songs. At the Metropolitan Opera House, on May 19,
1889, the society i,'ave a successful jierformance of Lortzing's opera, Der Waffen-
xrhnueiJ, under the Icadershij) nf Profcs-or Herman 'Ebeling.
The Miinncrchor was never in a more flourishing condition than it is at the
time of the pi-esent writing. Few musical associations in any American city
have lived so long or enjoyed an existence so uniformly useful. May its career in
the future be still more prosperous and beneficent.
THE LIEDERKRANZ; BY TH0MA8 F. M. KOCH.
The object of this association is to cultivate vocal music and sociability.
It was organized on August 6, 1866. Its first president was Christian Herten-
stein ; its first director, IBernhard Kaiser. At its beginning it was but a small
society with limited means, but it soon acquired sufficient proficiency in vocal
music to enable it to give public concerts and other entertainments, by which it
acquired means to purchase a piano, music and furniture. Its meetings were
held on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons at Hessenauer's Hall, which
at that time was the most popular place for G-erman assemblages and entertain-
ments. Bernhard Kaiser continued to be its director for several years, and a
number of concerts were given with great success under his leadership. He
49»
770 History of the City of Columbus.
finally resigned for the purpose of removing to the West and was succeeded
by F. Puhringer, after whom came, in tlie order of service, Karl Sehoppelrei,
Karl Spohr, B. Kaiser, Herman Eckhardt, Karl Sehoppelrei, Theodore H.
Schneider and the present director, Franz Nebenstreit. Under these leaders the
Ijiederkranz continued to grow and prosper; their vocal acquirements became of
a refined and artistic character ; and their renditions of chorus and solo singing
were of a high order. Their usual programme for each year inclu lei two con-
certs, one annual banquet and a masquerade ball. A comic operetta was rendered
at each masquerade and these entertainments were considered the most enjoj'able
of the kind given in the city.
In 1870 the Liederkranz joined the American Sangerbua i. It has sinco par-
ticipated in the festivals of that organization as follows: 1870, at Cincinnati ;
1872 at St. Louis; 1874 at Cleveland ;'l877 at Louisville ; 1879 at Cincinnati ; 1881
at Chicago; 1883 at Buffalo; 1886 at Milwaukee; 1888 at St. Louis ; and in Febru-
ary, 1890, at New Orleans, where the most enjoyable festival that the Sangei-bund
has ever yet given was held. In 1878 the Liederkranz and Mannercliorof Colum-
bus organized the Central Oliio Saugerbund, composed of a large number of Ohio
singing societies. The first Sangerfest of this Bund was held in Columbus .July 9,
10, 11 and 12, 1878, and was a financial and musical success. The next one was
held at Akron-in 1880, the ne.xt one at Dayton in 1882, and the next at Springfield
in 1884. An excursion of the Bund under the auspices of the Columbus society
was made to Sandusky and Put-iu-Baj' in 1885. At the great Sangerfest in
Columbus on July 29, 30 and 31, 1887, under the very able leadership of Profes
sor Herman Eckhardt, the Liederkranz took a prominent part. The next Sanger-
fest of the Bund was -held in 1890, at Canton, Ohio, and was attended by'the
Liederkranz. Besides the part which the society has taken in these great musi-
cal festivals it has visited Findlay, Coshocton, Upper Sandusky, Chillicothe, Akron
and other Ohio cities for the purpose of attending dedications of musica' iialls or
on occasions of like nature.
The Liederkranz does not boast of extraordinary voices, but it has always
had a wellbalmced chorus which has been highly appreciated wherever it has
been heard in concerts either at home or elsewhere and has given it a wide repu-
tation. Of its original charter members the following are still connected with the
society: 0. Hertenstein, B. Kai.ser, C. Heddaus, M. Lusch, George J. Brand,
M. Fassig, F. Fassig, C. Balz, and M. Muehlheim. The present treasurer, M. Lush,
has held that office ever since the original organization. The headquarters of the
society are at C. Balz's Hall on East Main Street, where regular rehearsals are
held every Wednesday evening and Sunday afternoon. The hall is large and
commodious, is provided with refreshment and other adjunct rooms, and contains a
neat and comfortable stage.
The members of the Liederkranz now number 118, of whom thirtytwo are
active voices, seventysix are passive or contributing members and ten are honor-
ary members. The present officers are: President, John Farmer; vice president,
George M. Brand ; musical director. Professor Franz Nebenstreit ; treasurer,
M. Lush ; recording secretary, Charles Wege; corresponding secretary, Thomas
Koch; financial secretary, Julius Scbonfcld ; librarians, Henry Doll and Conrad
Grauman ; color bearers, Stephen Waterstreet and C. Grauman ; trustees, George
J. Brand, Henry Doll and J. M. Brand. All the officers are elected annually.
Associative OR<iANiZATioNS — II.
HUMBOLDT VEREIN.
Gil September 14, 18(39, the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of tlie great
German naturalist, Alexander von Humboldt, was celebrated throughout the
civilized world. In Columbus the occasion was honored with appropriate fes-
tivities participated in by the citizens who were of German birth or descent,
then numbering about 8,U00. That the honors which were then paid to one of
the most learned, versatile and useful men of modern times might not be merely
transient, a society was organized which adopted the name of Humboldt, and
ly- vvas designed to be a pei^otual tribute to his memory. In accordance with Ger-
man custom, this society, the members of which are mostly Germanspeaking citi-
zens, unites and blends litcrarj' and mu8ic:il culture with social enjoyment. It
also aims to cultivate the use of the German language and encourage the study
of German literature. Its annual series of biweekly meetings begins in Novem-
ber and ends in April. These meetings are attended by the members of the
society, their families and friends. The exercises usually comprise an essay, a
musical programme and a social reunion. During the I'cunion refreshments are
taken by such as desire them, e.ich one paying for what he orders. Annuall}',
on September 14, the birthday of Humboldt and the foundation of the society
are celebrated by a banquet. Among the distinguished persons, not members,
who at different times have addressed or been the guests of the society were
Friedrich Hecker, a prominent participant in the German revolution of 1848;
Friedrich Bodenstcdt, one of the most conspicuous of the contemporary German
poets; Friedrich Schonemann-Pott, of San Francisco; Madame Hedwig Heinriche
Wilhelmi, of Germany, Miss Helene Wagner, Max Strakosch and Mr. dmrad
JMies, a talented young German-American poet. The Humboldt Vcrein now has
a large membership and is in a highly flourishing i-oiiditioii.
COLUMBUS TURNVERElN.i
A society of Turners was first organized in Columbus on November llj,
1852. It was called the Socialer Turuverein. .Vmoiig its founders was Louis
Biskj', a finely educatetl man and a talented speaker, who, after the wreck of the
German Eevolution of 1848, emigrated to America fi'om Berlin. Daring the
Civil War he fought as an officer on the Union side and met his death henncall}-
in oue of the battles in the Virginia Wilderness. Another of the founders was
Louis Schneider, who now resides in New York. The society held its meetings in
the house ot Mr. Zehnacker, on the corner of High and Brewers' streets.
On July 4, 1855, while the Turners, with the Mannerchor and the Grenadier
military companies, were returning from a picnic in Stewart's Grove, now City
Park, they were attacked at liic corner of High and Town streets and defended
themselves as best they could. One of the assailants was shot, and in consequence
of this about twenty of the Turners were arrested and imprisoned in the county
jail. Among these were Frederick Fornoff, Christian Hertenstein, George Brand,
Gustav Luclitenberg and Jacob Harris. On July 6, these were all released and
only Gottlieb Mayer was charged with firing the fatal shot, but on July 24 he also
1. The author is indebted, in part, for the information on which this sketch is based to
Mr. Carl Stein, Secretary of the Columbus Turnverein.
772 History op the City of Columbus.
was discharged. This event so affected the society that for sevei-al years its active
existence ceased.
The present Turnverein was organized on March 1, 18(57. One of the persons
most active in its formation was Colonel Gustav Tafel, theu a member of the
General A.ssembly from Hamilton County. Thirty two luembei-s were enrolled.
The socielj' was incorporated on March 11 with George Hossenaiier, John BricUel
and Robert Clemen as trustees and John Alten as clerk. Of the original founders
of the society the following are still among its members, the fir.st four being hon-
orary : Carl Synold, H. Oliihausen, Gustave Tafel, Christian Hcddaeus, ""Peter
Schmitt, H. Schneider and Charles Buchsieb.
On March 15, 1869, a convention of the Turner societies of the Cincinnati
district was held at Hessenauer's Hall. There were twentj'two societies in the
district. A meeting of the Turner societies in the Ohio Valley District was held
at Columbus in August, 1872, continuing three days. In honor of the occasion
Turner Hall and other buildings were handsomely decorated. The visiting delega-
tions were received and escorted by the local societj' ; an address of welcome was
delivered by Henry Olnhausen. One of the most notable incidents of the conven-
tion was a grand concert given at the Atheneum under the direction ot Professor
Herman Eckhardt. On Saturday evening the societies marched in torchlight
])arade and on Sunday held literary and gymnastic exercises at the City Park.
A convention of the Turner societies of Ohio was held on December 1, 1878,
at Turner Hall ; president, C. F. Reis, of Columbus; .secretary, R. Kiihnert, of
Cincinnali. A district Turnfest at which six societies were represented, began
at the Fair Grounds August 15. 1880. A parade of the societies took place on
Monday, August 16.
Until this time the Columbus society had occupied rented apartments but,
on October 16, 1881, its present hall, the property of the society, on South High
Street was opened and -dedicated. The opening was signalized by a grand
concert.
The annual convention of the Ohio District of the North American Turnbund
was held at Turner Hall March 18, 1888. A reception concert was given at the
hall March 17, under direction of Professor Herman Eckhardt.
ORDER OF COMMERCIAL TRAVELERS OF AMERICA.'
On January 16, 1888, the association bearing this name was duly incorporated
for the following specified purposes: 1, To unite fraternally all commercial trav-
elers of good moral character ; 2, to give all moral and material aid in its power
toils members and those dependent on them; also to assist the widows and
orphans of deceased members; 3, to establish a fund to indemnify its members
in case of total disability or death resulting from accidental cau.se8 ; 4, to secure
from transportation companies and hotels just and equitable favors for commer-
cial travelers as a class ; 5, to elevate the moral and social standing of its mem-
bers ; 0, to institute a secret organization among commercial travelers for the
purpose of accomplishing good through the teachings and practice of certain truths
contained in its ritual.
1. The author is indebted for the information contained in this sketch to Mr. John 0.
Fenimore.
Associative Organizations — II. 773
Tlie names of the iucorporators were John C. Fenimore, Levi C. Pease, Sam-
uel H. Strayer, Willis B. Carpenter, John Dicko}', Charles S. Ainniel and Francis
A. Sells. The founders of the United Commereial Travelers were John C. Feni-
more and Levi C. Pease, i Its subordinate bodies are known as councils and the
first, or Number 1, was established in this city in the spring of 1888, since which
time the order has been spreading through the principal cities of the East and
West, until at present it numbers more members in good standing than any othe'-
national organization of its kind. By its constitution and articles of incorpora-
tion the office ot' the Supreme Council and its business are permanentlj- located in
the city of Columbus.
The annual meeting of this fratei-nity is held the last week of June, each year
in this city. John C. Fenimore is the Supreme Counselor and Charles B. Flagg
Supremo Secretary, with offices in the King Building at the corner of Spring and
High streets. During the fiscal year ended May 31, 1890, the order ijiiid as
indemnity toils members the sum of $2,373. Not a single claim was contested
nor for one moment withheld after satisfactory proofs of its correctness had been
filerl with the |ir(i]ier officers.
COLUMBUS CLUB.
This is a purely social organization, incorporated December 15, 1886 ; capital
stock, $50,000. It is elegantly housed at the corner of Broad and Fourth streets,
in the former residence of B. E. Smith. This building is said to have cost, .orig-
inally, over $100,000 ; the Club bought it for $4-t,000, and has since spent $30,000 in
adding to and improving it. The members of the club now number over three
hundred. The membership fee is one hundred dollars.
THE WYANDOT CLUB; BY E. L. TAYLOR, ESQUIRE
This club was organized in September, 1881, and has since obtained a wide
celebrity. It is a social organization with an archa?ologieal bearing. The club
is composed of seventeen members which was the number at the original organ-
ization and has never increased or diminished. In 1891 the club became incor-
porated under the laws of the State of Ohio. Prior to that time it had no
regular constitution or bylaws but was governed by well-established rules which
from long use bad solidified into laws which were observed as such by the mem-
bers.
In 1891 the club purchased the Wyandot Grove, a tract of land long known
by that name, comprising about fortytwo acres situated about eight miles north-
west of Columbus, on the west bank of the Scioto River. It was here that the
club was first organized, and here it has held its annual meetings ever since. So
that the whole history of the club has been identified with this spot. This
774 History of the Citt of Columbus.
grove has long been considered one of the most beautiful in Central Ohio and
has connected with it much of historical and traditional interest. There is here
a magnificent spring with a flow of clear cold water sufficient, almost, to supply
a cilj-, and this, with the natural surroundings of hills, forests, ravines and river
combine t3 make it a most beautiful and restful spot. It was in times past a
favorite camping ground for the Indians and was most admirably suited for that
purpose. Chief Crane of the VVyandots and others of his tribe pitched their
camps here for years after the whites began to settle in the wilderne.ss. As late
as 1840 there were still several wigwams standing near the spring although the
Indians had years before departed. Most fortunately this grove has been pre-
serveil and will hereafter be protected with seiupulous care. The cluli proposes
to adorn and beautify it so as to make it an ideal place to which the members
and their families and friends may resort for pleasure and recreation.
One of the incidental features of the Wyandot Club is its annual meetings,
which are always held in this grove in September and to which each member
invites a certain number of his friends. The dinners on these occasions are vci-y
elaborate and profuse, each member vying with the other in producing for the
occasion that which is most rare and tempting. About one hundred guests are
usually invited and the invitations are much prized.
In September, 1889, the club purchased a tract of land in the east bank of the
Scioto River, about three miles north of the village of Dublin, in Franklin County.
The purchase included the spot where Leatherlips — whose Indian name was
Sha-te-ya-ron-yah, a chief of the VVyandots, was executed under the pretended
charge "of witchcraft, the real cause, however, being his constant refusal to enter
into the scliemes of Tecuinseh, Roundhead and other turbulent chiefs of ditiei-ont
tribes who were endeavoring to foment a war with the whites. On the spot
where Leatherlips was executed a beautiful and appropriate monument of the most
endui-ing character has been erected by the members of the Wyandot Club, so
that this old chief who was slain and buried in the wilderness more than eightv
years ago on account of his friendship for the white settlers has at last had his
ashes cared for and his memory preserved from oblivion by the descendants of
.some of the white men whom he knew and befriended when the3' first began to
build their cabins along the banks of the Scioto, and the other streams in Frank-
lin County.
In June, 1892, when certain improvements were being made about the monu-
ment, the remains of Leatherlips were found at a short distance below the surface
of the ground. There is no history or tradition of any other human being having
been buried there and all the facts and circumstances are such as to leave no
room for doubt but that the remains found were those of the old chief Sha-te-ya-
ron-yah. These remains have been carefully reinterred on the spot and will prob-
ably never again be disturbed.
The capital stock of the club is §8,500, divided into seventeen shares of 8500
each. It is requisite that each member shall hold a share, and to this end the
shares are not transferable or assignable, but on the death or resignation of a
member surviving, or remaining members take up the stock at its face value and
reissue it to the newl}- elected member. Thus the club has at all times control
over its stock and membership, which gives to it the elements of strength and
perpetuity.
At the organization of the club in 1881 William Taylor was elected president
and Andrew "McNineh vice president. These gentlemen have ever since been
annually reelected to these respective offices, but on July 1, 1892, Andrew
McNinch resigned his office and active membership and vvas succeeded by Samuel
Thompson, chosen vice president in his stead. The other officers of the club are
Associative. Organizations, 1892. 775
Conrad Born treasurer and E. L. Taylor secretary, both of whom have long held
these positions.
The present membership of the club is as follows : Cotton H. Allen, (,'onrad
Born, Herman G. Dennison, David L. Bowersmith, John Calender, Edward Den-
mead, William B. Havden, William S. Huffman, William W. Medary, Robert E.
Neil, Charles H. Pinney, Charles G. Saffin, William Taylor, Edward L. Taylor,
Samuel Thompson, Henry D. Turney and Charles Zigler.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XLIX.
ASSOCIATIVE ORGANIZATIONS, 1892.
Masonic— (kW bodies of this order meet in Masonic Hall, on East Town Street, unless
otherwise specified.) F. & A. M.: Columbus Lodge, Number 30; stated communications
second and fourth Tuesdays of each month; Dennis N. Kelley, W. M. ; A. H. Jones,
secretary.
Goodale Lodge, Number 372 ; stated communications first and fourth Mondays in each
month ; John B. Romans, B. M. ; L. G. Thrall, secretary.
Humboldt Lodge, Number 476; stated communications first and second Wednesdays in
each month ; James D. Osborn, W. M. ; J. Nicholas Koerner, secretary.
Magnolia Lodge, Number 20; stated communications first and third Tuesdays in each
month ; C. B. Cameron, W. M. ; John F. Lincoln, secretarv.
R. A. M. Ohio Chapter, Number 12; stated convocation first Monday in each month, in
Carpenter Block, East Town Street.
Temple Chapter, Number 155; meets first and third Saturday of each month.
R. & S. M. Columbus Council, Number 8 ; stated communications the second Friday
in each month, in Carpenter Block, East Town Street.
Knights Templar. Mount Vernon Commandery, Number 1 ; stated conclave last Thurs-
day in each month.
A. A. & S. R. Enoch Grand Lodge of Perfection, fourteenth degree; meets every
Friday evening, unless called oft'.
Franklin Council, Princes of Jerusalem, sixteenth degree ; meets every Friday even-
in.a:, unless called off.
H. R. D. M. Columbus Chapter, Rose Croix, H. R. D. M., eighteenth degree; meets
every Friday evening, unless called off.
Thirtysecond Degree Club ; meets at the call of the President.
Ancient Scottish Rite ; meets at Masonic Cathedral on Third Street.
Columbus Grand Lodge of Perfection. Fourteenth Degree; meets Thursday evenings.
Columbus Grand Council, Princes of Jerusalem, Sixteenth Degree; meets every Thurs-
day evening.
Columbus Chapter, Ro.se Croix de H. • . R. • . D. • . M. ■ , eighteenth Degree; meets every
Thursday evening.
Columbus Grand Council, Knights Kadosh, thirtieth Degree; meets every Thursday
evening.
Sovereign Grand Consistory of Ohio, Thirtysecond Degree; meets every Thursday
evening.
Royal Masonic Rite; meets in Johnson's Building on South High Street.
Karnac Rose Croix Chapter, Number 514 (4 to 18 degrees) ; meets first and third Friday
evenings of each month.
776 History of the City op Columbus,
Mokattan SBiiate, Number 51 (18 to 45 degrees), meets fourth Friday evening each month'
Council Patriarch, Number 21 (45 to 90 degrees); meets fourth Friday evening in each
month.
Order of Eastern Star. Crown Chapter, Number M , meets rirst and third Wednesday
evenings at Masonic Catliedral, South Third Street.
Loraine Chapter, Number 1; meets first and third Wednesday evenings at Red Men's
Hall, Odd Fellows' Temple.
Insurance. Masonic .Mutual Benefit .\ssociation. North High Street; K. .Morrell, Presi-
dent; R. R. Rickly, Treasurer; William M. Cunningham, Secretary.
Colored .Mas )ns, meet at lliji .South High Street; St. Mark's Lodge, Number 7, meets
first Tuesday evening each month ; St. Mark's Lodge Number 8, meets first Tuesday each
month in First N.-itional Bank Block; R. A. M.. .Johnson Chapter, Number 3 ; nipets first
Monday evening each month ; K. T., Taylor L'ommandery, Number ti, meets first Thursday
evening of each month.
Udd Fe,7o«.s.-All bodies nf this order meet in t lie Odd Felluu.s' Temple unless other-
wise stated.
Sovereign lirand Lodge; Charles M. Bu^bee, (irand Sire, lialeigh. North Carolina;
C.T.Campbell, I'eputy Grand Sire, London. Ontario; Theorlore .\. Ross, Grand Secretary,
Columbus; Isaac .\. Shepherd. Grand Treasurer. Philadelphia; George Coburn, Assislant
Grand Secretary, tolumbns; Rev. J. ^^■. Venable, Grand Chaplain, Hopkinsville. K.ii-
tucky ; A. C. Cable, (.irand Marshal, Covington, Ohio; Alexander Guthrie, Grand Guardiiin,
Hockessin, Delaware; E. A. Kelly, Grand Messenger, Otting Washington.
Columbus Lodge. Number 9, meets every Monday evening; Excelsior Lodge, Number
145, meets every Wednesday evening; Capital Lodge, Number 3o4. meets every Friday even-
ing; Greiner Lodge, Number 450. meets every Monday evening; Harmonia Lodge. 'Arts
(German), meets every Saturday evening ; Junia Lodge, Number 474, meets every Wednes-
day evening; National Lodge, 509 (German), meets every Friday evening; Stauring Lodge,
Number 512, meets every Tuesday evening; Dennison Lodge, Number 741, meets every
Wednesday evening at its hall on" North High Street; Robert Curtis Lodge, Number 7i)2,
meets every Tuesday evening at its hall on Mount Vernon Avenue.
Daughters of Naomi, Ruth Assembly, Number 9, meets every other We<lnesday evening,
corner of Broad and Mitchell streets.
Daughlens of Kebekah, Naomi Lodge, Number li, meets every other Saturday evening;
Germania Lo Ige, Number 159, meets every other Saturday evening; Indianola Lodge, Number
199, meets every other Thursday evening in the Odd Fellows' Hall on North Higli Street ;
Ella Dill Lodge, meets second and fourth Friday evenings at Odd Fellows' Hall on Mount
Vernon .-i venue; Superior Lodge meets on alternate Fridays in the Odd Fellows' Temple.
Encampments: Coucordia, Number 96 (German), meets on second and fourth Wednes-
day evenings each iijonth in Red Men's Hall ; Capital, Number 6, meets every Tuesday even-
ing ; Buckeye, Number 145. meets every Thursday evening in Red Men's Hall ; Ridgely,
Number 189, meets every Tnesdiiy evening in Odd Fellows' Hall on North High Street.
Relief Committee: General Relief, composed of one committeeman from each lodge
in the city ; ineets on first and third Saturday evenings of each month; W. A. Dill secretary.
Odd FedoAs' Beneficial Association: Trustees meet on first Monday evening of each
month at the oflice of the association ; Thomas A. Morgan, secretary.
Patriarchs Militant: (iraud Canton Ohio, Number 1, P. M , meets every Monday night
in Wirthwein Block, H. il Innis clerk; Canton Columbus, Number (i5, meets second and
fourth Saturday evenings on North High Street, Frank Howell clerk
G U. O. 0. F. (Colored): Meets at the Sessions Hall; Grand United Order of Odd
Fellows. Ohio District Lodge, Number 24. Charles E. Ransom district secretary ; Beacon
Light Lodge. Number 2 874. meets every Monday evening, permanent secretary William
Rickman ; Capital Lodge, Number 1,903, meets every Tuesday evening, Isaac D. Ross perma-
nent secretary; (,'olunibus Patriarch, Number 26, "meets third Thursday in each month,
R. F. Williams secretary; Household of Ruth, Number 218, meets first Thursday in each
month, Mary W. Spencer recorder; Household of Ruth, Number 5(i7, meets second and
fourth Friday in each month ; Past Grand Masters Council, Number 68, meets second Thurs-
day evening each month, William Rickman Grand Secretary.
Knights of Pythias.— Meet at K. of P. Hall, corner of" High and Chapel, unless other-
wise stated.
Joseph Dowdall Lodge, Number 144, meets every Friday evening ; Columbus Lodge,
Number 3. meets every Thursday evening; Eastwood Lodge. Number 32.5, meets corner
Eighteenth and Mt. Vernon Avenue every Friday evening; Champion Lodge, Number 581,
meets every Thursday evening, Druid Hall; Germania Lodge (German), Number 4, meet's
every Tuesday evening ; Norwood Lodge, Number 288, meets every Monday evening at 103J
North High Street; Oriental Lodge, Number 95, meets every Monday evening; Railway
Lodge, Number 315, meets every Wednesday evening.
Associative Organizations, 1892. 777
Pythian Sisterliood : Calanthian Temple, Number 1, meets every Wednesday evening ;
Ncjrma Temple, meets first and tliird Saturday each montli in I. O. 0. F. Hall, North High
Street; Pet Adams Temple, meets every Monday in I. O. O. F. Hall, corner Mount Vernon
Avenue and Eighteenth.
Eiidinvment Rank, Section UtO, meets fourth Saturday in each month.
Ui.if.inii Rank, Columbus Division, Number 1, meets every Thursday in Freeh's Hall,
corner Rich and Pearl ; Joseph Dowdall Division, Number 19, meets first Thursday of each
monMi in Knights of Pythias Hall; Eastwood Division, Number 101, meets first and third
Thursday of each month in Armory, corner Eighteenth Street and Mount Vernou Avenue.
Relief Committee: The General Relief Committee is composed of one committeeman
from each Lodge. Pride of the West Lodge (Colored), Number 5, meets every Thursday
evening at 182J South Fourth.
Imperial Order of Hed 3fe>i. — Algonquin Tiibe, Number 'A, meets every Saturday even-
ing in Red Men's Hall, Odd Fellows' Temple ; Beaver Tribe, Number 110, meets every Mon-
day evening at southwest corner Broad and Mitchell ; Buffalo Tribe. Number 109, meets
every Wednesday evening at l,O.J.s.V North High ; Deerfoot Tribe, Number 113. meets every
Thursday evemiii; al sii.'ii Mount Vernun .\ venue; Scioto Tribe (German), Number 22, meets
every Tuesday fviiiin- iii Fischer'.s Hall; .Sioux Tribe, Number 128, meets every Monday
evening at 2, 5'^:;.', N..rtli lliuh.
Benevoh'iit and J'luUiiir,- Ordn- ../ £/A'.s,— tJolumbus Lodge. Number 37. meets every
"Wednesday evening in Commercial Block, South High Street ; Loyal Order of Moose, meets
every Friday evening at llli South High.
' Druids. —Meet at Wirthwein's Hall. South High Street; Coluujbus Grove (German),
Number 10, meets every Monday evening; Franklin Chapter (German), Number 2,
meets first Monday of each month ; Concordia Council, Number 4, meets firsit Sunday in
each month ; Lincoln Grove, Number 42, meets every Tuesd-iy evening at Uli South High.
Good ToHjD/ors.— Columbus Lodg.', Number .061, meets every Monday evening, cornef
Fifth .Avenue and Lazelle ; Golden Light Lodge. Numlier ."oil. meets in the Congregational
Church, West Goodale Street, every Thursday evening; Franklin Lodge, Nuruber 55H, meets
southeast corner High and Long streets every Fridav evening; Magnolia Lodge, Number
560, meets in Jr. O. U. A. M. Hall, Hildreth Block, Twentieth .'^Ireet. every Monday evening;
Metropolitan Lodge, Number 555, meets in Druid Hall, South High, first and third Wednes-
day ; Sunbeam Temple, Number 4() (Juvenile), meets every Saturday afternoon at 118 North
High; Good Templars' Benefit Association meets first Saturday of each month at southeast
corner High and Long.
Patriotic Order Sons of .4«ie/-/ea. — Washington Camp, Number 1, meets every Tuesday
evening in Sessions' Block'; Washington Camp, Number 22 meets every Wednesday even-
ing at 118 North High; Washington Camp, Number 5S, meets every Monday night at .505^
North High ; Washington Camp, Number til, meets every Tuesday evening at 2,645.) North
High ; Columbus Commandery, Number 29.
Jr. 0. U. A. J/.— Electric Council, Number 13, meets every Wednesday evening at 291 East
Spring ; Columbus Council, Number 2t). meets every Friday evening at P. 0. S. of A. Hall,
.i05J North High ; Custer Council, Number 29, meets every Monday evening at 368 North
Twentieth; Goodale Council. Number 52, meets every Friday evening at 1,412.1 North
High.
K7iights of Honor —Crystii\ Lodge, Number 1,238, meets second and fourth Mondays of
each month at 118 North High; Germauia Lodge, Number 3,438, meets first and third
Thursdays in each month at northeast corner Fourth and Moimd.
Kniyhls and Ladies of flo«or. -Eintracht Lodge, Number 1,438, meets every Monday
evening at northeast corner of Fourth and Spring; Columbus Lodge, Number 1,479, meets
first and third Wednesday evenings at Wirthwein building, Druid Hall; t'apital Lodge,
Number 1,511, meets second and fourth Monday evenings at 1991 South High ; Fidelity
Lodge, Number 1,452, meets first and second Tuesday evenings at northeast corner Fourth
and Mound ; Friendly Lodge, Number 1,535, meets second and fourth Tuesday evenings ai
corner Mount Vernon and Monroe avenues : Harmonia Lodge, Number 1,588, meets second
and fourth Thursday evenings at Fischer's Hall, East Main.
Knighls of Maccabres.—K. O. T. M. Columbus Tent, Number 4, meets first and third Mon-
day evenings at US North High ; Franklin Tent Numl)er 54, meets first and third Thur.sday
evenings at southwest corner West Broad and Mitchell; .\mericHn Tent, Numlier 60, meets
Wednesday evenings at Red Men's Hall, Metropo'itau Oper.i Block ; Buckeye Tent, Number
53, meets corner Mount Vernon Avenue and Eighteenth.
KvighU of till- Golden Rule.— Meets in Hessenauer's Hall, South Fourth, first and third
Friday in each month.
Fraternal Mi,4ic drcle.—The Supreme Ruling of the Fraternal Mystic Circle has its
office at room 208^ South High ; D. E. Stevens, Supreme Mystic Ruler; Charles E. Rowley,
778 History of the City of Columbus.
Supreme Recorder; F S. W'ageiihals, M. I)., S. M. D.; John G. Reinhard, Supreme Treas-
urer. Business Men's Ruling. Number 150, meets first and third Fridays in each month
at llU South High ; Centennial Ruling, Number 105, meets second and fourth Thursday
evenings at southeast corner West Broad and Mitchell.
Subordinate Rulings: Alpha Ruling, Number 1, meets in Red Men's Hall, Odd Fel-
lows' Temple, first and third Fridays of each month ; Centennial Ruling, Nuinher 105, meets
in hail, corner West Uroad and Mitchell streets, first and third Thursday of each month :
Business Men's Ruling, Number 150, meets in Druid Hall, first and third Friday of each
month ; German Oak Ruling, Number 161, meets in Fischer's Hall, first and third Wednes-
day of each month; Provident Ruling, Number 171, meets in hall corner Eighteenth and
Mount Vernon Avenue, the second Thursday evening of each month; Railroad Ruling,
Number 178, meets in Orient Hall, Sessions Block, second and fourth Wednesday of each
month ; Ohio Ruling, Number 1,85, meets the second and fourth Thursday of each month ;
Lincoln Ruling, Number 226, meets in Fifth Avenue Bank Building, second and fourth
Thursday of each month ; Columbus Buggy Company Ruling, Number 240, meets in Liberty
Hall, East Spring Street, second and fourth Monday of each month : John Hancock Ruling,
Number .318, meets in Druid Hall, South High Street.
Ordi:r of the Golden Chain.— Ohio Lodge, Number 28, meets at Freeh's Hall, on the first
and third Tuesdays of each month.
National Union —Columbus Council, Number :!, meets second Tuesday evening of each
month at Osborn Building; Franklin Council, Number 4, meets second Monday evening of
each month at Wells Post Hall; Railroad Council, Number 14, meets second and fourth
Friday evenings at IIU South High ; Tenax Council, Number 407, meets second and fourth
Saturday evenings at the southeast corner Euclid .\ venue and High; Olentangy Council,
Number 425, meets second Thursday evening of each month at room 8 Deshler Block.
A. 0. U. W. — Capital City Lodge, Number 56, meets every Monday evening at Fisher's
Hall, l:!l East Main ; Columbus Lodge, Number 80, meets everv Wednesday night at 342
South High.
[ndependenl Inlenmliunal Order of Owls. —Columbus Nest, Number 12, meets la-^t Thursday
in each month. Grand Central Hotel; R. B. Collier, Sapient Screecher; J. W. Koerner,
•Sajiient Scratcher.
.4. 0. A", of M. C— Buckeye Castle. Number ?., meets every Wednesday evening in hall
over Park Theatre; Ohio Castle, Number 1, meets every Thursday evening at 505] North
High ; West Side Castle, Number 4, meets everv Tuesday evening at southeast corner West
Broad and Mitchell.
Independent Order of Knighthood. ^Oh'w Camp, Number 1. meets in Red Men's Hall, Odd
Fellows' Temple, every Tuesday evening.
Order of the iron Hall. — Local Branch, Number 4S5, meets everv Mondav night at 152J
North High.
Royal ^IrcaKum.— Capital Council, Number 87. meets second and fourth Thursday even-
ings in each month at 11 1^ South High.
American I'm. Z/Ko^wc— Capital Lodge, Number 66. meets second and fourth Thurs-
day evenings at 104Si North High ; Ohio Lodge, meets at 152 North High.
Anieriran Legion of Honor. — Capital City Council, Number 340, meets first and third
Monday evenings in each month at room 22. 101 North High.
Shield of Honor.— Live Oak Lodge, Number 1, meets every Friday evening at southwest
corner West' Broad and Mitchell.
Chosen Friends. — ileets every Thursday evening at US North High.
Sonn of St. George.— Roysd Oak Lodge, meets every first and third Thursday, Orient
Hall; Daughters of St. George, meets first and third Wednesday of each month at Orient
Hall.
Prudential Order of America.- Cohimhus Lodge, Number 6, meets everv Thursday even-
ing at 234 South Third.
Knights of the Golden Rule. - Meets first Friday in each month at 1822 South Fourth.
United Order of Foresters of Ohio. — Court Forest meets alternate Friday evenings in Odd
Fellows' Temple.
Catholic Order of Foresters.— ^ieets first Monday and third Tuesilay in each month.
Jewish.— 1. 0. B. B. — Zion Lodge, Number 62, meets second and fourth Sunday evenings
each month at Druid Hall; A. J. K. S. B. R., Capital Lodge, Number 132, meet's alternate
Sunday evenings each month at Odd Fellow.s' 'Temple. .
Knights of St. George. — Division A meets every Monday night at Baltz's Hall; Division
B meets every Wednesday night northeast corner High and Mound ; Division C, Com-
manderv of Sacred Heart, meets every second Sunday and every Monday evening at 17^
East Town.
Associative Organizations, 1892. 779
^"^r4::.tf olr^/ r.t^^ Wednesday Of each .non,U in
2 ..ets^'fofrtT, MoX;'!n'rch n.onth .Division Number 3 vneets second Tuesday .n each
'"°"'l;4^r :"ra.iS ^" ^Tt^i;^M^^r^^i.;,s eac.. n.onth at ... Kast
'^'''^§;^:^^;^r^j:^^^^ ^S^^-^^tr^:^::^'^ "^-^ti. Tuesday even-
ings each month at 95S South High *„ c,.,.„„,l m,i,1 fnmth Wedne^dav even-
Order of (/ic Golden ,s7iore.-C'apitol City Lodge meets second aiul tuuitn
'"^^ ^L!i^^,^Sr';r.,n.-Prudentia Lodges meet at 335^ South High Street every
'''"S7&/a.-Tncorpor,,ted February 4, 1891 ; othce of the Supreme Circle room 70
'^''''Trd^^oAl'ied Frienc,s.-Sonn. End Council, Nun.ber l,n, meets first and third Tuesdays
each month at Lambrecht's Hall. Monday evening;
Mmkal SodHies.-Anon Club mee s at 116i South H;^'!^^*^«^* ^!,f^a,i everv Tuesday
Apollo Quartette. Statehouse; Baden Singing Society meets in ^telzer s Hall ever> luesa
e%^nin.' Cokimbus Miinnerchor meets first Friday each month at 33.5., South "'§1^ • V^o""""
Quartene meetT every Monday evening at 4.52 East Gay Street ; Harraonia C^ Vneets at 30J>
4nth Hio-h Street- Helvetia Miinnerchor meets Wednesday evening at ^ "^"ef ^. "|' ' ' ^,1
dLs'AIufcalCub mee? alternate Thursdays in the Osborn Building ; T^^'-^^"';^f ^^1" "^^^'^T,!
FrMay „Sgl North Side Voe.l Club m,«. every ™"?'i.jy '"J!"? "LSrtS
s„°e'r;TS.d""'.r„';,u5?,^^Sy^=^^^^^^
fourth Mondaysof each month corner High and Long streets .BrotleihoodotL^^^^^
Engineers, Little Miami Division. Number 34, meets first «n<^ /.^^"^d Sunday |yem^,f^'^Xe
mo^th at 80^ North High Street; Brotherhood ofL^omotive Foremen Frank^^
meets first and third Monday evenings of each month at 80* North H'^'l,; [f^' ' "^f {^".Wng
of Railway Brakemen meets first and third Sundays ,n ^ach month Columbus &
Valley Benefit Association meets first Saturday in each "''^"th at Wirthwein s Hall Urder
of Eailwav Conductors meets second and fourth Sundays of each month ^t the Odd t ellows
Temple; "Yard Master's INIutual Benefit Association, Division Numbei -^o, meets at ll^ iNonn
^'^"^ Commercial Travelers.- Co\umhus Commercial Travelers' ^ ~tion meets fir^^^^^
day evening in each month at 119^ South High Street; Order of United Commercial Irav
''''' cllt^tTterniiies.- Beta Theta Phi, Theta Delta 'I^'^P'-- -S,^ trOhio' Z^Ta ^3/
Chi Phi, iota Chapter, meets every Saturdav evening; Phi Belta Theta Ohio Z-ta C^ap er
meets everv Saturday evening at Number 94 Clinton Building, ^^ ';7«.Xrikron dSCu
Graduate Chapter, meets every Saturday evening in the P;°"f'-p^"'^^„^°''^g7ohio Delta
Chapter meets every Saturday evening m tbe Pioneer ^'l^f'^^Phi Kappa ^J • ^a ^^^''^^^
Chapter, meets every Saturday evening in the MonypeTiy Block ; Sigma Chi, Alpha t..amma
Chapter, meets every Saturday evening in the Thomas building.
780 History of the City of Columbus.
.t/i'sceHaiie'c/us.- Board of Trade, Board of Trade Building, East Broad Street; American
Hoiue Club. Koom 23 Butler Block ; Camp Darby Fi^hinfr and Huntin<; Club, meets alternate
Weilnesdays at Number o71 South Third Street: Columbus Club, southeast corner Fourth
and Broad ; Columbus Art A.ssociation, Young Men's Christian Association Building ; Columbus
Turnveiein. meets lirst and third Tuesdays each month at the Turner Hall ; Columbus Clear-
ing House Association, office in the Board of Trade Building; Columbus Cycling Club, Num-
ber 4r< West Gay Street ; Columbus Horticultural Society, meets on the ia.st Saturday in each
month in the Board of Trade Building; Columbus Lecture Course: Columbus Troubadours,
Banjo and Guitar Club, Room Number SO Wesley Block ; Columbus Typothet^i'. meet on the
third Thursday evening of each month at the State Journal Office; DramaticClub, meets
every Tuesday evening at 355i South High Street; Railway Branch of the Young .Men's
Cliristian Association, Number 312J North High Street: Sherman Gun Cluli, meets first
Thursday evening of each month at Number 20i East Broad Street : Ohio Society of the Sons
of the American Revolution, meets annuallv on October 19 at the State Law Library; Olen-
tangy Club, meets on the first Friday of each month at the Wirthwein Hall ; Phcenix Club,
meets in Germania Hall; Prohibition Club, .southeast corner of High and Long; Pythian
Club, second and fourth Fridays of each month, southeast corner of High and Long ; Thurman
Club, Pioneer Building, first Tuesday of each month ; Union Exprisoners of War Association,
first Tuesday evening of each month, McCoy Post Hall ; University Club, Number 20i East
Broad Street ; Young Ladies Christian Temperance Union, southeast corner of High and
Long: Young Men's Christian Association, South Third Street, opposite the Cipitol ; Young
Men s Social Club (Jewish), Good Templars' Hall ; Exsoldiers' and Sailors' Association of
Frankhn County, first Thursday of each month, McCov Post Hall ; Franklin County Pioneer
Association, business meeting on the first Saturday in'April, annual picnic at Franklin Park
on the fir.st Saturday in June; Retail Merchants' Protective Association, Rooms 1 and 4 at
Number lOoJ South High Street; Jackson Club meets every Tuesday evening in the Naugh-
ton Building ; Lincoln League, Number 26 South Third Street : Northwood Club, Number
2,494 North High Street; Office Men's Club meets second and fourth Saturday evenings in
each month at Number 118 North High Street ; We.st Side Campbell Club meets every Thurs-
day evening at the southwest corner of Broad and Mitchell streets.
Benevolent S„cielies.—A\tnr Society, St. Patrick's Church, meets the fourth Sunday ol each
month at St. Patrick's School : Baden Beneficial Society, meets first and third Friday of each
month at northeast corner Fourth and Mound; Benevolent Branch. Knights of St.' Patrick,
meets second Sunday of every month at Celtic Hall ; Bavarian Benevolent Society, meets
first Thursday in each month" at corner Frankfort and Third; Benevolent Branch Father
.Mathew Total Abstinence Soeietv, meets at Holy Family Church, third Friday evening in
each month : Boys' Temperance Cadet Corps, meets at St. Jo.sepb's Cathedral every Sunday ;
Catholic Ladies' Relief Society, meets at St. Joseph's Cathedral every Friday except the
summer months ; Catholic Life Insurance Society, meets once a year, second Sunday in Jan-
uary, at Holy Cross School Hall ; Children of Mary Society, meets at St. Joseph's Cathedral
every Sunday ; Christian Refuge Home and Maternity Hospital, 200 East Town ; Columbus
Female Benevolent Society, meets first Wednesday in each month, chapel First Pres-
byterian Church; Deutscher Krieger Verein, meets" at corner Frankfort and Third ; Eiu-
tracht's Bund, Number 1, meets second and fourth Thursday in each month, at Wirthwein
Hall, South High ; Evangelical Lutheran Trinity Church (German), meets first Tuesday even-
ing in each month, corner Third and Fulton streets; Elsass Lothringer Uuterstiitzungs
Verein, corner Mound and Fourth ; First German Society, northeast corner Fourth and
Mound : Friendly Sons of Ireland, Celtic Hall ; Girls' Industrial Home, Number H4 South
Fourth Street; Father Mathew Cadets, Holy Family Church: Father Mathew Cornet
Band, Holy Family Church; Father Mathew Total Abstinence Society, Benevolent Branch,
Holy Family Church ; Hannah Neil Mission and Home for the Friendless, East Main Street ;
Hare Orphans' Home, Woodland Avenue; Hessian Beneficial Society, 142 East Town Street :
Holy Name Society, St. Patrick's Schoolhouse; Ladies' Altar Society^ St. Joseph's Cathedral ;
Masonic Mutual Benefit Association, Number 231i North High Street : News Bovs' Home,
Number 153 North Fourth Street; Odd Fellows' Beneficial A"ssociation. Nuniber"l9S South
High Street ; Prussian Beneficial Society, Number 22 East Main Street ; Robert Emmet Asso-
ciation, corner Fourth and Chestnut streets; Swabian Beneficial Society. Freeh's Hall; St.
Joseph's Total Abstinence Society ; St. Joseph's Mutual, corner Fourth and Chestnut streets ;
St. Aloysius, Holy Cross School Hall : St. Francis Xavier (German), St. Maw's s,hool Hall ;
St.John's Beneficial Society ; St. Martin's (German), Holv Cross School Hall : St. Paul's Young
Men's (German), Number 571 South Third Street; Second German, Number 4o\ South Third
Street; St. John's. Holy Cross School Hall ; St. Joseph's Orphan Asvluiu, Xunil)er $21 East
Main Street; St. Thomas Sodality, St. Patrick's School: Sodality Children of Mary, Holy
Family Church ; Sodality of Christian Mothers, Holy Family Church ; Sodality of Married
Ladies, St. Patrick's School; Sodality of Young Ladies, Holy Family Church ; Sons of St.
Associative Organizations, 1892. 781
Joseph, Sessions Block ; St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, corner Rose Avenue and East Main
Street ; Yonnc Ladies' Sodality. St. Patrick's School.
Aalioiialigl!<. -Cliilj Nuiulier 1 a:eets every Sunday evening in Knights of Lalior Hull, on
South Fourth Street.
Tradi.'S Vnions. — Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers Number -ly. Num-
ber 182J South Fourth Street; Bakers' Union, Number 41, meets at same place; Bakers'
Union Number 115, ditto; Barbers' Union Number 42, Mystic Chain Hall ; Brewers' Union,
Number 571 South Third Street; Brick Makers' Protective Association, Number 167.! South
High Street; Brick Makers' Union Number 3,567, Number 22^ East Main Street; B'uilding
Trades' Council, Number 174i North High Street; Carpenters' and Joiners' Union Number
61, Eed Men's Hall ; Carpenters' and Joiners' Union Number 326, Number 174^ North High
Streets; Carpenters' and Joiners' Union Number" 350, Red Men's Hall; Carriage
Workers' Union Number 5,239, Hellermann's Hall ; Cigar Makers' Union Number 75,
Number 22i East Main Street ; Coach Lampmakers' Union. Number 118 North High Street ;
Columbus Trades and Labor Assembly, Number 1822 South Fourth Street ; Employing Plaster-
ers, meet every Thursday evening at Number 342 South High Street; Employing Stonema-
sons' meet every Monday evening at Number 342 South High Street ; Federal Labor Council,
Number 182J South Fourth Street; Federal Labor Union Number 5.345, Number 182i South
Fourth Street; Tinners' Union, Hellermann's Hall; Furnituremakers' Union Number 42,
Number 142 East Town Street; Harness Makers' Union, Number 118 North High Street;
Hod Carriers' Union, Division Number 1, corner Fourth and Chestnut streets ; Iron
Moulders' Beneficial Associations Number 98, Wirthwein Hall ; Iron Moulders' Union Num-
ber 39, WMrthwein Hall; International Association of Machinists, Number 118 North High
Street; Journeyman Tailors' Union. Number 22i East Main Street; Lathers' Union Number
5,182, Number ls2i South Fourth Street; Lumber Handlers' and Teamsters' Union Number
5,271, Number lis North Hish ; Machinists' Union, Buckeye Lodge, Number .55, Number
118 North High Street; Mill Workers' Union Number 687, Number lis North High Street;
Musicians' Protective Association, Number 273 South High Slicct ; ( >rdor of Railway Teleg-
raphers, Number 118 North High Street; Plasterers' Union Niiiiilicr I'l. corner 3Iound and
High streets; Painters' Union Number 166, corner Mound and Kimrth streets; International
Brotherhood of Brassworkers, Number 118 North High Street ; Tailors' Union Nundjer 27,
Number 22.1 East Main Street ; Iron Moulders' Union of North America, Number 118 North
High Street; Iron and Steel Workers, Capital Lodge, Number 50, Number 118 North Higli
Street; Journeyman Plumbers' Union, Number 17^ East Town Street; Hod Carriers' Union
Number 5,319, Central Markethouse ; Pha-nix Local Assembly Number 2,960. Knights of
Labor, Clinton Block ; Columbus Typographical Union Number 5, meets o.i the first Sunday
in each month ; Columbus Lodge, Number 22, Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association, Num-
ber lis North High Street; Order of Railway Conductors, Holling-sworth Division, Number
100, Odd Fellows' Building; Franklin Lodge, Number 9, Brotherhood of Locomotive Fire-
men, Number 80J North High Street ; Little Miami Division, Number 34, Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers, Number .SOi North High Street; Columbus Lodge, Number 175, Broth-
erhood of Railway Trainmen, Number IIU South High Street; Painters' and Decorators'
Union, Wirthwein Hall; Plumbers' Union, Number 17i East Town Street; Retail Clerks'
Association, Nund3erl7J Ea.st Town Street; Stonecutters' Union, Number 22^ East Main Street ;
Stationary Engineers' L'nion, AVirthwein Hall ; Stonemasons' International Union Number
2, Central Markethouse ; Teamsters' LTnion, Number 5,,3:>7, "Wirthwein Hall; Typographical
Union, Number 5, Number 63^ South High Street.
Knights of Labor.— Columbus As.sembly Number 5,416, meets at Number 335i South High
Street; District Assembly .Number 172, meets at 182J South Fourth Street; Eureka
Assembly (Watchmakers), "Number 9,027; L. A., Number 2,520. meets at 182J Soutli Fourth
Street ; National District Assembly Number 135, Clinton Block ; Phcenix Assembly Number
2,960, meets at Number 182.! South Fourth Street ; Scioto Assemblv Number 6,202, Sessions
Block.
CHAPTER L.
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA.
An association of vocalists callini^ itself the Handel Society seems to have
been the first musical organization in Columbus. We read of its participation in
the celebration of Independence. Day in the years 1821 and 1822, on which occa-
sions, we are told, it acquitted itself with '-a superior degree of elei^ance."
How long the Handel Society continued we are not informed ; it was still in exis-
tence in 1830. Of military music in and about the borough, during the war of
1812, and the subsequent musterdaj's, we may fairly presume there wi^ plenty,
although its instrumental resources, doubtless, were usually limited to the fife and
drum. Of theatrical entertainments the borough was entirely' destitute, but we
hear of its visitation by certain vagrant exhibitions for village entertainment at
quite an early period. Under date of April 21, 1827, the arrival in Columbus of
" Tippo Sultan, the Great Hunting Elephant," was thus advertised :
The performances of Tippo Sultan, together with the dexterity and intrepidity of his
keeper, produces a spectacle not only curious and diverting, but in some instances both inter-
esting to the spectator and dangerous to the keeper. [The advertisement here describes
some of the elephant's tricks and continues:] The Mammoth Lion. Tiger, Cat, Lynx, Shet-
land Pony, Dandy Jack, Ac, &c. The above named animals will be seen at Mr. Russell's
Tavern, Columbus, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the iTth, 28th and 21ith inst. The
exhibition will be accompanied with good Music, .\dmittance '-'o cents — children under 12
years of age half price.
This is one of the first attempts at public entertainment made at the capital
of Ohio. At night the " hunting elephant " was locked up in the tavern backyard
where, during one of the nights of his sojourn, he broke loose, and for awhile
amused himself bv pumping water at the well. Finally he broke the pump-
handle, and looking around for some new pastime spied two barrels of flour stand-
ing on the back porch. Breaking into these, he, for a while, ate flour and drank
water alternately until he converted the residue of the flour into paste. Awakened
by the noise, Mr. Bussell descended and was received by the elephant with a fusillade
of dough. Beating a retreat the discomfited host aroused the keeper of the frolic-
some beast, who, after some effort, succeeded in getting him tied again. Under
date of April 10, 1828, a " dramatic entertainment" was thus rel'erred to : " To
the performance of Mr. and Mrs. Harper on Monda}' and Tuesdaj' evenings the
tribute of praise is justly due. Mr. Powell was excellent in Tony Lumpkin in
' She Stoops to Conquer.' " This performance probably took place at the market-
house, on State Street. On May 15, 1828, it was announced that Field & Purdy's
" celebrated equestrian company " would arrive in the borough on the next day
L782]
Music and the Drama. 783
or the day after. In October, 1828, C. Pai-ker opened a seliool in sacred music al
the Academy. A popular musicbook of that year was called the " Missouri Har-
mony." On May (3, 1880, the borough was startled by this announcement :
On Monday and Tuesday, the 10th and 11th inst., will be exhibited on the common
opposite Watson's Hotel, in CoIumDus, [where the Neil House now stands] the most exten-
sive and diversified collection of foreign animals ever seen in the State. Among others are
the Kangaroo from New Holland, Hyena from Ethiopia, Zebra from the Cape of Good Hope,
African Lion. . . . [andl an ape with her young, which she yet nurses. At 11 o'clock a. m.
and 4 p. m. each day the Keeper of the Asiatic Lion and Lioness will eider their resptctive
cages! ! Immediately preceding which the Camels, Lamas, Ponies and Monkeys will be
exercised in the ring.
About the year 1832 theatrical performances began at Young's Coffeehouse
under the management of Gilbert & Trowbridge. This place of entertainment was
called the Eagle Theatre, and consisted of a room fitted up for the purpose with seats
atone end of it rising one above another as high as the ceilin<;-. The company
played to " crowded houses." It comprised Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, Mr. and Mrs.Trow-
bridge, William Barry, Mr. Marsh, Mr. J. Smith and Mr. William Delinan. On June
24, 1830, it was announced that at this place would appear ^' the cclcln'atcd juven-
ile actress. Miss Lane." in '• A Hr Jii/loiis '' and a farce entitled ■ Winiiimj ii Hus-
band." On July 12. iSoO. this theatre was reo))ened, after an interval, vvilh a
"petit comedy called />'///i Ihrih" after which, it was stated, Mr. A. Cohen would
appear in '-the popular bravui-a song, 'The glad trumjiet sounds to victory'" and
" a comic chant called ' Push along, keejj moving,' ' at'tei- which would follow " a
fanc3' dance by Miss Stannard, several favorite songs by M i-. and .Mrs. Rinloch, "
and "a new farce" entitled 12 Pveci><(iij, or u Xiijlit nt /ii,rrr. in which Miss Lane
would perform in live different characters.
A traveling menagerie, the proprietorship of which does not appear, gave
exiiibitions in Columbus on October 21 and 22, 1831. Among its attractions were
a "unicorn or rliindrcros." two roj-al Bengal tigars, two leopards, a lynx from
Japan, a pair of occlnts troni California, a " roniopo from the East Indies, similar
to the hyena,'' two panilicrs li'urn the K(jcky Mountains, a cougar and a condorfrom
South America, and " monkeys in gi-eat variety." The Siamese Twins visited the
borough in 1833, and gave sciincrs al the National Hotel. A current newspaper
account of them stateti: "Although rather small in stature thej- appear to enjo}-
excellent health, and their countenances and movements indicate much shrewdness
and animation.' The Franklin Harmonic Society was organized on Februarj' 2,
1833, with Eufus Beach as president; object, "improvement of the vocal and
instrumental music." Of this society A. C. Findlay, H. H. Gridley, Isaac Ualton
and John T. Spear were trustees and Eli Stone secretary. S. Butler & Company's
menagerie visited the borough in May, 1834. Its leading attraction was "the
great hunting or war elephant, Hannibal. " Baymond & Ogden's menagerie fol-
lowed in August of the same year. " Columbus Jockey Club races,' to be " free
only for colls owned by citizens," and to be " governed by the rules of the Balti-
more Central Course," were announced for October.
The first circus to visit Columbus was probably an English one called Pippin's.
It pitched its tents on the common just east of Heyl's Tavern on South High
Street. The exact date of its arrival cannot now be fixed ; the year seems to have
been 1833 or 1834. In 1835 " Brown's Mammoth Arena Circus" gave exhibitions
on July 2 and 3. Among its proprietors was Samuel Stickney who was the
Barnum of the showmen ot that period. Charles Rockwell, another proprietor, is
described as a very handsome man, who had the misfortune to attract the admira-
tion of sentimental j'oung ladies to such a degree as to become, on some occa-
sions, an annoyance. One of these enthusiasts who had become particularly
784 History of the City of Columbus.
obtrusive he rebuffed by telling her that if she had fallen in love with his ward-
robe he would present it to her^ Among the performers in this circus was Charles
Shay, a celebrated juggler; a daring '^bareback rider" named Ch:irles Rogers,
and Kicardo, a popuLir clown. About this time the Blanchard family of circus
performers erected a wooden building on the northwest corner of the Capitol
Square, and gave exhibitions during the winter.
The first building in Columbus intended especially for a theatre, was erected
by a joiutstock company in 1835. It was built of wood, and stood on the present
site of the Hosier Block on North High Street. An enthusiastic newspaper
reporter, writing in November, 1835. said of it :
The building for Ihe theatre is already considerably advanced towards completion. It
will be quite a massive and splendid pile— measuring fifty feet in front, on High Street
(north of Broad), one hundred feet in depth, and thirty feet in height, clear of the roof. . . .
On an inspection of tlie interior, the space allotted to the stage appears to occupy onehalf of
the building, with dressingroonis attached. The audience part will consist of a pit, two tiers
of Boxes, with a Saloon in the rear.
This establishment took the name of Columbus Theatre, and was opened in
December, 1835, by Messrs. [Edwin] Dean and McKinney, managers of the Eagle
Street Theatre, at Buffalo, New York. A silver cup valued at fifty dollars was
offered as a prize for the best address to be spoken at the opening. This prize
was won bj- Mr. Otway Curry. Another cup valued at twentyfive dollars, offered
by Mr. John Young, of the Eagle Coffeehouse, as a prize for the second best
address was taken by Mr. James Kilbourn. A communication to the author bj'
Mr. John M. Kerr, who was one of the stockholders of this theatre, contains the
following interesting reminiscences of its earlier performers:
The first company of the old theatre consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Dean and their daughter
Julia, Mr. Charles AVebb as leading man or tragedian, ^ir Trowbridge, Mrs. Trowbridge as
leading actress, Mr and Mrs. Gilbert, Mr. and Mrs. Lennox, .Vlr. and Mrs. Parker, Mr.
Joseph Proctor, Mr. Marsh, Miss Honey, Mr. and Mrs. Forrest and Mr. William Barry as
comedians, and Mr. Charles Denman. Mrs. Trowbridge became a great favorite in this cit\ ;
so admired was she that a purse was made up and a celebrated New York artist was employed
to paint her lifesize portrait in the character of "The Wife." Mr. Charles Webb, in the
character of " The Stranger " was never excelled. I heard the great English tragedian,
Macready, say that he was the best actor on the American boards. But alas, where are the
members of that fine dramatic company now I They have nearly all made their final exit
from the stage of life. I know of but two survivors out of the entire list. I met William
Barry in San Francisco in 1861, looking as young as ever. He was then playing at McGuire's
Opera House, in that city. Mr. Joseph Proctor 'resides in Philadelphia. He was lately still
plaving there his favorite character of "Jibonanesy" in Xiclc of Ihe Woods. Julia Dean
Hayne, who became a brilliant star, I last saw in San Francisco. ... In 1841, when the old
theatre finallv closed. Mr. John Leslie, its stage painter, took with him to Cincinnati much of
its fine scenery- In 1843 the building was purchased by M. J. Gilbert, who remodeled it, and
for a time it w'as known as the City Hall. Afterwards it was cut in two and its front part
was removed by Mr. Gilbert to a point near Gay Street, where it was fitted up for a dwelling.
The last occupant of its stage part was William G. Wiatt, who used it as a billiard saloon.
Among the most popular plays at the old Columbus Theatre were St. George
and the Dragon, Mazeppa and Cataract of the Ganges. A trained horse of great
value, used in the play oi Mazeppa, took sick and died while en route to Cincin-
nati to take part in an engagement in that city. In lieu of the lost animal, one
of Mr. Kerr's horses was trained for the play and performed its part admir-
ably. A companion to this horse became equally expert in the pluj' of The
Ganges. The Mazeppa animal was billed as " the wild horse of Tartary,"
A famous and popular danseuse of the Columbus Theatre, who made her ad-
vent in 1837, was Miss Honey. Her most piquant dances were frequently fol-
lowed by a shower of silver " quarters " thrown upon the stage by her admirers,
Sn^_^iyjr aXenuuirrr
Music and the Drama. 785
Miss Honey liad also considerable talent as an actress, and in whatever part she
took evoked applause.
The theatrical performances of the thirties usually began with a comedy and
ended with a farce. The season at the Columbus theatre was opened on Decem-
ber 7, 1837, with the following programme which may be taken as a sample;
Kotzebue's Celebrated play of The Stranger. Cast : The Stranger, Mr. Kelsey ; Baron
Steinfurt, Mr. Lennox; Count Wintersen, Mr. Dufly ; Francis, Mr. Burton; Tobias, Mr.
Trowbridge; Solomon, Mr. Dean; Peter, Mr. Forrest; Mrs. Haller, Mrs. Trowbridge ; Coun-
tess, Mrs. Dean ; Charlotte, Mrs. Forrest. After the play, a song by Mr. Lennox. To con-
clude with the laughable farce of the Two Gregories.
In June, 1837, a "grand vocal and instrumental concert" by "Miss DeBarr,
from New York and New Orleans'' was announced. This seems to have been
one of the earliest of its kind. An example of the cheap sensational " shows "
then current will be found in the following advertisement of August 12, 1837 :
Mr. O'Connell, the Tattooed Man and Adventurer who was shipwrecked and resided
on the islands of the Pacific for several years, will give an account of his wonderful adven-
tures, and exhibit the War Dance and Curiosities of those countries. . . . Mr. O'Connell
is termed in the Eastern prints the Modern Robinson Crusoe.
On July 3 and 4, 1837, an exhibition of wax figures, accompanied by comic
Ethiopian vocaiism, took place "on Colonel Noble's lot, east of the Presbyterian
Church." Among the plays performed in the ('oUmibus Theatre in 1838 were
Macbeth, Cherry and Fair Star, Tirnkeeper's Jhm.iliirr, (lipsy'f Revenge, Maiden's
Vow, The Wife, Pizarro, Fazio, Hiinchbaek, TT'/v,//, , - liau,jl,ier, Evadne, Taming of
the Shrew and Faust. On the performance ot the hiltei- in January, 1838, the
following comment was made:
This drama, which was performed for the first time in this city on Monday evening, is
beyond all question the most splendid and perfect spectacle ever produced in any theatre in
this country ; and it is a matter of much doubt whether it was ever produced at any one of the
eastern cities with greater splendor, beauty and magnificence, Tue scenery, as produced at
this theatre, is entirely new, and piunted by Mr. John Leslie, who, as an arti.st, is unsur-
passed by anyone of his profession in tlie United States. The city of Venice, the second
scene in Faustus, as a piece of painting is in itself a work of surpassing excellence, and
unequaled by anything ever exhibited, to say the least in this western country. No idea can
be given in a mere statement of this kind of the enchnnliug effect produced on the mind by
the beautiful and sudden change from the first scene, a rich and gorgeous view of the Drach-
enfels at sunset, to the view of the city of Venice above alluded to. . . . The character of
Faustus is remarkably well conceived and sustained by Mr. Lennox. Mrs. [Martha M.]
Trowbridge as Adine — the mind expands and the very soul thrills with emotion at the bare
recollection. . . . We doubt whether this representation of Mr.<. T. can be excelled by any
actress living.
Commenting upon the play of Macbeth at this theatre another critic wrote;
Of the performance of Mrs. Trowbridge, as Lady Macbeth, we are exceedingly proud.
We are proud of it because we claim her, at least by adoption, as one of the daughters of
Ohio. Her success was, if possible, beyond what her fine intellectual powers and histrionic
skill had led us to anticipate. In tlie invocation,
" Come, come you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts,"
her peculiar, her own intonation of voice, and her blended sternness and solemnity of man-
ner were strikingly effective.
786 History of the City of Columbus.
On May 22, 1838, the Franklin Harmonic Societj- gave a coticert at the Prot-
estant Episcopal Church, and during tlie same month and year the Columbus
Baud made its advent. This seems to have been one of the earliest local orsrani-
zations using bra.ss instruments. Fogg & Stiekney's Circus, formerly- Brown's,
visited Columbus in August, Waring's in May.' In December, 1839, the Columlius
Theatre was opened for the sea.son under the management of Mr. Kent. Among
the ladies and gentlemen comprising his stock company were Mesdames Kent.
Martha M. Trowbridge, Altimus and Burton, Miss Eitter and Messrs. W. Kent,
McCrura, Delraan, Altimus, Lathrop, Winans, J. Smith and R. H. Harris. . The
opening play of the season was Tlie Stranger. At the close of the season the
manager and the leading actors and actresses took benefits, as was in those days the
custom. In 1839 and 1840 several concerts of the better class were given in the
dining hall oT the American House, which seems to have been at that time the
most available place for such a purpose. Charles H. Baton, a tragedian of consid-
erable fame, filled an engagement in Shakespearean parts at the Columbus Theatre
in 1839. His debut was made as Duke of Glostei-. lie and Charles VVel'b achieved
great success as Damon and Pythias. A. A. Adams, a tragedian of contempo-
rary fame, appeared during the same season as Virginius and Hamlet. In the
latter part he was declared to be second only to Booth. The leading lady in the
Eaton and Adams plays was Mrs. Martha M. Trowbridge. Mr. Job B. Mills, a
young actor of Franklin County citizenship, became conspicuous on the Colum-
bus stage in 1840. Among the more important plays of that year were She
Stoops to Conquer. Sunchback, The Wife, Maid of the Mill, Pizarro, Hamlet and
Youthful Brigand. In January, 1841, Messrs. Parker and Leslie, managers of tiie
Columbus Theatre, put upon their stage a spectacular play called Aladdin. Its
scenic splendors were rapturously described by the dramatic reporters of the
period. Among the more i.oted actors on the Columbus stage in 1841 were Miss
Mary Duff, Mr. J. W. Wallack, Mr. F. A. Forrester and Mr. J. B. Mills. Miss
Honey continued to dance her way into public favor all through the season.
Towards the end of 1841 the Columbus Theatre seems to have degenerated
both financially and morally, and its evil influence upon the young people of the
city, resulting particularly from its "bar" for the sale of intoxicants was loudly
complained of. As the theatre declined, concerts and small shows multiplied.
Waring & Eaymond's menagerie and circus visited the city in August, 1842.
Hopkins & Company's menagerie exhibited some novel performances with
wild beasts in October, 1843. Signor Blitz, the wonderful magician,
gave some performances of his " black art " at the City Hall in 1844.
Christy's Minstrels came in December of that year. On January 2, 1845, the
Columbus Sacred Music Society was organized at the old United States Court-
house. The managers appointed were Messrs. Whitworth, Shepherd, Hand,
Chapin and Howard. At the meeting for organization Governor Bartle_y pre-
sided. The society gave its first concert at Trinity Church, June 19. On Feb-
ruary 2, 1845, a concert was given at the Clay Club House by the German Glee
Club. During the same month and year the city was visited by the noted dwarf,
" General Tom Thumb." The Swiss Bellringers made their appearance in May.
G. R. Spalding's Circus, one of the finest concerns of the kind then traveling,
gave an exhibition on August 25. On June 6, 1845, a concert was given at the
Neil House by the famous Scandinavian violinist, Ole Bull. He was assisted by
Messrs. Duffield and Machold. Spencer's Ethiopian Minstrels gave a perform-
ance at the Clay Club Hall on January 3, 1846 ; in June of the same year the
city was visited by J une & Turner's Circus. Raymond & Waring's Grand Zo-
ological Exhibition, of which Herr Dresbach, the famous lioutamer, was a leading
attraction, exhibited on May 1 ; S. 0. Stickney's Circus on July 31, and Welch,
Mann & Delavan's Circus on August 11 and 12, same year. Delavan, it is said,
Music and the Drama. 787
had, before this time, bi-ouirlit to Columbus the first living giraffe ever seen in the
city. It was exhibited in the back yard of Eusselis Globe Inn. Eoekwell &
Stone's Circus gave an exhibition on the Rich Street "showground" in Novem-
ber. Spalding's, Welch & Delavan's,., Howe & Company's and Rockwell & Com-
pany's circuses all came in 1847. On August 16 of that year Raymond & Waring
exhibited their meuiigerie, including Herr Dresbaeh's cages of trained lions.
The crowd in attendance was lai-ger than had ever before been witnessed in the
city on any similar occasion. On September 14, 1847, an exhibition of fireworks
— the first in Columbus that we read of — was given on the Capitol Square. Its
manager was S. B. Barnaby. The Alleghanians, a famous concert troupe of that
day. gave a vocal concert at the Secotid Presbyterian Church December 7.
On December 30, 1847, theatrical performances wore resumed in the city.
The manager was Thomas P. Lennox, ot the old Columbus Theatre; the place,
Neil's New Hall, just south of the Neil House. The opening play was " Cherry's
coniedj-, The Solilicrv Daughter." A fire in tlie theatre on February 1(), 1848, seems
to iiave put an end to the ])erlormances for the titiie being.
On June 29, 1848, P. 'T. Barnum made his advent in Columbus at the head of
his •' Grand Traveling Exhibition," one of the principal attractions of which was
advertised as a "Gorgeous Funeral Pageant, Funeral of Napoleon." The bills
announced that every per.-on coiinecteii with the exhibition was a " teetotaler."
Barnum pitched his tents on the State Street "show ground " which included the
site of the present National Government building. The grounding of a canalboat
caused a postponement of the opening performance. In September, 1848, an
association of amateurs was organized under the name of Culunibus Barracks Band.
The year 1848 seems to have been a good one fm- traveling- circuses ; all the most
noted ones visited Columbus in the course of the season. Theatrical performances
began at Concert Hall December 14; opening play, Evmlne, with Mrs. John S.
Potter in the title role. Mr. Charles Webb as Otheflo was announced for Decem-
ber 15. Twelve Chippewa Indians, en route from La Pointe, Michigan, to Wash-
ington, gave an exhibition at Mechanics' Hall, December II.
Raymond & Company's Menagerie, inclndiiig a live rhinoceros and accom-
panied by Herr Dresbach, " emperoi- of all the lions, " exhibited on April 19, 1849.
Williamson's Diorama of the Bombardment ot 'Vera Ci'uz was one of the amuse-
ment events of the same month and year. 0]i November 15, 1849, appeared in
the Ohio Statesman the following card which is in several ways significant:
Theatre: Concert Hall, Statesman Building. Decker A Sargent, Managers. A Card —
The managers feeling satisfied that the ladies are in favor of moral, iniioci'nt and intellectual
Theatrical representations, and nothing but the dread of having their feelings wounded and
their sensibilities shocked by low and vnlgar wiiticisms, too often allowed at such place.-^, has
hitherto deterred many from visiting public exhibitinn's, would take this opportunity to
.4.SSURB the Ladies eapeciaUy, that nothing in the least degree deinoralizing, or that can in any
way ofi'eud the most sensitive mind, will be allowed in tiieir theatr.-. An efficient police
have beeii engaged to evforce or ler, if necessiry.
On December 3, 1849, a " German concert,'' said to have beeti " one of the
most elegant musical entortaintncnts ever given in the city," took place at Mechan-
ics' Hall. The concerts, panoramas and like entertainments of this period were
very numerous. Signor Blitz re;ip|.icar.'d with his magic on March 21, ]850.
In musical matters the turning of the tnin-idian of the century was also the
turning of a new leaf. On August 21, 1850, tlie " Swedish Nightingale," Jenny
Lind, accompanied by her two professional companions, Messrs. Benedict and Bel-
letti, sailed from Liverpool in the steamer Atlantic. She was under engagement
with Mr. F. T. Barnum for an American tour, and was mot and welcomed by him
as she landed on September 1 at New York. She was also greeted by thousands
788 History of the City of Columbus.
of enthusiastic Amevicaus who crowded the neighboring roofs, streets and ship-
ping as slie stepped upon the wharf In driving to her hotel accompanied by Mr.
Barnum, she passed under two beautiful arches twined with green boughs and
inscribed, Welcome, Jenny Lind ; Welcome to America. Within ten minutes after
her arrival at the Irving House, ten thousand people had collected around its
Broadway entrance. During the ensuing evening she was serenaded at the hotel
by the New York Musical Fund Society, of two hundred musicians, in the presence
of twenty thousand people. So persistent were the calls lor her that Mr. Barnum
was obliged to present her to the multitude. The excitement and enthusiasm in
New York were contagious, and spread all over the country. Jenny Lind gar-
ments of all kinds were worn, Jenny Lind poetry and incidents crowded the news-
papers, and Jenny Lind songs were in everybody's mouth. Wlierever the admired
songstress moved she was surrounded by enthusiastic multitudes.
On September 11 her first American concert took place at Castle Garden.
The tickets had been sold at auction some days before ; the first one offered
brought $250. The great auditorium was crowded in every part, and the re-
ception given to Jenny Lind as she was led forward and presented by Mr. Ben-
edict was unprecedented. Few of the great of earth have ever received anj'-
thing like such a compliment. It was a magnificent tribute to personal and
artistic worth. Expectation had been raised to its highest pitch, yet was disap-
pointed only in being surpassed. At the close of the concert' Mr Barnum
announced that its entire proceeds would be devoted to charitable objects. This
aet the audience wild, and, together with manj' sub.sequent incidents of like
character, won the hearts of the American people.
In Washington City the Jenny Lind concerts were attended by all the prin-
cipal dignitaries of the government, from President Fillmore down. At the
opening of one of the parts Jenny Lind sang Sail, Columbia, and so thrilled
was Daniel Webster, who was present, with the notes of the grand anthem, that
at the close of the first verse, he rose, we are told, and involuntarily joined with his
deep sonorous voice in the chorus. Mrs. Webster, who sat immediately behind
him, " kept tugging at his coattail to make him sit down or stop singing, but it
was of no earthly use.'' At the close of each verse the Massachusetts statesman
joined in, and " it was difficult to say whether Jenny Lind, Webster or the
audience was the most delighted."
Early in 1851 efforts were made to induce Jennj- Lind to give one concert in
Columbus. On April 14 these endeavors were rewarded by the following assur-
ance from Cincinnati, to E. E. Neil :
Jenny Lind will give a concert at Columbus July i. Owing to prior euo;age-
ments our offer of §10,000 would not induce Barnum to come until then.— A. Reed.
On April 14 all the expectations raised by this dispatch were dashed to pieces
by the following from Mr. Barnum :
Please say there is no probability of Jenny Lind ever singing in Columbus or any of
the lake cities, all reports to the contrary notwithstanding. Strong inducements are
offered us to go to London on the first of June.
Nevertheless, an engagement for the coveted concert was finally concluded
and on November 1, 1851, the following announcement was made :
Mademoiselle Jenny Lind will have the honor to give a Grand Cjncert in the City
of Columbus on Tuesday evening, November 4, 1851, assisted by Signer Salvi, Signer E.
Belletti, Mr. Joseph Burke. Conductor, Mr. Otto Goldschmidt. Particulars hereafter.
Music and the Drama. 789
The place chosen for the concert was tlie Odeou Hull. The tickets were
limited in number, so that each purchaser might be sure of a seat, and were sold
at four, liiree and two dollars according to location. The sale was made by an
authoriziMl ;i.<,'-iMit. Before noon of November 3 all the places were taken. The
prouTuiniiio (iih'iicmI with a elarionette fantasj- by Belletti on themes from The
Diiihjht, I- 'if til. /i'.,/iiiirnf. Next came an aria by Salvi from Auber's Massnnidlo,
alter wliiili Jenny Liiid appeared and sang the air Come unto Him, from Han-
del's Mis^iah, which was accompanied by a violin obligato by Mr. Joseph Burke.
The second part of the concert opened with violin variations by Mr. Burke on
(ine of Srhubort's melodies, after which Jenny Lind sang a eavatina from
iMeyerbcfi's llnlicrt h- Diitl/lc. Salvi followed this with an aria from Donizetti's
L,i /•''ii-niif.i. alior which Jenny Lind sang her famous "Bird Song," by Taubert.
Hei- (iiiiiludiiiu son^s. alter another elarionette fantasy by Belletti — from £o-
hcmuin (Hrl w.'ve ./o/in Aiulrrsnn .!/// ./„, and rmnin Through the Bye.
Al the same ]]iaee, on Wednesday evening. November 5, a second concert
took plaee, which ^Ir. Josejih ISurke opened with a violin fantasy on themes
from Bellini, followed by Salvi with an aria from Donizetti, after which Jenny
Lind sang the aii', On Mighty Pinions, from Haydn's Creation. A piano fan-
tasy on themes from Mamaniello, by Mr. Goldschmidt, next followed, after
which the aria ('axta Diva, from N'orma, sung by Jenny Lind, closed the first
pai-t of the concert. The second part opened with a elarionette fantasy by
Belletti, on themes from Lurretia Borgia, followed by the Gypsy Song from
Meyerbeer's Cahip in Silesia, by Jenny Lind. The next two pieces were a
eavatina by Salvi, from Lamnieniwor, and a piano fantasy by Mr. Goldschmidt,
on American melodies, after which Jenny Lind sang Auld Robin Gray, followed
by a violin caprice by Mr. Burke on one of Beethoven's melodies. The perform-
ance closed with Home, Sweet Home, and a Norwegian Echo Song sung by Jenny
Lind. As to the musical qualities of these concerts, and the manner in which
they were received, about all the information we have from print is the following
from the Oiiio State Journal ■
We are sure we speak the general voice of those wlio had the pleasure of liearing her
[Jenny Lind] when we say she fully equaled the expectations of her audience. The first
concert was given Tuesday night. ... It was the most brilliant, best dressed [the dress of
the audience was, of course, a matter of the fir-it importance], and hest looking house we have
ever seen in Columbus. ... At the appointed hour Jenny Lind appeared on the stage, and
was greeted with that hearty and general applause which bespoke their appreciation of her
high character as an artist and a woman. Her appearance was very attractive. Those who
know her will say she has a bad looking nose [another important fact] but nobody ever
notices this when she is on the stage. [The able reporter, however, noticed it.] ... Of her
singing we have little to say. [Of course not ; after the clothes of the audience and thenose
of the songstress had been " noticed " there was not much left to say.] It ^s,^ magnificent,
far surpassing that of any artist that ever before visited Columbus. . . . The Bird Song, John
Anderson My Jo and Coming Through the Rye were the gems of the evening, and they were
all of them gems of the first water. . . . The animation, the birdlike notes that were
uttered, the rapid transition from the bottom to the top of the scale [in the Bird Song], and
the exceeding puri y of tone and correctness of every note were truly astonishing and car-
ried away the au<lierice in a perfect storm of applause that only ceased by her reappearance
on the stage. We noticed that she enunciated the words of the English songs very dis-
tinctly. . . . The large collection in front of the public offices, and opposite the Odeon,
appeared to enjoy the singing exceedingly, and had the good taste to cheer just at the right
time. We are informed that about one thousand persons, a large number of whom were
females, occupied the streets and sidewalks in the vicinity of the Hall. . . Last night [Nov-
ember .5] Jenny Lind gave her farewell concert here. The evening was unfavorable, but the
house was well filled. The performance throughout was most acceptable. Jenny never sang
better. Her Auld Robin Gray drew tears from many eyes. The Herdsman's Song was the
last and best. The dying melodies of her voice will linger in many ears as a thing of joy to
be remembered for life. . . . When Burke was encored in one of his fine pieces of melody
on Wednesday evening he played the Last Rose of Summer in the most beautiful style we
790 . History of the City of Columbus.
have ever heard a piece of music performed. Tlie large home was silent s ) that every sound
of its sweet and pure melody could be heard.
Fi'otn the proceeds of tliLs second concert Jeiin\- Lind donated tiic sum of
fifteen hundred dollars to the Capital University.'
At the Odeon, in 1851, Mrs. Seja:uin ijave a ccjtu-ert on June 28 and Made-
moiselle Teresa Parodi, assisted bj' Maurice Strakosch, gave one on June 30,
which was repeated July 1. On August 9, same year and place, a " grand lyric
entertainment" was given by Madame Anna Bishop. This performance con-
sisted of an operatic scene from Donizetti. Dan Rice's circus, very notable at
that time, visited the city in Septemlier.
The fourth festival of the North American Sangerbiind was held at Stewart's
Grove June 4 and 5, 1852. On Saturday, June 5, the musical society marched in parade
and gave an evening concert at Neil's New Hall. The programme of this concert as
printed in the newspapers, was as follows : 1, Overture by Machold & Goodman's
Band ; 2, Welcome, Columbus Miinnerchor ; 3, Singers' Banner Song,entire Clior ; 4,
Bell Sounds, Cincinnati Sangerbuud ; 5, The Singer, Cincinnati Liedertafel ; 6, The
Chapel, entire Chor. Part II : 1, Potpourri, by the various bands ; 2, Hearken,
My People, entire Chor; 3, The Three Loveliest Life Flowers, Dayton Siinger-
bund ; 4, The Hunter, Columbus Miinnerchor-, 5, The Singer's Joys, Louis-
ville Liederkranz ; 6, Waltz, entire Chor. At the Grove on June 7, gymnastic
exercises took place and speeches were made by Messrs. Reinhard, Neil, Dennison,
and Galloway. In the evening a banquet and ball, preceded by a parade, took
place at the City Hall.
On November 19, 1852, a ''fiirewell concert" ny Ole Bull, un<ier direction
of Maurice Sirakosch, took place at Neil's Hall. The most interesting incident
connected with this concert was the appearance in it — first appearance in Co-
lumbus — of Adelina Patti, then a child of eight years. The pieces assigned to
lier were Sappy BirdUng of the Forest, the rondo finale from La Sonnamhula,
Comin' Through the Rye and Jenny Lind's Echo Song. Tickets for this concert
were sold at one dollar each. The pei'formances elicited the following news-
paper comments :*
Since the glorious concerts of Jenny Lind we have had nothinj; that will compare with
the concert at the New Hall on Friday evening. The room was densely filled at an early
hour. ... Of Strakosch we have had occasion to speak heretofore. We regard him as
the most brilliant and accomplished pianist that ever visited Columbus. . . . Little Ade-
lina Pattiisagem. We had read what we thought extravagant praises of bergenias and
skill, but before the evening was spent we were forced to confess that they were no more
than just. Of course a little girl eight years old can not have the power of Jenny Lind or
Parodi, but the skill and grace of her execution were astonishing. She would run up and
down the scale, touching notes on the road with a clearness and purity of tone that were
truly astonishing. Coming Through the Rye was sung with great beauty. The peculiar
wavy, graceful and arch tone which Jenny Lind gave this rare Scotch song was perfectly
imitated by little Adelina. The Echo Song was beautifully executed. She is a prodigy,
and bids fair to be a star of the lirs( magnitude.
Ole Bull equaled the expectation of the audience in every respect. Physically he is
a fine specimen of a man. His tall yet well developed and graceful form and pleasing
countenance gain him good will at the start. Of his music it is folly for us to write. . . .
It is impossible to conceive a more perfect command over that instrument [violin] than he
possesses. The wonderful power of playing three or four distinct parts at the same time
he has bevond all other living men. The rapidity of execution, the liquid melody of tones,
&c., were matters of admiration to the large and attentive audience.
Of course from such a report as this very little idea can be obtained of Ole
Bull's wonderful music. The report has historical value only as an indication of
the impressions which that music made. A second concert by Ole Bull and the
child Patti was given at Neil's Hall on December 21, 1852, and, we are told, was
Music and the Drama. 791
"well aUeiuled." The pieces assii;-ue(l to Patti in this coucert were the grand
aria in Verdi's £";■»,//)/, Homr S,r,, f' //,„„, . an l^n-lish ballad, Trip! Trip! Trip!
and Jennj' Lind's ?Jr/io Somi. Olf Hull |ilayc(| variations on Bellini's Eomeo
and Jidiet, a caprice, and the < 'iinucil <if I'nurr. The Oliio Htatesmnii said of
this concert :
Tlie auilience went into ecstacies over every part of the entertainment. Strakosch
was listened to with deli;;ht, and la petite Patti was rapturously encored at the conclusion
of earli of her beautiful songs. She is certainly ttie greatest litllt wonder in the musical
world. . . . By request. Ole Bull played the sweetest of all his productions — the .Vot/ier's
Priii/cr. In our opinion it was the gem of the evening and brought tears to the eye of man-
hood in every part of the house.
In 1853 the city was visited by the Swiss Bel I ringers, Burke's Pautoniime, the
O.ssian B Dodge concert troupe and Rivers's Circus." During the performances of
the latter on July 4 a large number of seats fell, severely injuring several per-
sons. A small theatre called Walcutt's Museum was opened in December under
the management of A. McFarland. W. S. Forrest, F. Kent, J. B. Hackett and
J. H. Jenkins ]dayed there with considei-able success. A very popular song of
this year was the touching and musically beautiful Irish melody known as Katy
Darling, the simple and artless words of which, as illustrating the musical taste
and spirit of the period, are here reproduced :
" Oh they tell me thou art dead, Katy darling,
That thy smile I may nevermore behold I
lUd they tell thee I "was false, Katy darling.
Or my love for thee had e'er grown cold ?
Oh, they know not the loving of the hearts of Erin's sons
When a love like to tliine, Katy darling.
Is the goal to the race that he runs.
Oh hear me, sweet Katy,
For the wild flowers greet me, Katy darling,
And the lovebirds are singing on each tree;
Wilt thou nevermore hear me, Katy darling ?
Behold, love, I'm waiting for thee.
" I'm kneeling by the grave, Katy darling!
This world is all a blank world to me !
Oh could'st thou hear my wailing, Katy darling.
Or think, love, I'm sighing for thee I
Oh, methinks the stars are weeping, by their soft and lambent light ;
And thy heart would be melting, Katy darling,
Could'st thou see thy lone Dermot this night.
Oh, listen sweet Katy !
For the wild flowers are weeping, Katy darling.
And the lovebirds are nestling in each tree ;
Wilt thou nevermore hear me, Katy darling.
Or know, love, I'm weeping for thee I
" 'Tis useless, all my weeping, Katy darling!
But I'll pray that thy spirit be my guide,
And that when my life is spent, Katy darling,
They will lay me down to rest by thy side ;
Oh, a huge, great grief I'm bearing, though I scarce can heave a sigh.
And I'll ever be dreaming, Katy darling.
Of thy love every day till I die.
Farewell, then, sweet Katy !
For the wild flowers will blossom, Katy darling.
And the lovebirds will warble in each tree,
But in heaven I shall meet thee, Katy darling,
For there, love, thour't waiting for me."
792 History of the Citv of Columbus.
A compaDion sonsi to this, very popular though less charming in music oi-
sentiment, was that known as Lily Dale
In December 14, 1853, a third concert by Ole Bull and Patti. under leader-
ship of Maurice Strakosch, took place at Walcutt's Hall. Patti sang a cavatina
from Verdi's Ernani, Comin' Through the Rye and Jenny Lind's Echo Sony. Wal-
cutt's Museum, at this time known as the People's Theatre, opened with a new
company on January 30, 1854. A concert by M. Jullien and Anna Zerr was
given at Neil's Hall April 27. On December 4a" grand musical festival ' was
given at Neils Hall by Ole Bull, a-ssisted by Maurice and Max Strakosch and
others, under leadership of Max Maretzek. The city wa-* at this time in very sad
need of an auditorium suitable for concerts and theatrical performances. The
x^mbos Hall was used for such jjurposes in the winter of 1849-50. Various
projects for the ei-ectioii of a new theatre were discussed during the j'ear 1849;
finally, in May, 1855, a lot (]2J x 187^ feet, owned by Robert Neil, and described
as being adjacent to the residence of Robert McCoy on State Street opposite the
Capitol, was bought for the purpose of erecting a theatre by Kinnej', Burrell &
Co. The price paid was S8,000. A theatre which took the name Dramatic Tem-
ple was built on this ground during the spring and summer of 1855 and was
opened with its initial performance on the twelfth of the ensuing September.
Its architect was N. E. Lovejoy, its superintendent of construction J. Boswell,
its sealing capacity 1,500. John M. Kinney was its general manager and W. S.
Forrest its stage manager. The play at its opening was a comedy entitled Honey-
moon, which was followed by a farce called State Secrets. The members of the
slock company engaged for the season were Mesdames Deering, Powell, Hanchett
and Hogan, Misses Deering, Armstrong, Duncan, Jerome and Fouks, Messrs.
D. Hanchett, W. L. Forrest.^F. L. Kent, D. Vandeering, H. Gosson, D. Hcalev.
G. A. Pratt, M. Deering, C. Lovett, R. E. Miles, C. W. Powell, A. H. Seaman and
B. Castleton, and " the much admired and fascinating danseuse, La Belle Oceana."
The dropcurtain of the stage, painted by S. W. Gulich, was much admired. In
the presence of a full house the opening performance began with the Star Span-
t/leil Banner, sung by the entire dramatic corps. Miss Deering, who appeared as
the Goddess of Liberty in the singing, next read a poetic.il opening address writ-
ten by a member of the Columbus bar.' In the first lines of this address the pur-
poses of the new dramatic enterprise were thus sketched :
" Friends of the stage 1 we greet you here tonight I
With hearty hopes, and with predictions bright I
You will not fail to lend a gen'rous aid,
Our purpose known, our objects fairly weighed.
What is it then, that, cheered by your kind smile,
We hope to do? To win the meed of toil ;
To turn awhile from Labor's wearing round
To sparkling wit and Music's gladsome sound ;
To take from Trade its brow of moody care,
And set the grace of kinder feeling there ;
To Fashion's votaries show a nobler life
Than that they waste in Splendor's heartless strife ;
To teach e'en Beauty how supreme a grace
Is lent by Fancy to the loveliest face ;
The prondto humble and the low to raise
By bright example of the hero da5's ;
Not one fresh virtue of the soul to blight,
While vice turns fnarful from the appalling sight
Of his fell image, dark as hell and night."
fw^ m^
Music and the Drama. 793
A tragedy entitled AirdcoirUch, written by Hon. R. B. Warden, was ])erfoi-med
at the Dramatic Temple on December 12, 1855, for the benefit of Mr. Hanchett.
The reception of this play is .said to have been cordial and its success gratifying.
Its leading character is smitten with a terrible fancy that he is " cursed with the
gift of second sight." After its first representation the play was materially
changed by its author and was performed on two additional occasions at the Dra-
matic Temple.
On December 13, 1855, a grand concert was given at Neil's Hall by Mademoi-
selle Teresa Parodi. Miss Matilda Heron filled an engagement at the Dramatic
Temple early in 1856. Mrs. Macready, an English actress, and Mademoiselle
Camille Urso, a famous violinist, gave an entertainment on January 6, same year,
at Neil's Hall. Mrs. Duftield, nee Wemyss, appeared at the Dramatic Temple as
Parthenia in Ingomar on January 26 ; at the same place on Februarj' 4 Julia Dean
Hayne — the Julia Dean of the old Columbus Theatre — appeared in The Hxtnch-
baek. Ole Bull gave another concert in Columbus on February 15. Miss Maggie
Mitchell filled an engagement at the Dramatic Temple in June and July. Miss
Caroline Eichings appeared in concert at Columbian Hall on August 25. Han-
chett & Duffield became lessees of the Columbus Theatre [Dramatic Temple] in the
course of the year. In March, 1856, the Columbus Beethoven Association was
organized. Its purpose was stated to be to improve the populai- musical taste and
to exterminate •' the Uncle-Ned and Oh Susanah sort of music." On December
14, 1856, the Ohio Sfutesiiiun announced that the Columbus Theatre had " deceased."
Gradually, said the Statesman, " it sunk lower and lower until last week when it
was thought that equeatrian exercise [the play of Dick Turpin in which a trick
horse was introduced] might resuscitate it. No, it was too far gone." The States-
man broadly intimates that the institution owed its misfortunes chiefly to gift
concerts and plays in the nature of lotteries. In January, it was reopened bj'
Broderiek & Oakley as lessees, with Thomas Oakley as manager. A few weeks
later the concern was advertised to be sold on March 25 by the sheriff.
In 1857, S. Thalberg — M. Strakosch director — gave a concert at Neil's Hall;
at the same place, on May 27, a like performance was given by Madame Anna de
la Grange. On December 19, same year, the Thalia Verein performed Von
Weber's opera, Preciosa, at Carpenter's Hall. The Maiinerchor took part and
Professor Xotliagel led the orcliestra, which was that of the Beethoven Associa-
tion. On December 25, 1857. the Columbus Theatre passed under the proprietor-
ship and management of ElJsler & Vincent. C. W. Couldock, in Shakespearean
parts, occupied its stage iti January; its principal star in February was Miss
Matilda Heron. On May 22, same year, a musical entertainment was given at the
Concert Hail by Sigisrnund Thalberg and Henr}- Vieuxtemps Maggie Mitchell,
who was a great favorite, returned in June. During the summer of this year, and
several subsequent ones, 0])en air concerts were given on the Capitol Square by
Goodman's Band, which had been organized some years previously. McKean
Buchanan closed an engagement at the theatre in May; soon after this wo hear
that the establishment had again fallen into financial trouble. Karl Formes's
troupe and orchestra appeared at Concert Hall on September 28. On November
2 the Thalia Verein gave a performance of Schiller's Bobbers.
In January and February, 1859, engagements were filled at the Columbus
Theatre by Ada Isaacs Menken. Miss Matilda Heron ])layed four nights on the
same stage in March. The managers of the theatre were Ellsler & Vincent.
The Beethoven Association gave its fourth annual concert in March. The Parodi
Italian Opera Troupe appeared on October 28 at Armory Hall. The entertain-
ment consisted of selections from dift'erent operas. In February, 1860, Lola
Montez, " Countess of Lansfeldt," delivered a lecture on Fashion at the Odeon.
In July, same year, the city was visited by Van Amburg's Circus and in Novem-
794 History of the City of Columbus.
ber following John C. Heenan, tLe famous New York pugilist, gave an exhibition
at Armory Hall. A concert by Adelina Patti at the same plac^ December 6 was
attended by " a fiiir audience." On January 15, 1861, the theatre on State Street
was reopened under the management of T. L. Donnellj^ lessee. The opening
play was Tlie HumMack, in which the part of Julia was taken by Miss Cramp-
ton. At Armory Hall concerts were given by the Cecilian Verein, a new organ-
ization, on April 8, and by Madame Anna Bishop and Edward Seguin in Decem-
ber, 1801. Apollo Hall was opened during that year in Kannemacher's building
on South High Street, and became the headquarters of the Thalia Verein.
Naughtou's Hall was opened to the public in February, 1862. The Alleghanians
gave a concert there on February 6. Dan Rice's and Van Amburg's circuses
were among the traveling exhibitions of 1862. Mrs. Chanfrau made her first
appearance in Columbus on February 3. James E. Murdock gave readings at
Naughton Hall February 14. The Webb sisters -- Emma and Ada — were among
the star jjlayers on the State Street stage in September. A concert was given by
Carlotta Patti and L. M. Gottechalk at Naughton Hall December 6.
In January, 1863, the State Street theatre was reopened, with an improved
interior, under the name of The Atheneum, John A. Ellsler manager. Mr. and
Miss Couldoek were its stars in March. Gottsclialk and Brignoli gave a conceri
at Naughten Hall December 4. Miss Caroline Eiehings took a benefit at the
Atlieneuni December 11. Walcutfs Museum came to an end on November 4,
after an existence of fifteen j-ears.
In 1863 the erection of an opera house, afterwards variously known as
C'omstock's and the Metropolitan, on South High Street, was begun by Benjamin
E. Smith and Theodore Comstock. The building was completed in 1864, and was
first opened to the public on September 9 of that year. Its architects were J. C.
Aiild & Son ; its seating capacity was twelve hundred. The auditorium
measured 86 x 110 feet from wall "to wall; the stage was thirtysix feet deep.
The opening performance in this building was that of Verdi's 11 Trovatore. On
Deccnilici' :;o Miss Laura Keene appeared upon its stage as Lady Teazle. One
of its leading- dramatic figures early in 1865 was Olive Logan. On February 20
of tiiat year the De Beriot Club gave a concert at the Opera House for the ben-
efit of the Orjjhans' Home. Blind Tom, the negro pianist, gave a performance
at the Atheneum August 14. He frequentl3- I'eturned to Columbus afterwards.
Lawrence Barrett appeared upon the Opera House stage on September 8 in
Mtrchant of Vi'iiicf. Miss Caroline Schneider, a Columbus pianist, gave her first
concert on October 20 at Naughten Hall. Miss Clara Morris, who began her
dramatic career in Columbus, made her initial appearance in the city as leading
actress on Sejitember 2. Among the November stars on the Columbus stage
were ilr. and Mrs. Charles Kean. On December 25 a Christmas oratorio was
sung bj- the Mendelssohn Club.
In Columbus, as in other military centers during the Civil War, the tone and
character of the drama were much impaired by the prevailing tendencj' to cater
to purely military tastes and adopt the mannerisms and current expressions of the
camp. Some of these expressions were far from being refined ; they were not even
decent. They were tolerated while hostilities lasted, but after the war closed a
better taste began to assert itself, and demanded their discontinuance.
Among the theatrical stars which appeared on the Columbus stage in 1866
was Edwin Forrest, supported by Miss Lillie and John McCullough." In June,
1866, an operatic performance was given at the Opera House by an Italian com-
pany under the direction of Max Strakosch.
On August 29, 30, and 31, and September 1, 1865, the Noith American
Sangerbund held its annual festival in Columbus. This was one of the most
important musical occasions in the history of the city. The executive committee
Musifi AND THE Drama. 795
of ari'anu;ements comprised the following members: Peter Ambos president,
J. G. Bull vice president, C. P. L. Butler recording- secretary, Henry Olnliausen
corresponding secretary, Louis Hosier treasurer, J. P. Bruck, Isaac H. Marrow,
C. A. Wagner, J. H. Stauring, J. G. Biokel, Otto Dresel, Jacob Reinhard, Joseph
H. Eiley, Theodore ComstocU, E. Barciis, Isaac Eberly, J. Palkonbacli. The head-
quai'tcrs of the comniittee were at Schreiners building, opposite the Courthouse.
Other prominent places of rendezvous were Wenger's and Zettler's halls. All of
these buildings, and many others, were lavishly decorated with wreaths, flags,
mottoes and streamers. The headquarters of the Columbus Miinnerchor were in
Hettejfheimer's buildinii-. F(jr presentation to the Siingerbund, a splendid Bundes-
fahtie (flag of tlic .Sinucr's rnion)was manufactured in New York on the order
of the Gerniuii ladi.'-s of Columbus, at a cost ot S450. This flag was thus
described :
Ou the white side of it a niagiiifioent embroidered eagle spreads his wings over a lyre ;
beneath the lyre is a book of sheet music on which we see the song, " Stand tirm, my coun-
try," etc. The whole is surrounded by grapes and grape leaves; the stars over the lyre
represent the societies participating in the festival. The inscription, in beautiful (merman
letters (violet color) is as follows; "First German Siingerbund of North America, founded
June 2, 18t9." The other sidi- is ot blue silk, bearing tlie following inscription: "' Donated
by the German ladies of Columbus, Ohio, at tlie Thirteeiitli Union Festival, August 29,
l.Sli.i." The whole is a beautiful work of embroidery.^
Tlie first day of the festival, August '29. was de\i:)ted to the reception of visit-
ing societies, of which the following hud announced their intention to be present:
Sii^ngerbund of Buffalo. Mannerclior of Indianapolis. .Siingerbund of Upper San-
dusky, Frohsinii of Pittsburgh, Miinnerchoi- of Wheeling, Sangerbund of iSt.
Fiouis, Harmonia of Dayton, Sangerbund of Cincinnati, ( iesangvei'ein of Cleve-
land, Concordia of Cheboygan, Michigan, Liedcrtatcl <>t' lliirtali). Miinnerchor of
Cincinnati, IJederkraiiz, Orpheus and l"'rohsii f l.iuii.sville, [jiederkranz of
Sidney, Eintracht of Chillicothc, .Maiinci-(ln,r ol ('oluinbus. Indiana, Gesang-
verein of Piqua, Harmonia of ('inrinnati, Bnidcrbund of Tittin, .Manncrchor of
Rochester, LiedertafeL of Akron, (iermaniaof Dunkirk, New York, Harmonia of
AVbeeling, Frohsinn of Toledo and Liederkranz of New York City.
On the evening of August 30 the grand opening concert was given at the
Opera House, which was crowded in evi't-y ]);irt. (^n the stage were about four
hundred singers rc].)resenting the different soeieties. The daily newspapers
described the performance by ecstatic refeieiiees of too general a nature to be of
historical value. During the evening of August Ml a grand prize concert took
place in the presence of an audience as largj as the Opera House could possibly
contain. The members of the awarding committee were Messrs. H. M. Griinlaiid.
Professor Nothnagel, Carl Schop])clrei, Eniil Forster and Carl Spohr, The awards
made were as follows: To the Cincinnati ^laniierchor the crown prize, consisting
of a laurel wreath and a silver goblet ; to the New York Liederkranz a silver set ; to
the Pittsburgh Frohsinn and the Akron Liedcrtafel each a silver cup; to the
Rochester Miinnerchor a silver embroidered banner and scarf; to the Tiffin
Bruderbund a guitar; to the Louisville Liederkranz a drinking horn; to the
Buffalo Sangerbund a picture; to the Indianapolis Miiiinercbor photographs ;
to the St. Louis Sangerbund a flute; to the Upper Sandusky Siingerbund a silver
tuningfork.
On the morning of September 1 the different societies inarched to the Capitol
Square bearing their banners dressed with crape as a token of respect to Governor
Brough who had just died in Cleveland. In the presence of a great crowd which
bad assembled around the Capitol the Cincinnati Mannerchor sang very impres-
sively the dirge, "In the Grave, is Peace." This was followed b}' the Sfnr
796 History of the City of Columbus.
Spanghd Banner, sung iu English by Mr. Stein, of St. Louis. At the conclusion
of this music the singing societies, a detachment of military, and various other
bodies formed in procession and marched to the Fairgrounds, south of the city,
where the exorcises of the day were opened with an address in German by Doctor
J. Eberhardt, of Wheeling, after whom an address in English was delivered by
Hon. B. B. Warden, of Columbus. At the conclusion of the speaking the singers
and invited guests sat down to a dinner spread in the grove. The remainder of the
daj- was spent in songs, miscellaneous speeches and amusements. In the evening
banquets and dancing took place at Wenger's and Zettler's halls.
From this time forward the musical and dramatic events of the city become
so numerous that only the more conspicuous and important can be mentioned.
Those which pertain especially to the Mannerchor and Liederkranz have re-
ceived due attention in the sketches of those societies. In November, 1866, it
was announced that Professor Cai-1 Schoppelrei had organized for the Opera
House a new orchestra of fifteen performers. The De Beriot Club, organized
in 1859, maintained its prominence throughout the sixties, and gave concerts or
dramatic performances in various cities of Ohio. A concert troupe of which
Parcpaand Brignoli were stars gave a performance on December 29, 1866, at the
Opera Hou.se. At the same place, on October 7 and 8, 1867, Madame Anna de la
Grange and Signor Brignoli sang in operatic concert portions of Eossini's
Barber of Seville and Donizetti's Bon Pasquale. The director of these perform-
ances was Signor Rosa. The Mendelssohn Quintette Club of Boston appeared
at the 0]iera House October 25. In December Madame Adelaide Ristori gave, at
the same place, performances in the characters of Mary Stuart and Queen
Elizabeth. On March 3, 1868. Ole Bull reappeared with his marvelous violin at
Naughten Hall ; on December 9 he gave a concert at the Opera House. On
April 30, 1868, another concert was given by Madame La Grange and Brignoli.
On March 3, 1869, Josepii Jefferson appeared at the Opera House in Rip Van
Winkle. On December 13, same year, the city was favored with a concert by
the Theodore Thomas orchestra of forty musicians. On January 11, 1870,
Haydn's Creation was sung at the Opera House by the Philharmonic Society;
Professor Herman Eckhardt director. In this performance Mrs. Lizzie Eckhardt
appeared as Gabriel, Mr. Joseph Falkenbach as Raphael, Miss Mina Senter as
Eve, Mr. H. Hyde as Uriel and H. W. Frillman as Adam. The orchestra com-
prised thirty musicians. Bj- the same society, at the same place, Eossini's
Stabat Mater was performed on April 21, Professor Eckhardt directing. Ole Bull
again appeared at the Opera House in April; on April 21 a transient fraud
known as the " Cardiff giant " was exhibited. On May 2, 1870, Mozart's superl)
opera, the Marriage of Figafo, was sung at the Opera House with Parepa-Eosa,
the reigning queen of song, in the leading pai't. Parepa was supported by Miss
Rose Hei-see, Mrs. E. Seguin and Mr. S. C. Campbell; Carl Ro.sa conductor. The
oratorio of Queen Est/ier was sung at the Opera House August 25 and 26, 1870,
by a company of local amateurs for the benefit of the Hannah Neil Mission.
The chorus comprised one hundred voices. The Philharmonic Societj-, led bj^
Professor Eckhardt, gave a grand concert at the Opera House in December. In
November the city was favored with a dramatic visit by John E. Owens. Clara
Louise Kellogg and the pianist James H. Welhi gave a concert at the Opera
House December 28. Anna Louise Cary, accompanied bj' Signor Brignoli and
the great French violinist, Henry Vieuxtemps, followed on February 11, 1871.
On February 22, that year, the city was favored with the superb vocalism of
Christine Niisson. Mademoiselle Nilsson was accompanied by Anna Louise
Cary, Brignoli, Henry Vieuxtemps and others. The gross receipts of this con-
cert amounted to $4,400. Eossini's opera, Wilb'am Tell, was performed by the
Thalia Verein at the Opera House Februar}' 27. William Bach, long connected
Music and the Drama. 797
with the German opera in eastern cities, removed to and settled in Columbus this
year. Under the name of Neil's New Athcneum the State Street theatre, after a
long period of desuetude, was reopened on November 13, 1871. The opening
performance was given i)^- Columbus amateurs in a comic opera, entitled the
Doctor of Alcantara. As reconstructed by Mr. Neil, the Atheneum had a seating
capacity of 1,500. Flotow's Martha was sung at the Opera House by the Parepa-
Eosa Company December 14. Among Parepa's assistants were Mr. S. C. Camp-
bell, Mr. W. r.istle, and Mr. and Mrs. Seguin. On February 8 and 9, 1872, the
operas Lud'i </• L^nim:, niioor and Fra Diavolo were performed at the Opera House
with Christine XiUson as principal Star. Supporting parts were taken by Brig-
noli, Barre, Victor Capoul, Anna Louise Gary and Mademoiselle Leon Duval.
Sells Brothers' Circus, a Columbus enterprise, was announced this year, as " the
most stupendous confederation of exhibitions ever placed before the American
public." The "confederation" comprised three or four different shows com-
bined as one. A Strakosch concert by Carlotta Patti, Anna Louise Gary, Signer
Mario and other stars, was one of the entertainments vouchsafed in November.
H. J. Sargeant became manager of the Atheneum in December, 1872, and opened
the establishment in January, 1873, with the play of Caste. On February 25,
1873, a complimentary testimonial concert was given for the benefit of Miss
Emma McCarter. In April of the same year Madame Pauline Lucca and Miss Clara
Louise Kellogg appeared in the operas // Trovatore and Faust. During the
same month and year the Atheneum was sold by Mr. William A. Neil to
Messrs. B. T. Mithoffand H. T. Chittenden. P. T. Barnum's "Great Traveling
World's Fair" arrived Julj' 18. In Deceml)er Richard Porter, a colored man,
was denied admission to a parquette chair on account of his race, and in conse-
quence of this action considerable discussion of a political nature ensued.
At the Opera House on March 30, 1874, lima di Murska appeared at the
Opera House in Li/cia di Lammermoor. Pauline Lucca reappeared in May, in the
opera Mignon. Later in the season Madame Janauschek played in the title roles
of Mary Stuart and Macbeth. In December, 1875, an Eisteddfod was held by
Welsh singing societies at the City Hall. Several prizes were awarded. The
Beethoven Club and the Shakespearean Club were local organizations of promi-
nence in 1876. Another Eisteddfod took place at the City Hall on Christmas Day,
1877; president, John M. Pugh ; conductor, Rees E. Lewis. A Central Ohio dis-
trict Simgerfest took place at Columbus on July 10 and 11, 1878. A grand con-
cert was given and the Central Ohio Siingerbund was organized. The principal
speakers of the festival were J. H. Heitman and Henry Olnhausen. The visiting
and local societies enjoyed their usual parade, banquet and ball. The Columbus
Harmonia Society was organized in September with about eighty members. In
October Professor Herman Eckhardt's Columbus Quartette was organized and
equipped with instruments. In May, 1879, it gave its third grand concert. Three
performances of the comic opera Doctor of Alcantara, were given by the Amphion
Club, at the Opera House, then known as Comstock's, in April, 1880. In Decem-
ber of the same year Miss Mary Anderson appeared at the Grand Opera House
(former Atheneum) on State Street, as The Countess. Madame Sarah Bernhardt,
with Henry B. Abbey's French company, played at Comstock's in February,
1881. During the latter part of that year the Orpheus Club was organized. Min
nie Hauck appeared in concert at the Grand Opera House March 12, 1883. She
was accompanied by Constantine Sternberg, a Eussian pianist. On April 23, a
reception and benefit were given at Comstock's to a young Columbus actor, Mr,
George A. Backus. In May, same year, a musical festival was held under the
auspices of the Orpheus Club. Among the outside participants in this festival
wei-e the Thomas orchestra and the pianist, Madame Julia Eive-King. The Ohio
Music Teachers' Association held its annual meeting at the Highschool building
798 History of the City of Colcmbus.
in December. Heni\y Irvirii; and Ellen Terry, famous English plaj-ers, appeared
at Corastock's on February 5, 1884, in Louis XI. At the same place, on May 8,
1885, a performance was given under the auspices of the Orpheus Club by the
celebrated pianist, Raphael Josefty. An Eisteddfod was held in January'. The
State Music Teachers' Association met at the Highschool chapel in December.
On November 17. 1884, the Arion (^lub, a male choral society, was organized.
Most of its charter members had belonged to a political glee club led by \Y. H.
Lott. At Comstock's on Februarj- 1, 1886, the Orpheus Club gave a successful
concert. The Central Ohio Eisteddfod met at the City Hall, February 10, 1886,
and elected officers. In this year the Comstock Opera House was reconstructed
by Mr. Isaac Eberly, who had become its principal proprietor,' and who changed
its name to The Metropolitan. The improvements made in the building by Mr.
Eberly cost about §30,000.
In December, 1886, the Columbus Orchestra was organized. Its most active
founders were C. C. Neereamer, who was made its director, and concertmasters
S. B. Bayer and F. Neddermeyer. On February 20, 1887, a musicians' union was
organized; on the same date the Grand Opera House was destroyed by tire. In
May a series of festival concerts was given under the auspices of the Arion Club.
The Ohio Music Teachers' Association held a very successful and interesting con-
vention at Columbus in June. The Columbus Orchestra gave its first concert on
June 8. A concert by the Orpheus Club took place November 14. On January
20, 1888, the Columbus Opera Club was organized. On February 23, same year,
a Welsh prize concert was given at the Second Presbyterian Church. In June
the Ohio Music Teachers' Association held its ninth annual convention at Colum-
bus. In the course of its proceedings several interesting concerts wei-e given.
During the winter of 1889-90 two performances were given at the Metropolitan
by the great Italian tragedian, Salvini.
On" June 17, 18 and 19, 1884, the fourth Simgerfest of the Central Ohio
Siingerbund was held at Springfield, Ohio. In the course of the proceedings on
that occasion it was decided to hold the next festival of the Bund at Columbus in
1887. Accordingly, preparations for the event began to be made in the ensuing
July, committees were appointed, and a canvass for subscriptions to a guarantj'
fund began. The following officers for the general organization of local manage-
ment and direction were chosen ; President, Joseph Dauben ; vice presidents,
George J. Brand, C. Hertenstein and George Janton ; treasurer, John Farmer ;
financial secretary, Adolf Theobald ; corresponding secretary, Thomas F. M. Koch;
recording secretary, Louis Wichert; musical director, Herman Eckhardt. Com-
inittees on music, finance, halls, quarters, amusements, railways, decorations,
reception, procession and baggage were appointed, and the following accom])lished
soloists were engaged for the concerts: Mesdames FurschMadi, Emma H.
Perkins and T. H. Schneider, Miss Anna Tresselt, and Messrs. Max Heinrich,
William Bach, Henry Lippert and Michael Brand. A grand festival chorus con-
sisting of about one hundred voices — ladies and gentlemen of the city^ — was
organized and trained by Professor Herman Eckhardt, and a grand chorus of
school children was organized by Professor W. H. Lott. The Cincinnati orches-
tra, comprising sixty performers, was engaged for the grand concerts, three in
number, one to be given on Friday evening, July 29, and two on Saturday, July
30. A large number of the German singing societies of Ohio, besides several
from neighboring States, participated in the festival. These societies mostly
arrived, and were received by the local organizations, on June 29. In honor of the
occasion many buildings in the city were handsomely decorated.
Space will not admit of a detailed description of the musical and other festiv-
ities of this great carnival of song. The concerts were given at the rink on West
Goodale Street, under the leadership of Professor Eckhardt, and were of a magifi-
Music and the Drama. 799
cent character. The outdoor speeches, banquets and amusements took place at
the Citj Park. Utitbrtunatel3- for the financial success ot the festival a heated
term of great severity prevailed durinsf its entire continuance. This, with other
untoward circumstances, caused a deficit in the recciiDts, as compared with the
expenses, amounting to about 14,500.
On January 25, 1892, the Metropolitan Opera House took fire and was com-
pletely destroyed. The Henrietta Theatre, a very handsome dramatic temple
erected by Mr. H. T. Chittenden on West Spring Street, was opened to the pub-
lic on September 1, 1S92. During the same year the Grand Opera House, which
had been rebuilt directly after its destruction by fire in 18S7, received a new front
and was completely and handsomely remodeled.
With the conclusion of this chapter on Music and the Drama in Columbus the
author has reached the end of the historical drama, if haply it maj- be so called,
on which, for over three years past he has been engaged. On October 8, 1891, he
began writing the text of these volumes; on October 8, 1892, he writes these con-
cluding words.
The curtain may now descend.
NOTES.
1. A " showground " of this period lay just east of the present City Hall, on the south
side of State Street ; another was at the corner of Third and Town streets ; a third on the
" Asbury lot," on Rich Street, between Third and Fourth.
2. One of Welch & Delavan's leading attractions was Madame Marie Macarte, a beauti-
ful and famous equestrienne.
3. Ohio Stale Journal, November S, 1S.51 .
4. Ohio State Journal.
5. Probably Hon. R. B. Warden.
6. Ohio Statesman.
7. A joint proprietor with Mr. Eberly was Mr. Ebenezer Barcus.
'c^ aP .fC(5 Jilccaa/
Biographical.
51»
CHAPTER LI
REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
MITCHELL CAMPBELL LILLEY
[Portrait opposite page lfi.|
Was boi-11 July 18, 1819, in Augusta County, Virtjinia, and is tlie son of John and
Elizabeth (Doak) Lilley. Both the Lilleys and the Doaks were of the colonial
period. Members of the latter Jamily were ro])resentatives in the House of
Burgesses when the Virginia colony was under English dominion, and members
of both the Lilley and the Doak families took an active part in the Eevolutionarj-
War Colonel Robert Doak, the grandfather, organized and drilled a company
for the war, and gained the title of Colonel through subsequent service.
Rev. Samuel Doak, the pioneer oducatoi' of Tennessee, was also of this family.
John Lilley, the father of M. C. Lilley, is said to have taken the first hogshead of
tobacco Irom Augusta County, Virginia, across the nidiiniains to the m.n-kets of
Richmond.
Mr. Lilley left Virginia at the age of ten, and traveled on horseback to
Brown County, Ohio, to make his home with Judge and Mrs. Eleanor Doak
Campbell, who cared for the orphan boy as if he were their own son and whose
home afforded him influences and opportunities of a i-are character. Judge
Campbell, on the accession of General Jackson to the Presidency, was nominated
for the office of District Judge of the United States Court for the State of Ohio.
His nomination being confirmed, the family removed in 1831 to Columbus, where,
since that time, Mr. Lilley has resided. He was educated ]irincipally at the
private schools of Columbus, antl complete 1 his education at Hic Capital Uni-
versity on South High Street. In 1835, at the age of sixteen, he started to learn
the trade of bookbinding, in which line of business he has been interested more
or less ever since. He is now (1890) serving his twentyfourth year as superin-
tendent of the State Bindery, and is also senior member of the M. C. Jjilley &
Company manufacturing concern which was organized in 18U5. When the
Mexican War broke out he enlisted (May 10, 1847) and was made Captain of
Company E, Fourth Ohio Regiment. He was discharged with the company on
July 18, 1848. In the Civil War of 1861-5 he went out early in command of a
company of Home Guards which he led to a point on the Cincinnati & Marietta
Railway, traveling from Columbus by stage. Nearly every member of that com-
[803]
804 History of the City of Columbus.
puny tigiired fonspicuously in the conflict that followed. In 18t!l he was given
corauiand of Company H, Fortysixth Ohio Infantry, but owing to ill health he
was obliged to resign in January, 1863, at La Grange, after takin^active part in
the battle of Shiloh only.
ilr. Lilley was married to Amanda C. Brooks near Paris, Illinois, on
September 4, 1849. Out of their family of thirteen children, eight are living,
namely, Eleanor C, now Mrs. Nutt; Thomas AI. ; Kate M., now Mrs Haller;
William A. ; Alexander S. ; M.. C, Junior ; Harriet and Anna. Mrs. Lilley died
on July 21, 1887, at Columbus, Ohio. On January 24, 18S9, he was married to
Katherine E. McConnell, at Columbus. Mr. Lilley is aflSliated with the Demo-
cratic party, but has never taken an active part in political affairs. He is a
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Uniform
Rank, and the Grand Army Republic. He attends the Presbj-terian Church
being a memlier of the Eroad Street Church of that denomination, and one of its
board ot trustees.
MICHAEL ERNEST SCHRoCK
[Portrait opposite page 32. J
Was born June 24, 183G, on his father's farm, ouehalf mile south of Canal
Winchester, in what was then a part of Fairfield County, Ohio, but has since been
added to Franklin County. His father, John Schrock, was born in York Count}-,
Pennsylvania, in 1799, and died in Franklin County, Ohio, in 1832. His mother,
Lida Ernest, was born in Pennsylvania in 1802 and died in Franklin Count}' in
1874. In 1834 his parents moved from York to Franklin County, Ohio, where
they engaged in farming. Their family consisted of seven children : Caroline,
Henr}', Louisa, Michael, William, CoUan and Lydia, who with the exception of
Caroline and Louisa are all still living.
Mr. Schrocks education was limited. During his boyhood school was only in
session three months in the year, and was held in what was known as the Zimmer
Schoolliouse, one mile trom his home and halfway between Canal Winchester and
Lithopolis. He was deprived of the privilege of attending regularh^ during the
limited session, as he, with his brothers, had the farm to clear and get readj- for
spring plowing. In the summer ol 1855, he started to learn the trade of plasterer
and was apprenticed for three years to H. L. Boos, of Miflin Township, who was
at that time the best man in his trade in that section. He rapidly acquired a full
knowledge of the business and in the second year of his apprenticeship had entire
charge of the work. In 1857 he worked at his trade for himself and was success-
ful to such an extent that the end of the year found him with a nice sum laid
aside.
It was then that he determined to go to California. On December 15, 1857,
he started for New York and on the twentieth day of the same month boarded
the steamer George Law. He reached Aspinwall December 30, and on the same
day crossed the Isthmus of Panama by rail and took passage on the steamer
Golden Gate for California. During his stay in California, most of his time was
spent in Trinity Count}'. He had very good success in mining and owned one of
the richest claims in the county, but it was not fully developed until after his
departure in September, 1862. The first news that he obtained of the late war
was on his arrival in New Y'ork. On reaching his home he found that his brother,
William, was in the regular military service and that there was no one to run the
farm. He therefore settled down to a farmer's life until 1864, when he started to
HurtllKllI ^ Cnlll
and .McDouul.i,
lina-u,
In 188;-). .Mr. II
Marfh', 1892, it
; was
m„ler"thenanu.
reincorporated
Representative Citizens. 805
cross the mountains to Montana, in which country he remained one ^^ear. Here
he was again successful in mining, his fieh.l of operations being on Alder Creek,
near Virginia City. In 18G5 he returned to Franklin County, where he has since
resided.
In 18(37 Mr, .Schrock purchased his father's farm and on March 22, 1868, he
married Mary .1. Decker, daughter of B. B. Decker, a grain dealer in Canal
Winchester. He has a fiamily of five children : Cora L,, Charles P., Sarah A.,
Claude E,. an<l Elisha B. He remained on his farm until 1878, at which time he
engaged in the airricultural imjjiement trade in Canal Winchester. Being suc-
cessful ill this he in 1881 started a store in < 'olumhus with .lohn Huffman. In
1882. .1. B. McDrnial.l was l:.ken into (],,■ lirni. whi.-h was known as Schrock,
Itrniai, ~ol s infr.-t lo Mi-M-s. .'^rhrork
knowi, us Schrork cV .McDonald. It was
Of The Schrock-McDonald Company. In
as the M. E. Schrock Compan}^ with
Ml-. Schrock as president and raanagei-, Mr. Schrock being the only original mem-
ber that retained any interest in it.
Politically .Mr. .^L-lirock is considei-ed a Republican, but he votes foi- princijde
and not |iart\-. His first vote was for Lincoln for President. He is an ardent
inemher of the Masonic fraternit}', having joined Lithopolis Lodge, No. I(i9,
F. & A. M , in 1862. Some time in 1882 or 1883 he became a charter member of
Potter Lodge, No. 540, F. & A. M., in Canal Winchester. In 1886 he became con-
nected with the Sons of America, and soon after that took the degree from Master
Mason to thirtvsecond degree in the Scottish Rite. He also holds membership in
Kailroad Lodge", Kuights of Pythias.
WILLIAM .MONTGOMERY SAVAGE
Was the descendant of a sturdj' race, his ancestors having come from the Isle
of Jersey during the sixteenth century with Sir Walter Raleigh, locating in that
portion of the country later known as the State of North Carolina. John York
Savage, the father of the subject of our sketch, resided early in the present cen-
tury at Liberty, North Carolina, where William M. Savage was born August 6.
1814, being ihc oldest of quite a family of children. When he was a lad of four-
teen, the family removed to Raleigh, where, until arriving at the age of eighteen,
he passed his time between the workshop of his father, — a skilled mechanic man-
ufacturing watches, clocks and guns — and the printing-office, until he secured
work as a printer in Richmond, Virginia. At the age of nineteen he was united
in marriage to Mrs. Mary S. Johns, a native of Helston, Cornwall, England.
Soon after'this event he returned to Raleigh, and engaged in the publication of a
newspa]ier. This not proving a profitable venture, and his father having removed
to the City of New York, he joined him there, and together they worked at the trade
of watchmaking. After a year or more William M. Savage was stricken with that
dread disease, the smallpox, the marks of which he carried through life. Upon
his recovery, hearing wonderful reports of the new western country, he concluded
to seek his fortune towards the setting sun. When near Columbus his wife was
taken ill. During the delay occasioned thereby, he secured a position as watch-
maker with Mr. William A. Piatt, the leading jeweler of the place. At the expi-
ration of eigliteen months he embarked in business for himself^ and erected a small
frame shop, which he had placed upon large rollers like wheels, so that, in case of
806 History of the City of Columbus.
fire, the building could be drawn into the street, those surrounding it being also of
wood. In after years he would humorouslj' speak of it as the only jeweler's store
in Ohio on wheels.
Of sober and industrious habits, Mr. Savage gaineil the respect of the com-
munit}', and in a short time made fast friends, one among whom, Mr. James Wil-
.son, who owned a dry goods store, finding that Mr. Savage had slender means,
depending vvhollj' upon his daily labor for the support of his then increasing family,
generously volunteered a loan, and laid upon his counter an old stocking, the
golden contents of which were the foundation of a flourishing business, a compe-
tency in later years, and a bond of friendshi]) only severed by death. This came
during an exciting period, the memorable " hard cider campaign " of 184U, and the
money — between thirty and fortj' dollars — was invested in campaign badges and
medals, which were soon disposed of, enabling the recipient of this unsolicited
benefaction to repay his good friend and leave a small sum as a nucleus for future
business. Referring to tihe first directory of Columbus, for the years 1843 and
1844, ))uhlished by James R. Armstrong, whose friendship for Mr. Savage antedates
this time, we find in an advertisement the modest announcement that " VV. M.
Savage, opposite Russell's Hotel, on High Street, keeps on hand a small but g(^od
selection of watches and jewelrj-." In 1846 he moved to the Ambos building,
opposite the Slate offices on High Street, where he continued in business until
1856, when he erected a business building a few doors south, and occupied the same
until the time of his death, which occurred on April 28, 1892, he having been in
business in Columbus for tiftj-two years, thirtj'six years in the same room. Dur-
ing this time there were born to him six sons, four of whom, William, Edwin,
James and Charles, survive him, John having died at the age T)f twentyeight and
Frank in infancy.
On November 3, 1884, Mr. and Mrs. Savage celebrated the fiftieth anniver-
sary of tlieir wedded life. Mr. Savage addressed letters to Richmond, Virginia,
to the minister who officiated, and a number of the friends, whom ho hoped might
have been spared of those who were present at his marriage in 1834, extending
them an invitation to be his guests from the time of leaving their doors until their
return from the golden wedding; but they were either scattered or time had not
dealt so kindly with them, as there was no response, although from different parts
of the country, from friends of later j'ears, came manj- letters and messages,
freighted with kind wishes and congratulations,
Mr. Savage was a deep student and of an earnest nature, for many years a member
of Trinity Episcopal Church, ofiiciatingas vestryman, butin later years and up to the
the time of his death, a firm believer in the doctrines of spiritualism. He found recre-
ation in the study of astronomy, in which he delighted. The happy possessor of
fine instruments, he erected a small observatorj^ in the yard of his pleasant home,
and spent many happy hours studj'ing the wonders of the heavens and communing
with nature. He was not averse to the amenities of society, and was always
pleased to have his friends around him. He was a member of the order of Odd
Fellows, having passed through all the chairs, being Past Grand of Columbus
Lodge Number 9, and Past Patriarch of Capital Encampment Number 6, and a
life member of the order of Free and Accepted Masons. We find by the records
that he was the first one initiated into Magnolia Lodge, of Columbus, previous to
receiving their charter, the Honoralile Bela Latham presiding, working under a
dispensation granted by Grand Master W. B. Thrall. The meetings were held at
this time in the upper story of the Ambos building. After the second year, hav-
ing passed through the different offices, he was elected Worshipful Master of the
lodge, and on him alone was the distinguished honor conferred of occupying that
ofiice for six consecutive terms — the most protracted incumbency held by any
member up to the present time. He was a natural leader, of sterling qualities and
Representative Citizens. 807
the strictest integi-it}', one whom his friends respected and were pleased to honori
"a true man among men." Of commanding presence, rugged physique and a
strong constitution that withstood the ravages of time, his tall and unbent form
was a I'amiliar figure to the older residents and business men of the city, carrying
as he did, so well, a number of years beyond the allotted term of threescore and
ten. During the fall of 1H91, both Mr. and Mrs. Savage suffered from an attack
of la grippe, from which they never fully recovered. On January twentythird,
1892, by the death of his beloved helpmate, Mr. Savage sustained a shock from
the effects of which, all his interest in life seemed to fade away; rapidly failing
he became an easy mark, and went down like ripened grain before the sickle of
the fell destroyer. The same kind Providence that had permitted them to jour-
ney side by side for tiftyseven years, decreed but a short separation. Within
thivc nhon months he was called to join, in the spirit-land, "the gentle wife who
unto his _youlh wiis given." " Bequiescat In pace."
JAMES KILBOURNE JONES
[Portrait opposite page 80.]
Was born at Columbus, Ohio, on July 10, 1836. His father, Ichabod Gibson
Jones, was burn at ITnity, Maine, and after receiving a common school education
taught school while studying his profession, that of medicine. He early moved
to Worthington, Ohio, where he married Cynthia Kilbourne, daughter of the late
Colonel Jjimes Kilbourn, of that place. They soon after removed to Columbus,
where Doctor Jones became quite prominent in his profession and at one time
was a professor in the Cincinnati Medical College.
James K., the subject of this sketch, attended the common schools of
Columbus, was during two years at a militarj' school in Springfield, Ohio. He
finally graduated from Kenyon College at Gambler, Ohio, in June, 1858. He
then read law for two years and a half with Mr. John W. Andrews and Henry C.
Noble. Before finishing his law studies the War for the Union broke out.
Mr. Jones immediately went into the service and the records show that he was the
first enli-sted man in the State of Ohio after the oflacial call for troops. In April,
1861, he entered the army as a private in the State Fencibles, which company was
assigned to the Second Ohio Infantry, and with them took part in the first battle
of Bull Run. Shortly after enlisting he received a commission as Second
Lieutenant in the same company, and was soon promoted to First Lieutenant.
He was also commissioned as Captain in the Second Ohio Infantry, but not mus-
tered. Upon returning from the first threemonths service he was commissioned
as a Lieutenant for three years in the Twentyfourth Ohio Infantry. After serv-
ing with that company until some time in 1862 he was obliged to resign on
account of a sunstroke which completely disabled him for farther service. In the
fall of 1862. thinking he might be able to serve, he went with the Fortythird
Ohio Infantry as a volunteer, but soon found that he was wholly unfitted for the
hardships of campaigning, and after staying with that regiment until the begin-
ning of 1863 he ciime home with his health completely shattered. He was in five
battles during the war, and had the honor of being one of General Ammen's
Brigade which came upon the field of Shiloh towards the close of the first day's
fight.
When Mr. Jones left the army he was unable, on account of his poor health,
to resume his law studies and so went into the hardware business with his uncle,
Lincoln Kilbourne, and his cousin, Owen L. Jones, and is still in the same busi-
808 History of the City of Columbus.
ness with Owen L. Jones, the style of the firm being Kilbourne, Jones &
Company, He was married on April 22, 1889, to Annette, daughter of Doctor
R. M. Denig, of Columbus. He has always been a member of the Kepublican
party, but has never held a political office, or sought one. He served five years in
the Volunteer Fire Department of Columbus, from 1853 to 1858, and from 1856 to
1861 as a member of the Slate Feneibles in the Slate Militia. He is now a mem-
ber of the following societies: The Greeli Letter College Fraternity of the Theta
Delta Chi; the State Feneibles Association of Columbus; the Lincoln League;
the Columbus Club; the Grand Army of the Republic; the Loyal Legion ; Society
of the Army of the Potomac, and of the Army of the Cumberland.
WAUER SVVAYNK
[Porirait oi.pusile pase %]
Was burn in Columbus, Ohio, November 10, 1834. The founder of llic Swuyne
family in America was Francis Swayne, an English physician who sailed from
East Hempstead, in Berkshire, England, in 1710, settling in East Marlborough,
Chester County, Penns.ylvania. Descended from him was Judge Noah H. Swayne,
Associate J iistice of the United States Supreme Court from 1861 to 1881, and
father of General Swayne. The lalter's mother was Sarah Ann Wager, a Virginia
lady who celebrated her marriage lo Judge Swayne by freeing her slaves, and
throughout her aiter-life in Ohio was a consistent friend of the blacks, imparting
her principles to her son. Wager Swayne was educated at Yale College, graduat-
ing in 1856. Among his classmates was an unusual number of students who
afterwards became distinguished, including Honorable Chauncey M. Depew,
United States Supreme Court Judges Brown and Brewer, Judge McGru.ler, of the
Illinois Supreme Court, J. H. Hallock, publisher of C/irisfniii iif Work, and others.
Alter his course at Yale young Swayne entered the Cincinnati Law School, from
which he graduated in 1859. He formed a law partnership with his father and
practised two years until the war of the rebellion broke out. Notwithstanding
that both his father and mother were Virginians by birth, their sympathies and
his were with the cause of Lincoln. He offered his services to tiie Government,
and in July, 1861, was appointed Major of the Fortythird Ohio Volunteers, He
was first stationed at Camp Chase, near Columbus, .then took part in the Missouri
campaign under Pope in 1861-2. He assisted in the capture of New Madrid and
Island Number Ten and was engaged in the battles of Corinth and luka. During
the Corinth engagement the Colonel of the Fortythird Ohio was killed, the com-
mand devolving upon Major Swayne, who was subsequently commissioned as Col-
onel. He continued with his regiment until the fall of 1863 in Tennessee, Missis-
sippi and Alabama, and accompanied Sherman on his March to the Sea. During
this campaign Colonel Swaj-ne lost his right leg by the explosion of a shell, in an
affair at the crossing of the Salkahatchie River, South Carolina, and " for gallant
and distinguished services " in that action was commissioned Brevet Brigadier-
General, and later promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General.
General Swayne was invalided until June, 1865, when at the request of Gen-
eral O. O. Howard, Chief of the Freedmen's Bureau, he was detailed by the War
Department to duty in Alabama as Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau in that
State. During the next three years the historj' of the Freedmen's Bureau in Ala-
bama and the history of General Swayne's life are almost 'coincident. He instituted
various enterprises for the education of the blacks and to |)rovide them with suste-
nance and the opportunities to become self-supporting. Through Secretary Stan-
Representative Citizens. 809
ton he secured fiom President Johnson an order devoting certain confiscated
materials to the education of the freedmen, and subsequently, through Vice Presi-
dent Henry Wilson an Act of Congress devoting to the same cause such real
propert}' as had been purchased from individuals by the rebel government, and
so by the rules of international law became the property of the United States.
With tiie first of these funds, an extensive system of temporary schools was estab-
lished, the first educational privilege the colored people of that State ever- had
enjoyed. These were maintained until succeeded by a State Common School
System. The second was applied to the establishment at Talladega, Mobile, Mont-
gomery and elsewhere of educational institutions which were intended to be per- .
manent. Most of them are still valuable agencies of progress, notably at Talla-
dega and Montgomerj', being in charge of permanent religious or educational
organizations. But his policy was i-adically different from that which President
Johnson eventually adopted, and accordingly General Swayne was recalled from
Alabama in 1808. The command of the United States forces in Alabama had
meantime, soon after he came into the State, been added to his duties, and to facil-
itate this he was made a Major-General of Volunteers. In 186t3 Congress had
increased the regular army of the United States by the creation of four regiments
of infantry known as " The Veteran Resei-ve Corps,'" composed of disabled volun-
teer soldiers. Generals Daniel E. Sickles, John C. Robinson, Thomas C. Pitcher
and Wager Swayne were respectively appointed to the command of these regi-
ments.
In December, 1868, General Swayne was married to Ellen Harris, daughter
of a prominent lawyer of Louisville, Kentucky. About this time he was assigned
to duty in the War Department at Washington, but in 1880 was, at his own
request, placed on the retired list of the army, and resumed the practice of law,
locating himself at Toledo, Ohio. Almost immediately he took rank among the
foremost lawyers of Ohio. He fought through the lower courts, and finally through
the Supreme Court of the United States, the constitutionality of a State law, which
was designed to tax national banks out of existence, and secured a final decis-
ion in the negative. General Swayne soon had among his clients such concerns
as the American Union Telegraph Company and the Wabash Railroad Company,
and in 1879 the growth of his railroad and telegraph business made it necessary
for him to remove to .New York Citj', where his clients were. In May, 1881, he
entered into partnership with Judge John F. Dillon, and the firm soon became
general counsel for the Western Union Telegraph Company, the Missouri Pacific
Railway Company, and other great commercial and railway interests. General
Swayne is a member of the Executive Committee of the American Tract Society,
and also of the Board of Domestic and Foreign Missions of the Protestant Episco-
pal Church. He was the second president of the Ohio Society of New York and
is Commander of the New York Commandery of the Loyal Legion.
HENRY M. NKIL
I Portrait opposite page lis.]
Was born in Columbus, Ohio, August 4, 1832. He is the youngest son of William
and Hannah Neil, who settled in Columbus in the year 1818. His early years
were spent at home until the nge of seventeen when he was sent to school in
Massachusetts. He was at Phillips Academy in Andover for one year and two
years at Concord. Massachusetts, ])reparing for Harvard, where he was admitted in
1852. After graduating from Harvard, he returned to Columbus, where he spent
his time in assisting his father in various ways in connection with his large busi-
810 History of the City of Columbus.
ness operations ; amoQii; other things driving cattle across the mountains to the
eastern markeis, which at thiit time consumed about sixt\- days in transit. Ii.
the year 1858 he opened a drug store on the northwest corner of High and Gay
streets. In February, 1801, he sold his drug business and held himself in readi-
ness to obey his country's call to arms. On April 15, 1861, he enlisted in the
army in response to President Lincoln's first call for troops. Alter recruiting
two companies in as many days, he was assigned to the staff of Governor Denni-
son as niu.stering officer. He spent the summer and fall of 1861 on that duty. On
January 7, 1862, he was commissioned First Lieutenant in the Eleventh Ohio
Batteiy, Light Artilleiy, which was attached to General John Popes Army of the
Mississippi. He joined tiie battery at Otterville, Missouri, on January tenth,
1862, and took part in the siege and capture of New Madrid, Missouri, on March
14. He was also present at the capture of Island Number 10 on March 16, and
at the siege of Fort Pillow from April 12 to 17. He was with the left wing of
General Halleck's array during the advance on and siege and capture of Corinth,
Mississippi, from April 30 to May 30. He participated in the battle of luka,
Mississippi, on September 19, 1862, and the battle of Corinth, Mississippi, on
October 3 and 4, 1862. On October 27 he was sent home by General W. S. Rose-
crans on account of wounds received at luka and Corinth. On March 8, 1863, he
was detached from the Eleventh Ohio Battery and assigned by order of General U. S.
Grant to the command of Battery F, Second United States Light Artillery. By
a special order of Secretary of War Stanton lie was again detached and assigned
to the duty of raising the Twentyseeond Ohio Battery, Light Artillery, and on
April 28, 1863, ho was commissioned Captain of this battery and was assigned to
General J. JJ. Cox's command, District of the Ohio. He took part in the expedi-
tion against General Imboden in West Viririnia from April 28 to May 16, 1863,
and against General Morgan during his famous raid in Ohio from July 1 to 26.
On August 12 he was ordered to Camp Nelson, Kentucky, and was assigned to the
Artillery Brigade of the Twentythird Army Corps, Army of the Ohio. He
participated in the siege and capture of Cumberland Gap, which lasted from
September 1 to 9. After this event he was assigned to the command of all the
artillery at the Gap by order of General Burnside. He remained at the Gap
until January 9, 1864, when he was sent home to recruit. He resigned from the
army on February 13, 1864, on account of disability arising from wounds and
exposure.
Mr. Neil has always been active in connection with any matters relating to
soldier affairs and soldier organizations. He is a member of the Loyal Legion, of
the Societies of the Army of Tennessee, of the Army of the Cumberland, of the
Ex-Army and Navj- Officers of Cincinnati, the Grand Army of the Republic, the
Ex-Soldiers' and Sailors' Association of Franklin County and the Union Veteran
Legion. Since the close of the war he has been engaged in farming and managing
his general business affairs.
JAMES KILBUURNE .
[Portrait opposite page 128.]
Was born in Columbus (Jctober 9, 1842. His parents were Lincoln and Jane E.
Kilbourne. He attended the public schools and graduated from the Highschool
in 1857. He received the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts from Kenyon
College, from which institution he graduate<l in 1862. The day after he passed
his last examination at college he entered the army as a private soldier in Com-
pany H, Eightyfourth Ohio Infantry, declining a commission offered him by the
Representative Citizens. 811
Governor on the ground that those who had served as enlisted men under the
first call were entitled to the offices. He served in Maryland and West Virginia
with the Kigiityfourth Regiment until August, when lie was discharged to accepc
a commission in the Ninetyfifth Ohio Volunteers, commanded by Colonel W.
L. McMillen. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant on August 25, 1862,
First Lieutenant on December 5, 1862, and Captain on January 5, 1863.
He served under General Sherman with his regiment, which was in
the First Brigade, Third Division, fifteenth Corps, at the battle of
Jackson, and during the siege of Vickshurg. After the fall of Vicksburg
he acted on the staff of General J. M. Tuttle, commanding the Third
Division, Fifteenth Corps, was present at the second capture of Jackson and took
part in the several engagements of that campaign. He remained on staff service
until June, 1864, being at La Grange, Tennessee, during the winter of 1863, and
at Natchez, Mississipiji, during the spring of 1864. lie rclurned to his regiment
in June, 1864, commanded his company at the battle ol' TupiMn, Mississippi, in
July, 1864, and was specially complimented in onlcrs lor gallantry in that en-
gagement. He also commanded his company- during the jiursuit of Price
through Arkansas and Missouri in the fall ami winter oi' 18ii4. He afterwards
served on the statf of General John McAi'tluir of the First Division, Sixteenth
Army Corps, until mustered out of service at the expiration of his enlistment.
While with General McArthur, he was pirsrnt at the capture of Spanish Fort
and other engagements during ilie siege nl .Moiiile. He was hrevetled Major,
Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel of the I'nitcil States Volunteers.
After the close of the war Colonel Kilbourne entered the Harvaril Law
School, from which he gi-aduateil in 1868 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws,
and in the same year he was admitted to pi-actice as an attorney and counselor-
at-law. His health being much broken by his service in the arm}' and his phy-
sician advising some active occupation, he did not undertake to practise his
profession, but entered the firm of Kilbourne, Kuhns & Co., hardware merchants.
After a few years he founded the Kilbourne & Jacobs Manufacturing Company,
the managemeul of which has since occupied the greater part of his time and
attention, the business of the company rapidlj' attaining large dimensions and
extending to all parts of the world. Li addition to being President ami General
Manager of this company since its organization. Colonel Kilbourne has been in-
terested in many other enterprises of a public and |3rivate nature. He was a
director of the Columbus Board of Trade from 1887 to 1891, and has repeatedly
been offered tiie Presidency of that body. He has been a director of the Colum-
bus Club from the time of its foundation to the present time, and has three times
been elected its President, which office he now holds. He is also a director of
the Fourth National and the Clinton National banks; the Columbus, Hocking
Valley & Toledo Railway Company, the Columbus & Cincinnati Midland Railroad
Company, of many private business corporations and of various political and
social organizations. He is also president of the Board of Trustees of the Pub-
lic Library and of the Children's Hospital. Colonel Kilbourne has always been
a devoted student of political economy, and while declining to accept any politi-
cal preferment, he has taken an active interest in public affairs, being frequentlj'
called upon to make addresses upon various subjects. In politics he is an ardent
Democrat. Of decided literary tastes, he has one of the best private libraries
in the city, and his house is also the home of the Magazine Club, which is com-
posed of thirty gentlemen who, (or seven years, have met there the first Thurs-
day of each month for the discu.-sion of literary and economic questions. Col-
onel Kilbourne attends the Protestant Episcopal church and is a vestryman of
St. Paul's. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, of the Society
of the Army of the Tennessee and of the Loyal Legion.
812 History ok the City ok Columbus.
On October 5, 1869, he was married to Anna B. Wright, eldest dauo;l)ter of
General George B. Wi'iglit. They have four children: Russell, George B.. Lin -
GEORGE D. FREEMAN
I Hortrail opposite pagu lai.J
Was born at Ovid, Franklin County, Ohio, on August 11, 1842. His father, Usual
W. Freeman, together with his mother, Margaret {Crist}') Freeman, moved from
New Jersey to Ohio in 1833. His father served with distinction in the New York
militia in the war of 1812. He was also assistant engineer for the City of New
York, in which capacity he took an active part in platting the great metropolis,
north of Canal Street.
Young Freeman took full advantage of the limited educational opportunities
afforded by the common schools of his early days, and at a later period he attended
night school. At the age of six, death bereft him of his father and in his eleventh
year lie became the only support of his mother. He entered the studio of the
late D. D. Winchester, then the leading artist of Columbus, but he left the employ
of this gentleman to become a page in the Ohio House of Representatives at the
last session held in Odeon Hall and the first in the present Capitol building. He
received his appointment from Nelson H. VanVorhes, Speaker of the first Eepub-
licati legislature of Ohio. From here he entered the dry goods house of Headly
& Eberly, with whom he remained until 1866, when lie was admitted as a junior
partner. Later years found him the senior partner of Freeman, Staley & Morton,
who were the successors of Headly & Co. In 1878 he withdrew from the dry-
goods trade and entered the furniture business as a member of the firm of Halm,
Bellows & Butler, who were succeeded b}- Freeman, Halm & McAllister. He
withdrew from fhis enterprise to establish The George D. Freeman Mantel Com-
pany, in the manufacture of mantels and interior furnishings, a business in which
he is still engaged.
In 1878, on the organization of the State militia into the Ohio National
Guard, Mr. Freeman, at the urgent request of the regiment, assumed command
and became colonel of the now famous Fourteenth Ohio National Guard, in which
capacitj' he served the State for thirteen years. The period of his command was
marked with many trying ordeals where bravery, a cool head and good judg-
ment were the prerequisites of the commanding officer. The famous Cincinnati
riots were among these occasions, and it was here that Colonel Freeman's abilities
as a commander asserted themselves in reducing to peace and order the turbulent
mob that surged through the streets of Cincinnati. In 1890 he was compelled by
the press of business to resign his post.
Colonel Freeman served for some years on the County Board of Agriculture,
and took a prominent part in securing to the city the beautiful spot known as
Franklin Park. This was not political service, nor has he ever held any political
office, although frequently pressed to become the nominee of his party, when
nomination was equivalent to election.
He was married on October 31, 1865, to Julia A. Diemer, whose parents were
pioneers in the settlement of Central Ohio. They have three sons and one daugh-
ter; Harry D., Stanton S., George D. and Julia E. Freeman.
Representative Citizens. 81!^
ALEXANDER GILCHKl^T PAITOX
LKortrait opposite page 508.1
Was boni at Indiana Stream, New Hampshire, on March 8, 1836, and is the sun of
William and Mary (Johnson) Patten. His mother's family were prominent par-
ticipants in the Revolutionary War, espousing the side of England. His father
was born at Dumfries, Scotland, and came to this country in 1813. He located
in Vermont, where he was married, and shortly after he moved to New Hampshire
to live. He took an active part in the Patriot War of 1837, and his family who
lived near the border line were driven from their home as refugees, fleeing to
Lockport, New York, where he found them after his discharge from the army.
When but seven years old, he was sent to work in the printing oflSce of the
Lockport Courier, where he worked for a number of 3"ears. His education, which
is of a practical character, was acquired from general observation and contact
with the world, he having spent but one term in school.
At the age of seventeen he went to Troy, New York, and entered the carriage
establishment of Lowu & Horton as an apprentice, in which capacity he served at
the trade of carriage trimming for four and onehaU years. He continued in the
emploj' of this company until 1858, moving from there to Schenectady, New
York, where he engaged in the carriage l)U8iness for himself and remained until
the breaking out of the late war. He enlisted as a private in 1861, and served
with much credit in all ranks from Sergeant to Lieutenant-Colonel. He continued
in active service uutilJuly, 1865, when he was mustered outat Richmond, Virginia.
Immediately after the close of the war Colonel Patton became interested in
the manufacture of hollowware at Troy, New York, where he employed at first
but .thirteen men. He continued in this business at Troy until 1874, when he
moved to Columbus and established the immense concern now known as The
Patton Manufacturing Company, and in 1886 he formed a branch concern at
Jeffersonville, Indiana, under the same name. He is proprietor of both insti-
tutions, which are the largest manufactories of hollowware in the world.
Colonel Patton is a Republican in politics, but on account of his large busi-
ness interests, he has never taken an active part in ijolitical affairs. He is a mem-
ber of the Loyal Legion of the United States, the Grand Army of the Republic,
the Odd Fellows, and all Masonic bodies up to and including the 33d degree. He
also belongs to the Legion of Honor, the Lincoln League and the Board of Trade.
Besides being proprietor of the Patton Manufacturing Company, he is also
interested in the Electric Light & Power Company, the Natural Gas and Fuel
Company-, the Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, and the Tracy-Wells Companj-.
He acts as trustee for the Old Ladies' Home and also for the Humane Society, and
is prominently interested in localchurch extension. He is one of the incorporators
of the proposed new Protestant Hospital under the auspices and direction of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and is an active member of the Broad Street
Methodist Church.
He was married in October, 1859, to Mary E. Way. Mrs. Patton died
December 4, 1889. They had two children : Ida Patton-Tracy and Allen V. R.
Patton. The latter is associated with his father in business as the manager of the
Patton Manufacturing Company.
814 History of the City op Columbus.
GEORGE H. MAETZEL
IPortrait opposite page 224.]
The oldest son of George and Eleanor (Knothe) Maetzel, was born at Zittau,
Saxony, Julj- 31, 1837. His early life was spent in a hotel of which his father
was the landlord. He was educated in the schools of his native city, and at the
age of eighteen went to Dresden where he served in the army the required time.
At the completion of his military services, he remained in Dresden to further
pursue his stud}- of mechanical engineering. In 1S63 he sailed for America and
after landing in New Y"ork proceeded directly to Providence, Rhode Island, where
he remained but a short time. Although on American soil but a few months, he
enlisted in the army at Albany, New York, under General Sigel, but as it was
near the close of the war, he* was not called upon for active service. He next
went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he found work as a machinist in the
Pan Handle Loconiotive Shops. In 1869 he removed to Dennison, Ohio, where he
was employed by the same company as a draughtsman. He was at Dennison but
a few months, when he was advanced to the main oflBces of the Pan Handle Eoad at
Columbus, still working in the capacity of draughtsman. In 1871 he severed his
connection with the railway comjiany and opened an engineer's and architect's
office at the corner of Town and Front streets. One of his first- buildings was
the blast fui-nace ; then followed a brewery and some smaller buildings. Several
years later he made the plans for the City Prison, County Infirmary, and Hosier's
and Schlee's breweries; then followed the courthouses at Sidney, and Lima, Ohio,
and the courthouses and jails at Columbus and London, Ohio. He also furnished
the plans for the Columbus Watch Company's building, for the east pumping
station of the city waterworks and for many private buildings. Mr. Maetzel was
the inventor of many improvements in regard to locking devices for jails, the
most recent one being that used in Franklin County jail.
In 1865, while at Pittsburgh, he was married to Lillie Andriesen, who bore
him four children : Henry, Clara, Richard and Paul.
Mr. Maetzel died on May 25, 1891, at his home in Columbus, after an illness
of only a few hours. The direct cause of his death was congestion of the lungs
induced by a severe cold, contracted on a business trip to the East.
DAVID SIMPSON GRAY
[Portrait opposite page 240.]
■Was born February 8, 1829, in the village of Broad-Kiln-Neck in Sussex County,
Delaware, and is the son of David and Naomi (Lofland) Gray. He is of Eng-
lish descent, both on his father's and mother's side, his ancestors having come to
this country at a very early date. His great grandparents on his father's side
passed their early life in New Jersey, but subsequently moved to Delaware, where
they permanently located, where those on his mother's side were also located,
and where his father and mother were born, raised and lived until the year 1829
when thej' moved to Ohio.
David" attended the district schools of the villages in Ohio where his parents
resided from time to time until the eleventh year of his age. About this time
his father, who was a Methodist clergyman, was called to Norwalk, Ohio, and
Eepresentative Citizens. .>>15
David was given an opportunity to attend for a year or more tiie Norwalk Acad-
emy, which was then under the control of Doctor Edward Thomson, afterwards
Bishop Thomson, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In the main, however, Mr.
Gray is a selfeducated man, for he was obliged to go to work at the early age of
thirteen. He was variously employed, and finally located at Wellington in 1849
where he was employed the greater part of two years as a clerk in a drugstore.
About this time the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railwaj', now called
the Big Four, was being constructed through that part of the country and young
Gray formed an acquaintance with the station agent at Wellington. He mani-
fested much interest in the workings of the office and was soon master of all its
details antl duties. In the fall of 1850, his friend was transferred to another
point, and the position of station agent was ottered to young Gray. At the end
of a year, in the fall of 1851, he was transferred to Columbus. In September,
1852, he was off'ered the position of Master of Transportation of the Louisville &
Frankfort Bailroad in Kentucky. He hold this position until February, 1853,
when he returned to Columbus. Immediately on his return he was appointed
station agent and general representative, at Columbus, of the Central Ohio Rail-
road, which was then under construction and being oi>erated between Columbus
and Zanesville. The road is now km.wn as the Baltimore A Ohio Railroad. In
the fall of 1853 he was appointed Master of Transportation and his duties em-
braced those ot general freight and passenger agents. He also acted as the gen-
eral freight agent and commercial representative of the road until January, 1864,
when he became the general superintendent of the Union Railroad Transporta-
tion Company, now the Star Union Line. In February, ISti'i, he was elected
Second Vice President and General Manager of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St.
Louis Railroad Company. In the spring of 1870 he resigned as General Manager
but> retained his position as Second Vice President, in charge of the commercial
relations of the company, (^n the organization of the Pennsylvania Compan}' in
1872, and the I'cmoval of the headquarters of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St.
Louis Railway Company ottices to Pittsburgh he resigned the oHice of Second
Vice President and resumed his former relations with the Star Union Line as
Western Manager, and had charge of the through freight line traffic of the Pitts-
burgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis and the Pennsylvania Com|iany west of Pittsburgh.
On the death of George B. Edwards, Eastern manager of the line, Mr. Gray was
appointed Manager of the Union Line, both east and west of Pittsburgh, which
position he now holds. He is also general agent of the Pcnns3'lvania Company,
charged with special duties in the general service. On the formation of the Cen-
tral Traffic Association, he was offered the position of Commissioner at a salary
of 118,000, but declined as he did not wish to change his residence to Chicago.
Mr. Gray is beyond doubt one of the best informed men in the "West on the
commercial relations of the large railway lines in this .section of the countiy.
For many years he has been a prominent factor in the formation of the pooling
arrangements of the different railway systems of the country, and has had much
to do with the controlling and shaping of their policy on this subject. At the
present time Mr. Gray is President of the Clinton National Bank and of the Co-
lumbus, Shawnee & Hocking Railway Comjjany.
On December 27, 1858, he was married at Belleville, Ohio, by his father, to
Mary Louise Jackson. Twin children were born to them on Februaiy 29, 1860,
but died at a tender age. His wife also died four days after their birth. On Oc-
tober 12, 1865, he was married by his father to Eugenia Doolittle, at Columbus,
Ohio. They had four children, namely : Miss Louise, David R., Meldrum and
Eugene.
History of the Uity of Columbus.
VALENTINE LOEWER
I Portrait opposite page ivi. |
Was born in Columbus, Ohio, oo June 1, 1853, and is the son of Henry and Kath-
erine (Heckmann) Loewer. His father came to America from Hessen, Germany,
in June, 1849, and to Columbus in July of the same year, being then twenty years
old. He followed his trade of woodturner until 1886, when he took the position
of head salesman in the retail department of the Columbus Cabinet Company, of
which corporation he is a charter member. He is one of the four living charter
members of this company, which was incorporated in February, 1862, and he has
acted as its President continuously since the year of its creation. Although sixty-
three years of age, he is as well preserved mentally and physically as a man of
much younger years. He is a past Grand of the I. 0. O. F. and a member of the
Humboldt Verein. His wife, Catherine, was born in Bavaria, Germany, and
emigrated to America in 1835 or 1836 with her parents, Valentine and Dortbea
Heckmann, when but two years of age. She was married to Henry Loewer on
June 1, 1851. Their family consisted of four children, two of whom are alive :
Mrs. Amelia Griinewald and Valentine. Mrs. Loewer died at the early age of
twenty- eight.
Valentine Loewer, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the public schools
of Columbus. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to learn the upholstering
trade, which occupation he followed until January, 1876. With three hundred
dollars which he had saved from his earnings, he began the manufacture of mat-
tresses for the trade at 124 Bast Main Street, but through the failure of thi-ee of
his customers, he lost more than half of his capital the first year. His second
year, however, he was more successful. By advertising quite extensively, he
found a profitable market for mattresses in the retail trade, and concluded to
enlarge his business by adding to it the retail furniture business. His landlord,
Mr. 1. S. Beekey, erected a building on the corner of Main and Lazello streets,
one I'oom of which Mr. Loewer occupied in the fall of 1878. In two years his
business compelled him to take the second floor, and the third floor the year fol-
lowing. In 1885 he again found himself crowded for room and Mr. Beekey built
a threestory addition for him on the rear. In 1886, the latter .gentleman erected
a building adjoining on the east, of which Mr. Loewer occupies three floors.
Finally, in 1889, he was forced by the increase of his business to take the three
floors of the west half of the building, and he now carries one of the largest stocks
of furniture, carpets and curtains in the city.
Mr. Loewer is a Republican, but has been too busily engaged in business pur-
suits to take an active part in political affairs. He is a member of the Knights of
Pythias and the Fraternal Mystic Circle. He was married on December 15, 1881,
to Elizabeth F. Mosley, of Haverhill, Massachusetts. They have one daughter,
Maybelle Elizabeth, aged two years.
DIETRICH GRUEN
[Portrait oppositelpage 288.1
Was born in Osthofen, near Worms on the Rhine, Germany, and is the son of
George and Susanna (Weigand) Grtin. Most all of his relatives and connections
in the old country were tradesmen and artisans by occupation, and Mr. Griin has
Representative Citizens. 817
followed in their footsteps. He attended tlie public schools and was also for two
years in a private school. At the age of fifteen, he was sent to Eichstetten, a
small town in Baden, to learn the watchmaking trade, and later to Carlsruhe,
Wiesbaden and Lode. In the year 1866 he emigrated to this country, landing in
Now York City on August 1 of that year. He applied himself exclusively to the
watchmaking business and worked at his trade in St. Louis, Missouri, Cincinnati,
and Delaware, Ohio. In 1877 he located in Columbus, where he has since resided,
and is now President of the Columbus Watch Company. On May 6, 1869, he was
married to Pauline Wittlinger. Thej' have a family of five children ; Frederick
Gustave, Florie Sophie, George John, Frank William and Charles Henry.
JAMES G. PULLING,
[Portrait opposite page -'^04.1
The son of Joseph and Margaret (Glaze) Pulliiig, was born on October 8, 1838, in
Bosberry Parish, Herefordshire, England. His purents sailed on August 5, 1841,
from England, landed at Quebec on Septemiier 29, and proceeded thence by way
of the Lakes to Chicago, Illinois, where they arrived on November 5, which was
about the usual time for making a journey of that length, allowing for stoppages.
The first recollection of James G. is that of getting out of a big covered wagon on
a prairie where land and sky apparently equaled each otiier in extent. His
parents removed from Illinois by way of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Cin-
cinnati, from which place they proceeded to Portsmouth and thence by canal to
Columbus, where they arrived in the winter of 1844. Mr. Pulling attended the
common and High schools of Columbus and also a business college. Ho received
his first employment in 1854 as a clerk in a grocery store. He next studied law
for two or three years, and finally engaged in the banking business in which he
continued for sixteen years. In 1869 he went into the manuTacturing business,
and he is now sole proprietor of the Columbus Steam Pump Works, located at the
corner of Scioto and West Broad streets, where he manufactures steam pumping
machinery which is sold in all parts of the I'nited Stales and occasionally in for-
eign countries.
In politics, Mr. Pulling has been a itepublican since the formation of that
party. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Col-
umbus Board of Trade. Since 1848 he has resided continuousi}' at the same place
on Oak Street, but is just now moving to his new residence, corner of Ohio and
Madison avenues. He was married on March 27, 1877, to Emma Love Meek and
they have three children surviving; Margaret Glaze, James Meek and Robin.
His father still survives at the age of 86.
WILLIAM McKINLEY, JUNIOR,
[Portrait opposite page 3.s4.]
Was born at Niies, Trumbull County, Ohio, on January 29, 1843. His fiither was
an iron manufacturer, and is still living, his age being 85 ; his mother is also liv-
ing, her age being 83. Young McKinley was educated at the public schools and
at the Poland (Mahoning County) Academy. In June, 1861, he enlisted in the
Twentythird Ohio Infantry as a private. On September 24, 1862, he was pro-
52*
818 History of the City av Columbus.
moted to Second Lieutenant; on Februaiy 7, 1862, First Lieutenant; on July 25,
1864, to Captain, and was brevetted Major by President Lincoln for gallant and
meritorious services at the battle of Opequan, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek. He
served on the staff of Ex-President Hayes and Major-General George Crook, and
after Crook's capture he served for a time on the staif of Major-General Hancock,
and subsequently on the staff of General S. S. Carroll. He was with the Twenty-
third in all its battles, and was naustered out with it on July 26, 186.5. At the
close of the war he returned to Ohio. He had a liking for the military profession,
and it was said that but for the advice of his father, he would at the solicitation of
General Carroll have attached himself to the regular army. He studied law with
the Hon. Charles E. Glidden and David "VVilson of Mahoning County, and then
attended the law school at Albany, New York. In 1867 he was admitlctl to tlie
bar, and iu May of the same year he located in Canton, Stark County, ^v hero he
soon formed a partnership with Judge Belden. He was elected jjrosecuting attor-
ney of Stark County in 1869. On January 25, 1871, he was married to Miss Ida
Saxton, daughter of James A. Saxton, a prominent citizen of Canton. He was
elected to Congress in 1876, and was -eontinuously in Congress until March, 1891,
except part of his fourth term, he being unseated bj- a Democratic House late in
the first session, his seat being given to Mr. Wallace, his competitor. McKinley
has been three times "gerrymandered." In 1878 he was placed in a district con-
sisting of the counties of Stark, Waj-ne, Ashland and Portage, which was Demo-
cratic by 1,800 ; but McKinley carried it bj- 1,300. In 1884 he was placed in a
district consisting of Stark, Summit, Medina and Wayne, and was elected by
over 2,000. Under the infamous Price '• gerrymander " of 1890, his district was
made up of Stark, Wayne, Medina and Holmes, which had given Governor Camp-
bell, the year before, 2,900 majority, but on the fullest vote ever polled in the dis-
trict, Mr. McKinley reduced this majority to 303. Mr. McKinley received 2,500
more votes in the district than had been received by Harrison for President in 1888 in
the same district. While in Congress Mr. McKinley .served on the Committee of
the Eevision of Laws, the Judiciary Committee, the Committee of Expenditures,
of the Post Office Department, and the Committee on Eules ; and when General
Garfield was nominated for the Presidency, Mr. McKinley was assigned to the
Committee on Ways and Means in his place, and he continued to serve on the
lastnamed committee until the end of his Congressional career, being chairman of
that committee during the last Congress, and was the author of the famous tariff
law which bears his name.
For a number of years Mr. McKinley has been the recognized champion of
the cardinal Republican jjrinciple of protection. He was delegate-at-large to the
National Convention of 1884 and supported Mr. Blaine for the Presidency. He
was also delegate-at- large to the National Convention of 1888, when he supported
Mr. Sherman. At the latter convention his name was sprung for the Presiden-
tial nomination, but in a speech which was characteristic of the man he forbade
the use of his name for the reason that he had pledged his loyalty to Sherman.
He was Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions at both conventions.
On June 7, 1891, Major McKinley was unanimously nominated by the Ohio
Rejjublieans for Governor; and after one of the most hotly contested campaigns
in the historj' of the State, he was elected iy a plurality of 21,511.
At the Ohio Republican State Convention, 1892, Governor McKinley was
elected one of the delegates-at-large to the Republican National Convention at
Minneapolis ; he was made Chairman of the Ohio Delegation, and Permanent
Chairman of the Convention. — Cincinnati Commercinl Gazette.
Representative Citizens.
THOMAS E. POWELL
I Portrait opposite page 400.]
W:i.s born on February 20, 1842. at Delaware, Ohio. HU father, Judge Thomas
W. Powell, was for years one of the leadinir lawyers of Ohio. He was noted
not only tor his aliility, but for bis integrity and jniblit- spirit. He was a
most ])atient student and found time in his profl's^inn to give attention to enrich-
ing its literature. He was the author of "Analysis of American Law" and "Appel-
late Proceedings,' each of which has taken high rank with the profession. At the
age of eightyfoui- he published liis -Ifistoi-y of the A ncient Britons," a work exhib-
iting wonderful research and accural e c-onipilation.
Tliomas E. Powell rocciwd his cias-ical training at Ohio Wesleyan Univer-
sitj-, from which he graduated in .lune, 1SG3. His college course was interrupted
by his enlisting in the army in lsi;2 and serving four months in Marjdand and
VVest Virginia. He reenlisted in 1804 in the hundred-day service and went with
his regiment to the fortifications in front of "Washington. On his return from the
war, he commenced the study of law witii his father, and in the summer of 1865
was aibniltcd to the bar. William P. Eei^l, then the leailini; trial lawyer of Cen-
tral Ohio, licini;- taviiralily impressed with young Powell, suggested that he
become a nienil>er ot a firm of which Colonel Rcid would be the head. The part-
nershi|i was fornieti and in a few years its practice was the largest of anj' county-
town tirm in Ohio. This firm continued until the death of Colonel Keid in 1879.
Mr. Powell's business continued to grow until he was a regular attendant at most
of the courts in the central counties of the State. During the past fifteen 3'ears he
has been engaged in many of the leading civil and criminal cases tried in Ohio.
In the celebrated Inskip murder case tried in Logan County in 1878, he was the
leading counsel f n- the defense and saved the lite ol' his client to the surprise of
all familiar uith the facts. lie was also h^adin;:' e,, ,ns..| in the Lou Hank murder
case, tried in Delaware in ls,s:-j, an I in ihe tieur-'e W, IJutler niiirder case, triedin
Columbia City, Indiana, lie defended and scciireil the ae.|uittal of Alien 0.
Myers, in which case the .State, fearing th.at jioliln/al sentiinent in Fi-anklin
County wouhl prevent the conviclinn of the (lcfenih\nt. ■-ecured a change of venue
and the case was removed to Madison ( 'nunty, where it was tried liefbi-e a Jury
composed of Republicans. Allhounh most severely contesteii, Mr. Powell was
completely victorious. In the celcl'iaiel W .1. Klliott murder trial, he conducted
the defense in the most l)itterly conlested ease ever tried at tlie Franklin County
bar, and he is leading counsel of P. J. Elliott, brother of W. J., whose cas'e
is still in court. In the ])rosccui ion of Waggoner in Morrow County, Ohio, he
represented the State and secured a conviction of murder in the first degree. He
was also engaged in the celebrated Deshler will case, which involved over a half
of million of dollars, and which occupied the attention of the Franklin County
courts for ten years. He won his cause and the will was set asitle. In the great
Church divorce case, he was the |irincipal attorney for the plaintiff and his efforts
were crowned with success. He is now engaged in the fierce contests among the
creditors of the Ohio & Western Coal i*i: Iron Company, in which millions are
involved.
In January, 1872, he married Eliza, the only daughter of Edward Thomson,
Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The fruit of that marriage is, Edward
T. Powell, Maria T. Powell, Cornelia T. Powell, Raymond T. Powell, Warren T.
Powell and Oliver H. Powell.
820 History of the City of Columbus.
Amid his onerous duties, Mr. Powell has found time to give politics some
attention. He is, not bj' birth but by nature, a Democrat, and since the death of
Lincoln has acted with the Democratic party. In 1872 he was a delegate to the
National Convention which nominated Greeley, and was the presidential elector
for his district on the Greeley ticket. In 1875 he received the Democratic nomin-
ation for Attorney-General on the ticket with Governor William Alleti. In 1S79
he placed Thomas Ewing in nomination in the State Convention. In 1882 he did
the same for James W. Newman, for Secretary of State. Each of these gentle-
men was nominated and the latter elected. In 1882 lie was the Democratic nom-
inee for Congress in the old Ninth District, and though defeated, ran fifteen
hundred ahead of his ticket, carrying his native comity, which no Democratic
Congressional candidate has ever done, either before or since. In 1883 that old
Democratic warhorse, Durbin Ward, selected Mr. Powell to present his name to
the Democratic State Convention, which he did in a most eloquent manner. In
1884, he was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention, and at the request
of Governor George Hoadly, placed that gentleman's name in nomination for the
Presidency. He was also an elector at large on the Democratic ticket. In 1885,
he was chairman of the State Democratic Executive Committee. In 1887. he was
nominated by the Democrats for Governor, defeating in convention James E.
Campbell Though defeated at the polls, he ran between nine and ten thousand
votes ahead of his ticket. In 1888, he placed in nomination in the St. Louis Con-
vention, Allen G. Thurman. During the last four years the demands of his pro-
fession have prevented him giving much attention to politics.
Mr. Powell has always taken an active interest in educational matters. He
clings to his Alma Mater, and his eldest son is now a .student there. He was
trustee of the Ohio "Wesleyan Female College until that institution was incorpor-
ated with the Ohio Wesleyan University, since which tinie he has been a trustee
of that institution. He was one of the organizers of the Deposit Banking Com-
pany of Delaware, and of the Delaware Chair Company, of Delaware, and a
director in each. He is now a large stockholder in the Columbus Land Associa-
tion, which owns between three and four hundred acres of land just east of the city
and which has a paid-up capital of one-half a million of dollars. He is the only resi-
dent director, the others being John C. Bullitt, Mr. Drexel, and other wealthy citi-
zens of Philadelphia.
Mr. Powell moved from Delaware to this city in 1887, and is devoting himself
to the rapidly increasing business of his profession. His a.ssociates in the firm
are, Selwyn N. Owen, lately Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, Thomas
H. Eicketts and Samuel L. Black. The firm of Powell, Owen, Eicketts & Black,
has as large a law business as any firm in Ohio.
PHILIP H. BRUCK
LPortrait opposite page 480.1
Was born in Columbus, Ohio, January 6, 1845, and is the son of John P. Briick
and Margaret Bruck, nee Ell. His parents are natives of Bavaria and came to the
United States in the thirties. His father, who was a cabinetmaker by trade, lived
in New York for a few years and then removed to Columbus, where he resided
until his death in 1883.
Philip H. Bruck was educated in the public schools of Columbus, and grad-
uated from the Highschool' in 1861. That same year he entered a drug store
as an apprentice, and in the fall of 1861 he became proprietor of the store. In
Representative Citizens. 821
1866 he foi'ined a partnersbip with Herman Braun, under the tirm name of Braiui
& Bruck, which continued until 1887. Mr. Bruck was actively engaged in the
drug business for twentysix years, and at the time of his retirement had three
establishments, two retail and one wholesale and retail, now H. Braun, Sons &
Company. In 1864 he enlisted for the onehundred days service in Company H,
One Hundred and Thii'tytliird (Hiid Infantry, under Captain Williams.
Mr. Bruck is a DeniDCi'at, and as such has taken an active interest in political
atfairs. Durin-- 1 SSO-Sl' Ur i-ciin'sehlcl the eii;hlli ward un the fxiard of Educa-
tion. In 1S,-1 1 ,■ wa- apiH.iiitrd hv (n.vern.ir Ili.adU- a nieiiiliei- of the Ohio
Board .d I'hainiacv l..r three years.' durin- which tin,'., he was Secretary of the
Board. In lSS(i Ju. was el.-eteii a member of the Board of Police Couimissiouers.
The following- \ rar he was unaninidusly nominated for Mayor, overcame a large
majority cast U>y tieneral Walcutt two years before, and defeated his opponent,
D. F. I'ugh, by 1,1(10 majority. In 1889 he was indorsed in his administration by
urecleclion by 1 ,7U0 majority- over (icneral Walcutt. The National Encampment
(d'the (irand Armj' of the Republic, and the Centennial Exjjosition were held in
Columbus during his administration, and much of their success was due to his
energy and untiring exertions.
Mr. Bruck is a member'of the McCov Post, Grand Army of the Republic ; Colum-
bus Lodge 30, F. A. M. : Syrian Temple, N. M. S. ; Humboldt Verein and Columbus
Mannei'chor. He has been identified with the Mitnuerchor (of which his lather
was a charter member) for more than twentyfive years, and served as iis iim-
porary director for several years. He acted as Feet Director at the tirst Saugcr-
fest held in Columbus, in 1S7S, of the Central Ohio Siingerbund. He is also a
member of the Columbus ( 'Inli and the Board of Trade. Besides being a director
of tlie Columbus Machine Company and the Enmhui Post Printing Company, lie
is interested in a uunilier of other Columbus enterprises.
Mr. IJi-uek s administration as mayor was characterized by upright and
businesslike methods. He iathered the midnight closing ordinance, and made
earnest endeavors to drive professional gamblers from the city. In 1891 Mr.
Bruck was elected to the lower branch of the State Legislature, of which body he
is still a member.
He was married in 1S69 to Mary Lennox, daughter of James Lennox. They
have two sons and two datighters: J. Philip, James, Mary and Beatrice Bruck.
FKEJJEEICK JAEGER
[Portrait opposite page -t'.Hi. |
Was born in Columbus, Ohio, on October 5, 1835. His father, Christian Frederick
Jaeger, was a native of Heilinrode in Hesse Cassel, Germany, and was the son of
Rev. John J. Jaeger, a minister of the German Reformed Church. His mother,
Henrietta (Braucr) .laeger was born in Cei'uiany on January 28, 1799, and died in
Columbus on Feliruai-y 10. ISilS. His jiareiits emigrated to America in 1834 and
located in Columlnis towards the latter part of that year. Fuller details concern-
ing ilr. Jaeger's parents appear in the sketch of his father's life which is pub-
lished in \'('iluiiic I of this work.
Frederick .laeger, the subject of this sketch, received his education in the
public schools and at the Capital University of Columbus. After engaging in a
few minor occupations, he in 1856 took up the ice business, in which he has been
engaged I'rom that time to this present. He has also dealt largely in real estate
and stocks, many of his investments yielding him handsome profits Mr. Jaeger
822 History of the City of Columbus.
was a Democrat in polities; of late years ho has pursued an independent course.
He was a member of the City Council for tliree terms, commencing in April, 1863,
and was also one of the first City Park < '(uninisisioners, serving for nine years,
Ho is a member of the Odd Fellows, and is interested in many business enterprises.
He has alwaj's taken an active part in any movement looking to the advanee-
ntent and j^rosperity of the city, and did much towards securing the permanent
location of the State Fair at Columbus. He was married on March i, 18(i9, to
Louise Philippine Hei-ancourt. They have three children ; Christian F., Fred-
erick and Henrietta Ijouise.
JERRY P. BLIS.S
[Portrait opposite page 51-.;.]
Was born in Columbus, Ohio, September 14, 1854, and is the son of Charles and
Deborah (Shead) Bliss. About 1814 his grandparents settled on a farm of 320
acres where he now resides. The lot on which his mother was born was the scene
also of his own and children's birth, so that Mr. Bliss atid his family have been
identified with the South Side from a very cai-ly day. Ho was educated in the
public schools and attended one ;it the corner of Third and Mound streets until
he was thirteen years of age. While going to school, he hel]ied sii|jport his
mother by selling papers and by gathering bouquets from lier llowerlieds and sell-
ing them on the streets and places of public resort. Thus at this early age he man-
ifested that spirit of energy and ejiterprise which has since characterizid his cai'ecr.
On leaving school, he served two winters in the Ohio Senate as a paue. earning in
wages and perquisites over six hundred dollars, with which he relieved Ins homo
of an indebtedness incurred by helping an uncle who failed. He also worked in
the old steam brickyard and at the bench as a chairinuker and carver. In 1870
he worked on a farm for ten months and then on the railroad as a newsboy- for
three months. He eext secured a position in the general office of the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad, which he held until 1876, when he went inio the ticket office
at the Union Station. He represented the Indiana, Bloomington and Western
Railwaj', and soon achieved a widely known and well deservetl reputation in that
branch of the service. While in the railroad business he advanced a large sum
of monej' to a friend in the baking business, who, through poor management, was
soon on the verge of failure. In order to protect himself, Mr. Bliss took charge
of the business and since August, 1888, has conducted it himself In June, 1891,
he gave up railroading in order to give all his time and energy- to his bakery,
which he considerably enlarged and fitted out with all the latest devices ai'id
inventions applicable to the baking business, so that today he has the most thor-
oughly equipped plant in Columbus. He introduced many innovations, the most
prominent of which was the abolition of night and Sunday work and requiring
all baking to be done in the daj^time.
Mr. Bliss has dealt considerably in real estate, from which he has realized
handsome returns. His first speculation in this line was when he was eighteen
years old, and he cleared over fifteen hundred dollars on an actual cash outlaj- of
sixtysix dollars. In politics he is a Republican and has, bj' rendering long and
disinterested service to his party, won a high place in the councils and esteem of
his party friends. In the south end, whose interests and improvements he has
done more to advance than any other man b}^ securing for it proper recognition
from the municipal authorities, he has a large number of supporters in both par-
ties. This was evidenced at the recent election by his selection as a member of
Representative Citizens. 823
the Board of Public Works, to which he was elected by a majority of 2,758 votes
— tlie largest majority ever given any person of either party in Columbus. In
1888, ho was the first delegate selected in Ohio to represent the thirteenth district
in the national convention at Chicago which nominated Benjamin Harrison.
Although a sti-ong effort was made to thwart his selection, yet he secured ?,7 dele-
gates out of a possible 38 in the district convention. He was a camlidaic Ini- jio.st-
master and received strong support from all classes, and was the mily a|i|)lirant
endorsed by all the newspapers of Columbus. But his wellknown IVicndshiji and
sujipciii if H.x-Governor J. B. Foraker rendered him obnoxious to (Senator .Sher-
man, who refu.sed to endorse his candidacy, therein" defeating him.
Mr. Blis.s i.s ju-omincnt in secret and fraternal societies and is a member of
.lunia Loduo, I. O. 0. F.; Goodale Lodge, V. &, A. M.; Temple Chapter, Koyal Arch
Masons; Mount Vernon Commandery, No. 1, K. T.; Algonquin Tribe, Red Men ;
.Joseph Dowdall Lodge, K. of P., and Junia Hussars; also a member of Town
Street Methodist Church.
He was married on September 1.5, 1874, to Adelia Rodgers. Their family
consists of Irene, Van Seltzer, Bertha Minerva, Frederick Herbst, Hattie and
Deborah.
N. B. ABBOTT
Was born in Middlebury, Connecticut, on February 10, 1835. His parents were
poor and at the earlj^ age of eight years he was sent out to earn his living on a
farm. He worked for his board, clothes and winter schooling until sixteen years
of age. He finished his education in the winter of his sixteenth year at the
Highschool of Watertown, Connecticut, worked on a farm the following summer,
and then entered on a four j'ears' apprenticeship to learn the trade of carpenter
ill New Haven, Connecticut, receiving the meager salary of 25, 30, 35 and 10 dol-
hirs per year and his boai-d for the four years. Having learned architectural
drawing 'at the New Haven night school, he decided to become an architect and
was employed for one year at that profession in Hudson, Ohio. His health fail-
ing on account of too close application to business, he decided to engage in an
outdoor business. He went to Waterbury, Connecticut, and engaged in building
by contract. He afterwards removed to Watertown in the same State and carried
on the building business until 1861.
When the war broke out, he enlisted in the Twentieth Regiment, Connecti
cut Infantry, and served three years in the war. He particijjated in the battles
of (Jhancellorsville and Gettysburg, receiving a slight wound in the latter battle.
Mr. Abbott went west witli the Twelfth Corps, afterwards the Twentieth, and
was in the entire campaign from Nashville to Chattanooga, from Chattanooga to
Atlanta, from Atlanta to t!he sea and from Savannah to Washington. Enlisting as
a private, he was promoted through all the intervening grades up to First Lieu-
tenant, and he finished the service after the battle of BentonviUe as Adjutant of
the Regiment. The war over, he again took up the business of building. Ho
abandoned this at the end of a year, and locating in Brooklyn he engageif in con-
tracting for street work. He carried on asphalt paving in Brooklyn and for
manj' years has been engaged in laying that species of pavement throughout the
country. In 1876 he took up his residence in Columbus, where he has built sev-
eral of the largest sewers and paved about fifty miles of streets with various
kinds of pavement. This work has cost the city about three millions of dollars.
824 History of the City of Columbus.
The Ohio Paving Company, of which he is President, does a business of about a
million of dollars annually and also manufactures the Hallwood paving block.
The field of their operations embraces the principal cities of the United States,
and the demand for the Hallwood paving blocks has become so great that the
Companj- now has eight factories employed in ])roducing them. Mr. Abbott has
stated that during twentyfive years of business life he has paid out for labor alone
over three million dollars. He has always been a manager of large operations
and has established a reputation for energy, push and superior work.
[ENRY \V. KNIGHT
Was born in Margate, Kent County, England, on October 22, 183S. His lather,
William Edward Nash Knight, and his motlier, Maiy Ann Phamplett, were mar-
ried on July 25, 1830, and their family consisted of ten children. His father was
a surfman and gained his livelihood hy wrecking, diving and fishing. This had
been the occupation of his ancestoi-s, both paternal and maternal, for generations.
Ml'. Knight received but little schooling owing to the straitened circumstances of
his parents, and at an early age was obliged to go to woi-k. His thi-ee oldest
brothers were apprenticed as seamen when mere youths and sailed almost wholly
to Pacific ports. Being in California at the time of the discovery of gold, they
abandoned the sea and went prospecting for gold. Fortune favored them and
they were soon able to I'eturn to England with a large sum of money. When the
brothers returned home in 1853, they found Henry W. Knight working in a bake-
shop for the meager sum of sixpence ])er week. Having concluded to return to
California they decided to take him with them and all three landed in New York
on October 19, 1854, and immediately proceeded to Iberia, Ohio, where they ar-
rived on October 24. Heniy W. was placed at work tor a Doctor Mills on the
latter's farm, caring for a large flock of sheep. He continued at this occupation
until the spring of 1855, when his brothers brought him to Columbus to learn a
trade. He was apprenticed for three 3-ears to John Eushmw* (whose place of 6/1
business was on the corner of Wall and Rich streets), to learn the blacksmithing
trade. Although his wages were small, yet by close economj- and by working
after hours, sawing wood and making fishnets, he managed to save a little money.
At the end of the three years he had a misunderstanding with his emploj'er
about his wages and he went to work for A. P. Trummer, who ran a shop on the
corner of Mound and Front streets, where Phillip Kinnell's tool and ax works
are now situated.
On October 1, 1859, Mr. Knight was married and continued working at his
trade until 1860, when he received an offer to accompany as horseshoer, a party
of men who were about to take a large number of horses across the plains to Cal-
ifornia. As the wages offered were much larger than he was receiving, he went,
leaving his wife in charge of her parents. After a trip of ninety days they ar-
rived in California, where Mr. Knight obtained employment at his trade in a small
place about tw&nty miles from Stockton. He soon gave this up to go in search of
his brothers, who were working a claim about sixty miles distant After a tedious
journey full of hardships and peril through the mountains, he found them. In a
very short, time he had purchased an interest in their claim, but the returns not
meeting his expectations he abandoned this, and for the next seven years
traversed the gold regions of California and Idaho looking for wealth. Bad luck,
however, seemed to follow his footsteps and in the winter of 1868 he gave up
Hepresentative Citizens. 825
prospecting. He obtained employment from a man by the name of Sidney Man-
ning as a pick-sharpener, and then his fortunes began to mend. The following
summer he bought out Mr. Manning, who desired to return to his home in Ohio,
and ran the shop himself In a short time his earnings were so large that he
was enabled to return to Columbus, where he has ever since resided.
Soon after his return from the gold country Mr. Knight, in connection with
his brother, began to take contracts for the construction of public sewers. Their
partnorshij) lasted until the deatli of his brother in July, 1887, since which time
Mr. 11. W. Knight has carried on the business alone. Mr. Knight's knowledge of
the sewer system of Columbus is perhaps the most complete possessed by an}'
citizen of ( '(ilunibus. In addition to his business as contractor he has dealt
largel}' in real estate, from which he has realized large returns. He is also the
inventor of several very valuable sanitary appliances, which it is his intention to
soon put upon the market Ever since his return from California Mr. Knight has
lived on Broad street at his pi'esent home, which he purchased with a part of the
proceeds of his western venture. His family consists of two sons and one daugh-
MAl'RICE EVANS,
[Portrait opposite page 570.1
The wellknown florist residing on East Main Street, was born in Carno, Mont-
gomeryshire, North Wales, on March 2, 1821. His parents were Evan and Eliza-
beth (Eeynolds) Evans. His mother died when he was quite young; his father
was a wellknown shoedealer of the shire until he emigratetl to this country in
1851. Mr. Evans comes from an ancient and historic family and his relatives
still occupy the old castle in Montgomeryshire that has been in the family for
many centuries. Ho was educated at the parish school of Carno and at the age of
fifteen went to learn the trade of wagonmaker, but he was more inclined to the
cultivation and gi-owth of fruits and flowers, which he has made a life study. In
1845 he left his native land for Anieriea and came direct to Columbus, traveling
the whole distance by water, as the railways had not j'et entered Columbus. For
six years he worked on the present Capitol building when it was being erected.
He has occupied his present residence on East Main Street since 1855, and has
built up a large and prosperous florist business. His grounds and greenhouses
are noted for their rare and beautiful floricultural and horticultural exhibits, in
which Mr. Evans takes great pride. His floi-al displaj-s at the State fairs have
always been much athnired for their beauty. At the Ohio Centennial Exposition
in 1888, he carried off thirteen hundred tlollars in first premiums for floral dis-
plays, having imported many rare plants for this special purjwse.
In 1846 Mr. Evans was united in marriage to Ann Reynolds. There have
been born to them five children, four of whom are now living, namely ; Maurice,
Mary E,, Edward and Margaret A.
NELSON OBETZ
[Portrait opposite page SOH.]
Was born in Delaware County, Ohio, February 2, 1853; his parents were Henry
and Sarah Obetz. His father was born in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania, and was of
German descent. When nine years of age he came to Ohio, in 1835, by the over-
land route. Sarah Obetz, mother of Nelson Obelz, was born in Germany and
826 History of the City of Columbus.
came to tliis country when seven years of age. Her maiden name was Sarah
Hensel.
Nelson Obetz received his scholastic training at Lebanon, Ohio, and his
medical education at Starling Medical College under the preceptorshiii of Doctor
Starling Loving. He graduated in medicine in 1879. In April of that 3-ear he
opened an office at 333 East Main Street, where he has been located up to the
]>resent time.
Doctor Obetz is a Democrat in politics, and under Governor Hoadlj''s
administration was resident trustee of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb.
At the present time he is demonstrator of anatomy at Starling Medical College;
physician to the Franklin County Infirmary, and the Franklin County jail;
examiner for the Prudential Insurance Company, and also examiner ibr the
Fidelity Mutual Life Association of Philadelphia. He is also a member of the
Knights of Pythias. On October 21, 1885, he was married to Edith Amie
Lesquereux, granddaughter of Professor Leo Lesquereux.
Doctor Obetz is a great lover of sport and frequently goes on hunting and
fishing excursions. He is also an ardent devotee of the game of whist.
OLIVER PERRY HENDRIXSON
[Portrait opposite page Sdi.]
Was born in Rural, Clermont County, Ohio, April G, 1850. His great grandfather,
George Hendrixson, who was of Hollandish descent, was born in Pennsylvania in
1750." His wife was Katharine Freeman, who bore him six children, of whom
Enoch, the second .son and grandfather of Oliver Perry Hendrixson, was born in
Fleming County, Kentucky, in 1778. At the age of twentyeight he married
Nancy "Roe, who was possessed of great natural talent and ability. From this
union sprang nine children, of whom James Gordon, the third son and father of
Oliver Perry Hendrixson, was born in Fleming County, Kentucky, on February
0, 1810. VVhon James G. was but a small boy, his father removed to Brown
County, Ohio, and purchased a farm in the woods, which James helped to clear
and cultivate. At the age of twentyoue he was married to Eleanor Nevin, from
which union have been born seven sons and two daughters, of whom Oliver Perry,
the subject of this sketch, was the seventli son and j-oungest child. His birth
occurred exactly onehundred years after the birth of his great grandfather.
When Oliver P. was five years of age, his father moved upon a farm, and
there ^'oung Oliver was employed winter and summer, without having the privi-
lege of attending school. At the age of eighteen, after obtaining his father's con-
sent, lie started to earn his own livelihood. His first employment was on the
farm of Doctor Kennedy, near Laurel, Ohio. He had not been there long, when
Doctor Kenned}- questioned him concerning hjs education. Reluctantly young
Hendrixson confessed that he had none. The doctor pointed out the benefits of
an education, and kindly offered to act as teacher for him. By studying and
reciting during evenings "and rainj^ daj'S, he learned to read and write fairly well.
After the summer's work was over, young Hendrixson, having a great desire for
more education, attended a district school, and in this way acquired a fair com-
mon school training. Resuming his work on a farm in the summer, he continued
at that occupation until September of that year, when he and another young man
entered Clermont Academy. By renting a small room and boarding themselves,
they managed to remain there nine months. Through hard study and close
application to his work, he was able to obtain a teacher's certificate. Thinking
Representative Citizens. 827
the chances more favorable in tlie West, he resolved to try his fortune tliere, and
on July 30, 1871, he started for Mason City, Ccrro Gordo County, Iowa. There he
taught and went to school until August 23, 1874, when he was married to Alena E.
WIntney, of Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa. He then removed to Steele County,
Minnesota, where he taught school until 1880. In thai year he returned to Ohio
for the jnii-pose of reading medicine. After \ir had lucn in Ohio but a few weeks
he was taken down with a severe attack of ]jncinii(jnia. which nearly proved fatal.
He was a year and a half convalescing. During his illness, he buried his only
child, Horatio Perry, aged five years. But finally his health permitted him to
resume his Studies, and oti the advice of his brother. Doctor Hugh Hendrixson, he
took a special course in chemistry at the Ohio State University, iireparatory to
his entering upon the stud\- of medicine. He then entered the office of his
brother in Columbus, and graduated from the Columbus Medical College in March,
1885. Immediately after graduating he opened an office on North High Street,
where he still I'emains, enjoying a large and lucrative practice.
DKNNI8 AUGUSTINE CLARKE
IPcirtrait opposite page ti40.l
Was born at Columbus, Oiiio, December 15, 1850. His father's family was among
the early settlers of Columbus, having come to Franklinton, now the West Side,
from Virginia, in 1832. His mother's family came from Ireland, where his mother
was born. He attended the parish school of St. Patrick's Church, Columbus, and
afterwards entered the University of Notre Dame, frcmi which institution he
graduated with honoi's in 1870, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science. For
four years thereafter he was engaged in teaching at his Alma Mater, where at the
same time he pursued other studies in the literary and scientific courses, and
obtained the dcgi'ees of Master of Science and Master of Arts. On his return to
Columbus in 1S74. the late Bishop Rosecran.s prevailed iip(jn him to establish a
Catholic paper in the city and, in consequenec, tlic Cit/mlir i 'olumhiiin. under his
mauagement and the editorial control of Bishop lvo^ecrans, made its first appear-
ance ill January, 1875. After struggling against many obstacles, he finally suc-
ceeded in establishing the journal upon a firm basis. On the death of Bishop Rose-
crans in October, 1878, the whole business and editorial responsibility devolved
upon Mr. Clarke. He continued in this position until 1880, when he transferred
an interest in the paper and the business management to Mr. John A. Kuster.
He retained, however, editorial control of the paper with the exception of one
year, when he was obliged to go to Colorado and Utah to renew his health, which
had been undei-mined hy his severe labors. In 1S7!'. he was ordained a priest,
having continued his theological studies after his return fnim college and during
his journalistic work.
From 1879 to 1883, Father Clarke was Catholic Chaplain in the Ohio Peni-
tentiary. On his return from the West in 1884. he disposed of all his interests in
the Columbian and was placed in charge of the Holy Family Congregation, West
Side. Here his predecessor. Father Hayes, had laid the foundation of a new
church building and it devolved upon Father Clarke to continue and complete the
work. He has been Eeetor of the church ever since, and under his wise manage-
ment and executive control the church las experienced an era of substantial
growth and prosperity. Altlioiigh his time is well taken up in caring for the large
and rapidly growing congregation and school, he frequently contributes literary
articles to the press and periodicals. He is an ardent advocate in the cause of
temperance, and in August, 1890, he was elected President of the Catholic Total
Abstinence Union of Ohio.
History ok the City of Columbus.
JOSEPH JESSING
[Portrait opposite page 648.
Was born at Minister, the capital of the German province of Westphalia, Xovem
ber 17, 1836. When Joseph was four j-ears of age his father died, and his mother
was compelled to support herself and her two young sons, Joseph and Beruhard,
by her own exertions. From his sixth to his iourteenth year Joseph attended the
parochial school' of St. Lambert's parish, and although he would have been pleased
to have continued his studies in the highschool, he was obliged to go to work to
assist in the support of his mother and his younger brother. lie obtained employ-
ment as a printer and remained at this occupation for five years, working twelve
hours a day and devoting his leisure moments to study and reading. At the age
of nineteen he enlisted in the Seventh Brigade of Artillery in the Prussian army.
In 1860, at the end of five years' service in the different branches of the army, he
asked for his discharge for the purpose of joining the Papal army and assisting in
the defense of the temporal sovereignty of the Pope. In company with several
comrades he started for Rome in September, 1860, having in the meantime been
appointed to a place in the Roman army. At Prague he heard of the defeat of
Castelfidardo and that no more volunteers were needed, and he returned to his
home.
He now resolved to" carry out his determination to become a priest. For
three years he pursued his religious .studies and was then called to serve as a ser-
geant of artilleiy at the bi'eaking out of the Danish war in the beginning of
1864. He was assigned a place in a batterj- of howitzers and took part in the
siege of the Dilppel fortifications. As all the commissioned and mo.st of the non-
commissioned officers had been disabled by the hardships of a winter campaign,
it happened that 8eri;eant Jessing was the only commander of the battery, nearest
the breastivorks and that his was appointed the leading battery of the remaining
150 guns. Thus he was, in part, the leader of the terrible bombardment that
immediately preceded the successful storming of Di'ippel on April 18, 1864 — the
first great victorj- of the German army. As a reward for his bravery on that
occasion, he was decorated with three fine medals by his Majesty, King William
of Prussia. After a campaign of four months, he left the army in May, 1864, to
continue his studies. In May. 1866, his mother died, and hardly had he returned
from her bui-ial when he was again summoned to enter the army, for the war of
Prussia against Austria and her allies had broken out. In this war, he held the
position of captain d'ra-mes — quartermaster-sergeant in his battery. He was pres-
ent at the occupation of Hanover, the He.ssian Electorate and Frankfort on the
Main, marched with the German army against the Bavarians and assisted in the
taking of Wiirzburg.
At the close of the war, he asked for and received his discharge and returned
to his native city of Minister. He again took up his studies for the sacred minis-
try, and in order the more surely to accomplish his purpose he emigrated to the
United States, where he landed at Baltimore on July 27, 1867. From there he
went to Cincinnati and the following year he entered Mt. St. Mary's Seminary of
tiiat city to complete his studies. He' was ordained a priest on July 16, 1870, by
the late Right Rev. S\ Ivester H. Rosecrans, Bishop of Columbus, and was appointed
rector of the Sacred Heart Parish at Pomeroy, Ohio. He was also given charge
of sevei-al missions and the sphere of his work embraced Meigs, Athens and Gallia
counties. In those days railwaj- facilities were meager and Father Jessing trav-
ersed the hills of Southern Ohio mostly on horseback to visit his stations.
Representative Citizens. S20
While in Europe he had made frequent literarj' conti-ibutions to various newspapers
and was regular correspondent for several Ausli-ian |iapers troni the M-al of war
monthly magazine. 'I'his literary activity he l<e]it u|i in this countiy. hy lre(nicnt
contributions to many (ieinian Catholic papers.
Father Jessing's inedilcction for literary work led him to undertake the edi-
tion and ]juhlication of a I'cligious paper of his own. Up to this time the Diocese
of Columbus had had no orphan asylum of any kind and priests had often been
sorelj- troubled where to find shelter for the orphans of their congregations.
This drawback Father Jessing resolved to partially remove by starting a religious
paper, without, however, abandoning his missionary labors, and to devote the pro-
ceeds to the keeping and training of orphan boys. He bought the necessary out-
fit for a printing ofHce, including a hand press, and on May 1, 1873, appeared at
Pomeroy the first number of a paper called Ohio, which title was soon changed
into that of Ohio Il'/A--, /,/;,///(,/. After many difficulties and discouragements the
newspaper finally berainc a pa3ing venture and Father Jessing had the satisfac-
tion of seeing his enter[)rise become so profitable that he was enabled to buy a
house and lot in Pomeroy which was opened on May 1, 1875, under the name of
St. Joseph Orphans' Home, with fifteen orphan boys finding shelter under its roof.
At the request of Bishop Rc'secrans, Father Jessing, in August, 1877, removed the
Orphans' Home to the place on East Main Street, Columbus, where it is still
located. From an huniblo beginning the Home has steadilj' increased in propor-
tions and accommodations until it now consists of several largo brick buildings
thoroughly equipjjed for the care and training of orphans. Besides a regular
school education, the children are given the benefit of a manual training in the
department of ecclesiastical art, in which altars, jiulpits, statues and <jther objects of
that kind are manufactured. The Home is now known under the name of Josephinum.
In 1888, a college for the education of German American students aspiring to the
priesthood but without means to pursue their studies was added. In this depart-
ment the students not onl}- receive a moral and religious e lucation, but are thor-
oughly drilled in the ancient classics and are given an excellent trainingin English
and German literature. A portion of the provisions for the Josephinum are
obtained from a farm, located two miles southeast of the city, in Marion Township,
purchased by Father Jessing in 1882.'
These gratifying results are due to the indefatigable efforts of Father Jessing,
who has been assisted in his enterprises partly by spontaneous charity but princi-
pally by the proceeds from the Waisenfreunil , which has a large circulation not
only ill the United States but also in Europe.
JOHN CASPER GOLDSCHMinX
[Portrait opposite page 6.56.]
Was born September 17, 1840, at Kaltensundheim, near Eisenach, Sachsen Wei-
mar, Germany. His parents were greatly respected and of a very religious dis-
position, being members of the Lutheran Church. His father, Johannes Gold-
schniidt, held for twentyfive years, until his resignation shortly before his death,
the ofSce of tax receiver, in which capacitj' he did much for the poor by way of
obtaining from the government remissions and mitigations of their taxes. After
his father's death, John Casper, wlio was then fifteen years old, came to the
United States on a visit to an older brother living at Linnville, Ohio. Here he
sojourned for nearly two years, attending the district school during the winter
g30 History of the City of Columbus.
terms. In the spring of 1858, he left for Lancaster, Ohio, to learn a trade and
for more than four j'ears he worked with the Steck Brothers at the shoemaking
business.
Having embraced Catholicism during his stay at Lancaster, he two years
later entered Mt. St. Mary's Seminary of the West to study for the Catholic
priesthood, and after having gone through the necessary preparations was or-
dained a priest by Eight Rev. Bishop Eosecrans on June 10, 1871. His first
charge was two country missions in Fairfield and Hocking counties, Ohio. After
two years of hard and successful work he was transferred, in 1873, to the Holy
Eedeemer Church at Portsmouth, Ohio. In 1875 Bishop Eosecrans opened the
St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum and appointed Father Goldschmidt the Director
and Chaplain of that institution, which position he holds still. The asylum is a
charitable institution belonging to the diocese, and is maintained by the public
offerings and the private donations of the people of the city and diocese of Co-
lumbus. Although of modest proportions in the beginning, the asylum has under
the zealous and careful administrations of Father Goldschmidt prospered and
grown until now it is one of the most flourishing institutions of its kind in the
city.
The ^rounds of the Asylum, consisting of lawns, flowerbeds, vegetable and
fruit gai-dcns and a fine large orchard, and embracing nearly seven acres, are lo-
cated on the corner of Rose Avenue and East Main Street, and originally be-
lono-ed to Mr. Louis Zettler, of whom thej^ were bought for 825,000. Of this sum
Mr.^'Zettler immediately donated S10,000 in favor of the Orphanage. Eight little
orphan girls and three sisters of St. Francis in charge, one of whom. Mother
Euphrasia, was superior, were the first inmates of St. Vincent's. The original
house was but a. family mansion arranged, at first, to receive only girls. 'Their
number soon increased to fifty and it also became necessary to make provision for
boys. During the summer of 1875, $1,000 was i-aised with which money the east
wing of the present building was erected. Nearly every year some additional
building was put up or other improvements made, all through the means and
power of charity. In 1880 Bishop VVatterson dedicated the main building ; in
1885, the new chapel, and in 1890, the east wing of an entirely new proposed
building. This new building, very much needed, is to be finished as soon as funds
can be raised, and when completed the Asylum will be able to take care of about
four hundred orphans. At present the enrollment at the Orphanage is 117 boys
and 112 girls. During the sixteen yeai's of its existence nearly one thousand poor
orphan children have been cared for by Father Goldschmidt and the good Sisters,
whose number has also been increased to twentyone, with Mother Euphrasia as
still their first superior.
CHRISTIAN HEDDAEUS
[Portrait opposite page 704.1
Was born February 19, 1829, in Hochheim, near Worms, Grand Duchy of Hesse,
and is the son of George Frederick and Anna Magdalena (Creutzer) Heddaens.
His father was the oldest son of a clergyman of the same name. He and two of
his three brothers studied theology and all three were very highly respected b}-
their congregations as pulpit orator.s and pastors. His father died on August 20,
1848, and his mother about six years later. Christian was thirteen years old
when he left the rudimentary school and entered the gymnasium at Worms. In
1850 he entered the "Dniver.s"ity of Tlibingen, where he studied philosophy and
theology. In the fall of 1851 he went to Giessen to continue his studies at the
Representatu'e Citizens. 831
University there, and in 1S54 he completed his academical course. Soon after he
became private tutor to the sons and daughters of the civil officers of the count
of Erbaeh-Schonberg at Konig, a small town in the Odenvvald, Grand Duchy of
Hosse. There he remained until he came to this country.
lie left his native land on September 12, 1857, with the intention of making
America his future home, and arrived at New York on October 3. After sojourn-
ing in that city until January 31, 1858, he left for McKeesport, Allegheny Coun-
ty, Pennsylvania. Four weeks after his arrival there he was elected pastor of the
Evangelical Protestant Church of that place. About eighteen months afterward
he officiated also in Dravosburg, a small place about two miles from McKeesport,
on the opposite side of the Monongahela Eiver, which church became then an
under-parochial church of that in McKeesport. Besides performing the duties
connected with his pastorship he taught in a private school on the first five days
of every week and for three jears he was a teacher in the public school at Mc-
Keesport.
In January, 186(), he was called to the pastorship of the Independent Prot-
estant Church of Columbus. He delivered his inaugural sermon before that con-
gregation on April 14, 1866, and since that time has acted as its pastor.
Mr. Heddaeus was married on October 3, 1861, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to
Pauline Kuder, b^- Rev. Phillip Zimmormann of that place. His wife was born
in Frankenbach, near Heilbronn, Kingdom of Wiirtemberg, Germany, on April
17, 1841, and came to this country when she was ten j-ears of age.
GEORGE W. BRIGHT
[Portrait opposite page 720.]
Was born at Tiffin, Ohio, on April 25, 1846, and is the son of John C. and Ann
Sophia Bright. His paternal grandparents, iMajor and Deborah Bright, came
from Maryland to Fairfield County, Ohio, about the year 1815 and settled near
Canal Winchester. The}- remained there until 1835, when they removed to
Hancock County near what is now Van Lue, where they entered and purchased
about 3,000 acres of land. Major Bright lived there until the time of his death
at the age of sixtyfour, and also his wife, who reached the ripe old age of ninety-
four. George W. Bright's grandparents on his mother's side were George and
Elizabeth Stoner, who came from Maryland and settled in Seneca County, near
Tiffin, about 1825, and remained there until 1852, when they came to Wcsterville,
Franklin County, and they resided there until their death, the grandmother dying at
the age of seventysix and the grandfather at eightynine. Kev. John C. Bright,
father of George W. Bright, was born in Fairfield County, October 13, 1818. He
removed with his parents to Hancock County in 1835, and at the age of nineteen
began preaching in the Church of the United Brethren. He was married to Sophia
Stoner on July 15, 1844. She having died, he married Ann M. Stoner on July
15, 1851, and with his two children, M. E. and George W. Bright, came at once to
Westerville, Franklin County, and remained there until 1860. He became promi-
nent in his church, and wielded great influence in its educational and missionary
fields. He became the first secretary of the Missionary Society and held this
position up to within a short time of his death, which occurred at Gallon, Ohio,
on August 6, 1866.
George W. Bright attended the district school near Westerville until he was
eleven years of age, and then entered the preparatory course of Otterbein Uni-
versity at that place. When George was fourteen years old, owing to the meager
rt32 History of the City of Columbus.
salary received by his father, he was compelled to seek employment away from
home. He worked on different farms until August, 1863, when he came to
Columbus and entered the Highschool, which he attended from September, 1863,_
until May, 1864. In 1863 he made an effort to get into the army but was not old
and strong enough to pass muster until May 1, 1864, when he entered the One
Hundred and Thirtythird Ohio Infantry, Company H. He served three months
with his regiment, being over half the time with General Batler in the siege of
Petersburg, Virginia. About the time of the expiration of his term of service
he was taken violently ill with typhoid malaria while in the riflepits before
Petersburg. He was brought home and laid sick for four months. On recovering
his health he again enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Eightyseventh
Ohio Infantry, in January, 1865, and remained with his regiment until it was
mustered out" on January 26, 1866, having served as an orderly at the head-
quarters of Brigadier-Generals Judah and General Dawson, at Macon, Georgia.
After returning from the army in 1866 he resumed his studies at Oberlin,
Ohio, but owing to the failure of his father's health he was only able to remain in
school about two months. On leaving Oberlin in April, 1866, he came to Colum-
bus and took a position in the wholesale and retail millinerj' store of Ann E.
Souder and remained in her employ for six years. In 1872 her son, J. W. Souder,
and Mr. Bright purchased her interest and with this business he has been con-
nected ever since. About 1880, a younger brother, J. L. Bright, was admitted,
the firm now being Souder, Bright & Brother. Soon after the formation of this
firm, Mr. Bright, in connection with Mr. Souder and Mr. S. S. Eickly, started the
Capital City Bank. In addition to these enterprises, Mr. Bright is also interested
in The Kaufman-Lattimer Company and the Sunday Creek Coal Company, being
President of The Kaufman-Lattimer Company and Vice-President of the Sunday
Creek Coal Company. Mr. Bright is a member of the Republican party but has
never taken an active part in political affairs. He is also a member of the Wells
Post, G. A. R., the Lincoln League and the Columbus Club. He was married on
February 23, 1869, to Martha Worrel. They have one child — Mary Louise
Bright.
CONRA-D BORN, JUNIOR,
[Portrait opposite page 752]
Was born in Columbus on September 21, 1844, and is the son of Conrad and
Mary A. Born, nee Rickly. His father was a native of Bavaria and his mother
was born in Switzerland. They came to this country in 1839. His father lived
for a short time in New York and in 1841 came to Columbus. At the time of his
death he was the oldest butcher in Columbus. He also dealt largely in real estate.
In 1859 he built his brewery, known as the firm of Born & Company. Conrad
Born, Junior, was educated in the public schools, and has been connected with the
brewery from its establishment to the present time. In 1860 he left Columbus
and worked for four years in the large breweries of Cincinnati, St. Louis and
Chicago in order to gain a thorough practical knowledge of the business. He re-
turned to Columbus in 1864; in October of the same year he became a partner with
his father, and at present he owns a threefourths interest in the business. His
nephew, Edward Born, will on arriving at his majority, be also a partner.
Mr. Born was married in June, 1869, to Lena Moerlein, a daughter of Chris-
tian Moerlein, a prominent brewer of Cincinnati. They have one son, Conrad
Christian, who is now associated with his father in business. Mr. Born belongs
Ueprk.skntativi.: Citi/kns. .SS.'?
to the Mawiis, the Odd FellowN, the Drui.ls, llie Bike, the Majiiierchor and inauy
other organizations of a benevolent and fraternal character. He is a stockholder
and director in the Ohio Savings Bank and also in the C. Moerlein Brewing
Company of Cincinnati. In politics Mr. Born is a Democrat.
SAMUEL STRASSER RK'KLY,
[Portrait of Ralph R. Rickly opposite page 312.]
The venerable banker, is one of the familiar figures in Columbus, and one of the
city's most prominent citizens. He is the son of John and Anna JRickly, nee
Strasser, and was born January 2, 1819, in Biitzberg, Canton Bern, Switzerland,
where the name was spelled Eickli. He is the only survivor of a family of eigh-
teen children. His grandfathers, on both sides, were extensive grain merchants,
doing business during the French Revolution, and his father, although by trade a
saddler (at which trade Mr. Eickly was required to work from the time he was
12 or 13 years old), also followed the grain business.
His father was postmaster of the parish, and from the time Mr. Rickly was
twelve years old until he left Switzerland, he acted as letter carrier, often exposed
to great hardships on account of the distance he had to travel.
He attended very indifferent parish schools from the time he was old enough
until he left the old country, being allowed to learn nothing except reading, writ-
ing, and arithmetic, and committing to memory the Heidelberg catechism and
other church literature.
Mr. Eickly's parents emigrated to America in 1834, locating at Baltimore,
Fairfield County, Ohio. Here the entire family of sixteen took sick, except
John Jacob, and John, the eldest sons, and within four weeks nine of their number
died, including the five youngest children, the parents, and the father's sister and
mother. The cause of this fatality was attributed mainly to change of climate
and diet. The survivors, except John Jacob and John above mentioned, found
homes in different families, Mr. Eickly being indentured, against his will, to learn
the carpenter's trade.
His father brought with him from the old country a considerable amount of
money, consisting of five-franc pieces put up in rolls of twentyfive each, but never
informed any of his children where he kept it. There was, however, an adminis-
trator appointed, and when the children arrived of age, each received what was
represented to them to be its respective share.
Although apprenticed to learn the carpenter's trade, he was compelled to do
farm work of the roughest kind, working at the trade only when there was no
farm work to attend to. Being then eighteen years old, and inhumanly treated,
he gathered his little belongings in a handkerchief and went to Newark', Ohio,
where his two older brothers were then living. After working there for a few
months he came to Columbus in 1836, on a canal boat loaded with high wines,
being the only passenger, the chief cook, and driver of the only mule belonging to
the craft.
Soon after this Mr. Rickly returned to Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio,
where he was freed from his former boss.
For a year or more he worked at the carpenter's trade and cabinetmaking, and
in the spring of 1838 found employment as clerk in a dry goods store. This posi-
tion afforded him a better opportunity than he had heretofore had of learning
English.
53*
834 History of the City of Columbus.
In the spring of 1839 his employer i-emoved his goods to an eastern State,
and Mr. Eickly was left to close up the business. During this spring he attended
school for a few weeks, after which, in June, 1839, he went to Marshall College,
Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, which he entered in the autumn, and from which he
was graduated in the autumn of 1843, delivering the first Gorman oration that had
been delivered up to that time in the institution, his subject being " The Scenery
of Switzerland;" but the custom then inaugurated has ever since been continued.
Hon. James Buchanan, afterwards President of the United States, then president
of the college trustees, sat, dressed in elegantly fitting garments with snow-white
cravat, on the stage.
After studying theology for a short time and teaching in several private
families in Maryland, and Alexandria, Virginia, Mr. Eickly was married in 1845.
His health failing from hemorrhage and other causes, he came to Columbus in
1847, was examined as a teacher, and commenced the German-English schools
here at the corner of Mound and Third streets.
The schools rapidly grew and prospered, in spite of the opposition in many
quarters against the establishment of German schools in connection with our
union schools, but their success has proven the wisdom of the course then
adopted. In the spring of 1848 Mr. Ricklj' was made principal of the Columbus
High School, then started in the building now owned by Mrs. Person on East
Town Street, between Fifth and Sixth. The late Doctor A. D. Lord, then school
superintendent, and his wife, both took part in teaching. Many pu2:)ils of that
time have since become prominent and useful citizens, some of them distinguished
in State and National affairs.
On the breaking out of the cholera in the spring of 1849, Mr. Eickly estab-
lished an academy at Tarlton, Pickaway County, Ohio, which was adopted in the
spring of the following year, by the Synod of the Eeformed Church as the
nucleus of a church institution, and named Heidelberg College.
In the autumn of the same year the institution was permanently located at
Tiffin, Ohio, and in the summer of the following year Mr. Eickly was elected
superintendent of the Tiffin union schools, removing there July 4, 1851. He was
also elected Professor of the Theory and Practice of Teaching in Heidelberg
College (now Heidelberg University), to which institution he has recently con-
tributed liberally in money, furnishing and decorating the chapel which is now
named after him, •• Eickly Chapel." In 1853, having lost a much loved daughter,
he returned to Columbus and opened a select school in the basement of what was
then the First Eeformed Church on Town Street, between Fourth and Filth.
In the following winter without any solicitation on his part, he was elected
Journal Clerk of the Ohio House of Eepresentatives. He also became secretary
of the Ohio Manufacturing Companj' then repairing Sullivant's Mill, since known
as EicklysMill, and erecting a lai-ge stone building for the manufacture of hubs
and bentwork, Subsequently Mr. Eickly devoted his time to milling and manu-
facturing, selling large quantities of flour in Central and Northern Ohio. In
1857 he and his brother John Jacob, under the firm name of Eickly & Brother,
began the banking business. In 1870 he bought out his brother and continued in
business alone until the panic of September, 1873, when on account of heavy
losses sustained by the failure of Jay Cooke & Co. and others, he found it advis-
able to make an assignment for the benefit of his creditors as well as for himself,
knowing that he had abundant resources to meet all his liabilities if reasonable
time was allowed him to convert his assets into money. As soon as sufficient time
had elapsed for advertising notices to creditors, he was released from the assign-
ment, and his assignee retransferred the assets back to him. Having paid all his
creditors in full, he in 1875 organized the Capital City Bank, which has continued
to ihe present time.
Represkntativk Citizens. 835
During ihe State Pair of 1879 the banlv was robl>ed of S20,00O in broad day-
light, only $1,000 of which was ever recovered. On July 13, 1880, Mr. Rickly was
shot through the eyes by a man named Eicheiiberg, and became totally blind,
notice of which appears in the chapter on Banking in Volume I.
Notwithstanding his blindness, Mr. Rickly has continued hi.s business, and
has taken an active part in the proceedings of the Board of Trade, advocating
the improvement of our streets in the central and business portions of our city,
and lighting it by electricity, and as early as January 6, 1885, he introduced in
that body a resolution to hold here, in the largest city in the world" bearing the
name of Columbus, a world's exposition commemorating the Fourth Centennial of
the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. Mr. Rickly was therefore
the originator of this gigantic enterprise, which Chicago .-iubsequently secured
through various causes, and whicii is being celebrated not onlj' in the United
States but on the whole American continent.
On September 21, 1886, he also introduced in the Boaril of Trade the follow-
ing resolution, which was adopted:
Resolved, That the directors of this Board be respectfully requested to take
into consideration the propriety' of purchasing a suitable lot, and the erection
thereon of an edifice adapted to the uses of this Board, and also containing
accommodations for large conventions and othei- gatherings.
Subsequently the directors reported favorably and the result is seen in the
elegant Board of Trade building on East Broad Street.
During the early part of the late war, Mr.Rickly was a member of the School
Board ; he has also been a member of the City Board of Equalization, Trustee of
the Public Library, and foreman of the United States Grand Jury at Cincinnati.
At the time he was hurt, and for several years previous to that time, he was Pres-
ident of the Board of Trade. He was also a delegate appointed either by the Gov-
ernor or the Mayor to six National Commercial Conventions, held respectively at
Louisville, Baltimore, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Chicago and New Orleans. He was
a stockholder in the first street railwaj' built in the city of Columbus, known as
the High Street Railroad, was a member of a syndicate which purchased, in
about the year 1870, the old lunatic asylum grounds, and subdivided it into city
lots, calling it East Park Place, and he also aided in the organization of the East
Park Place Street Railway (Long Street) of which he was treasurer from the
beginning, holding the office until its consolidation with other street railways, called
the Columbus Consolidated Street Railroad, of which latter he continues to be a
stockholder and director to the present time. He also assisted in the organization
of the Glenwood and Greenlawn Street Railway Conipany, of which he was also
treasurer, and has continued a stockholder until now. Mr. Rickly has been inter-
ested as a stockholder and director in three of the Turnpike Companies (toll roads)
of this county, and continues to be such in two of them to the present time. Ho
is a member of a sydicate which purchased a large tract of land on the West Side,
subdividing it into some eight hundred city lots, and called West Park Place.
This is now one of the most lively parts of the city.
Mr. Rickly's brother, John Jacob, was a contractor on the Mercer County
Reservoir, kept the principal hotel in St. Marys, Ohio, for a number of years, was
Treasurer of Auglaize .County, was a member of the Legislature, was one of the legis-
lative committeemen to honor Governor Louis Kossuth, and after removing to this
city was a member of the city council, delegate to the State Constitutional Conven-
tion,and filled many other positions of trust in the city and county. He died in April,
1877. He and Ralph G. Graham laid out Rickly and Graham's addition to Colum-
bus. Mr. Rickly's second brother, John, aided in the improvement of Columbus
by building many houses, notably one called the Bull's Head Tavern, at the
northwest corner of Main Street and Grant Avenue; also one at the southwest
836 History or the Citv of ( 'oi-umbits.
uoi'iier of Main Street and Pai-sons Avenue. He laid out an addition to the eity
between Main and Mound streets, west of Parsons Avenue, called John Eickly's
addition, also an addition north of Main Street and east of the Blind Asylum.
In 1856 he removed to Columbus, Nebraska, where he died at the age of 74
j-ears, after filling many positions of trust, including the mayoi-alty. He was the
principal manager of the finances of the city and county. A younger brother
(Eudolph) came to Columbus about 1842 and was in the slaughtering business.
At the outbreak of the war, he organized a cavalry company and was elected
captain, but before entering the service he died. Mr. Kickly had three sisters
who survived the terrible calamity of 1834, and grew to womanhood. The oldest
one married Conrad Born, the wealthy brewer of this city, and died about the
year 1880. The next one lived and died in Illinois, and the youngest in Fairfield
County, Ohio.
Mr. Hickly is the father of four children, two daughters who died in infancy,
and two sons, the youngest of whom died August 1, 1882, aged twentysix years
and two months. He was, at the time of his death, teller in the Capital City
Bank, and being a musician was organist in the First Congregational Church
here, and also for Mount Vernon Commandery Number One, Knights Templar.
He was also superintendent of the City Union Mission Schools and almost idol-
ized by the pupils.
The portrait accompanying this sketch is that of Mr. Rickly's son, Ealph
Eeamer Rickly, who was born in Tarlton, Pickaway County, Ohio, January 20,
1851. After attending Columbus schools and being graduated from the High
School in 1868, he entered Yale College, where he was graduated in 1872. Since
that time he has been cashier in his father's first bank, and afterwards in the Cap-
ital City Bank.
Mr. Ealph Eickly is a prominent Mason, and in 1891 took the thirtythird
degree in that order. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Glenwood and
Greenlawn Street Eailway Company, and now president of the Bank of Corning,
at Corning, Perry County, Ohio.
JACOB FELBEE
i;Portrait opposite page 344.1
Was born in Switzerland in the year 1840, and came to America in 1852, stopping
at Kenton, Hardin County, Ohio. In 1859 he came to Columbus, where he
learned the baker's trade and has been engaged in business since that year at the
southeast corner of High and Cherry streets. He learned the trade under O. H.
Lattimer, and in 1866 became a partner in the bakery and confectionery, under
the firm name of Krauss & Felber. This partnership continued from November,
1866, to June, 1868, when Mr. George W. Coleman bought the interest of Mr.
Krauss, and the firm became Coleman & Felber. Mr. Coleman died suddenly in
1892, but the bakery and confectionery is still continued under the firm name of
Coleman & Felber, the widow and children retaining Mr. Coleman's interest.
In February, 1889, Messrs. Coleman & Felber became interested in the Busy
Bee Candy Kitchen, the most extensive restaurant in the city, or in the State.
The Cand}- Kitchen embraces seven stores, including the main establishment at
Number 43-45 North High Street.
Mr. Felber married Miss Barbara Caroline Bond, a native of Hocking Coun-
ty, Ohio, on March 10, 1864, and the union has been blessed with seven children,
three of whom are boys. Mr. Felber, although quiet and unassuming, is well
and favorably known as a business man. He and his family have lived for
twentvone years in the residence at Number 314 South Third Street.
Representative CITIZE^
WILLIAM CORCORAN REYNOLDS
(Portrait opposite page 352.]
Holds a conspicuous place among the young men who have participated in the
development of the West Side of Columbus. Born in Washington, D. C, he was
educated princijjally at Norwich, Connecticut, where was the summer home of his
family ; their house, one of the oldest in New England, having been occupied suc-
cessively since 1659 by those who bore the Reynolds name. His mother, a niece
of the late W. W. Corcoran, was from Baltimore. Coming west in 1880, Mr.
Reynolds began his business life in the employ of Wilson L. Gill. After this he
traveled extensively in the Far West, in the interest of the Columbus Hollow-
ware Company, gaining a knowledge of the people and business points in that
part of the country, which was of service in a subsequent undertaking — a man-
ufactory in his own name. In 1885 he became interested to a small extent in the
Columbus Dash & Wagon Company. After remaining with this firm several
years, he sold his interest and started in business for himself, occupying a build-
ing just west of the river, on Broad Street. This venture was very successful, and
has since been merged into the corporation styled The William C. Reynolds Com-
pany, manufacturers of leather dashes and specialties in carriage trimmings.
In 1889 Mr. Reynolds organized the Franklin Buggy Company, and through
negotiations with the Franklin Land Association, located the plant a mile west
of the dash factory, in a part of the city as yet almost unoccupied except bj^
small and scattered dwellings. He is president and general manager of this
company, which, from a small beginning, has in a few years grown to be one of
the largest manufactories of its kind in the country. On May 28, 1892, a ship-
ment in a single day of 134 finished fourwheeled vehicles broke the world's rec-
ord of 128. This indicates a capacity of one vehicle every 4 3-8 minutes, and will
suggest the size of the plant.
In 1888 Mr. Reynolds married Miss Florence Maclay Awl, granddaughter of
the late Doctor William M. Awl, one of the best known i-esidents of Columbus,
who was intimately connected with the city's development in earlier times.
NOAH HAYNES SWAYNE,
1 Portrait opposite page 8.1
One of the most distinguished jurists who have resided in Columbus, was
born in Culpeper County, Virginia, December 7, 1804. He was the descendant
of Francis Swayne, who came to America with William Penn, and the farm on
which he settled near Philadelphia is still in the possession of his descendants. Mr.
Swayne removed with his father, Joshua, to Virginia, and after receiving a liberal
education at Waterford, in that State, he studied law in VVarrenton and was
admitted to the bar in 1823. Two years later he removed to Coshocton, Ohio, where
he opened a law office. One year later, in 1826, he was elected Prosecuting Attor-
ney of Coshocton County, which office he held until 1829. As a Jeft'erson Demo-
crat he then entered the Ohio Legislature, and in 1831 he was elected United
States District Attorney for Ohio, removing to Columbus and filling this office
until 1841. In 1833 he declined the office of presiding judge of the Common
Pleas Court. Afterwards he practised law until he was appointed, with Alfred
Kelly and Gustavus Swan, a member of the fund commission to restore the credit
S3P History of tiik Citv iif Coi.umbcs.
of the State. He also served on the commission a|j])ointed liy the Governor to go to
Washington to effect a settlement of the boundary line between Ohio and Michigan,
and, in 1S40, was a member of the committee to investigate the condition of the
blind.
One of the law cases in which Mr. Swayne achieved great celebrity, was the
trial of William Kissane and others in the United States Circuit Court, in 1853,
for burning the steamboat il/«rf//rt Washington to obtain the insurance. He was
pitted in this case against Henry Stanbery, afterward Attorney General of the
United States. Among other distinguished lawyers engaged in the case, were
Judge Walk«r and Messi-s. Bwing, Pugh and Pendleton. In 1839 Mr. Swayne
formed a partnership with James L. Bates, the firm being Swayne & Bates, and
continuing until 1852. In 1853 Llewellyn Baber, a relative of Mr. Swayne, suc-
ceeded Mr. Bates in the partnership. This partnership was dissolved April 1,
1860. In May, 1859, Judge Swayne appeared as co-counsel with Mr. Belden,
United States District Attorney, being pitted against Attorney General Wolcott
in the fugitive slave cases.
Owing to his antislavery opinions. Judge Swayne joined the Republican
party on its formation, and liberated at an early date the slaves he had gained by
his marriage in 1832. In 1862 he was appointed by President Lincoln a Justice
of the Supreme Court of the United States, which high office he held until obliged
to resign in 1881, on account of advanced age. The degree of LL. D. was con-
ferred on him by Yale, Dartmouth and Marietta Colleges. Judge Swayne was
married in 1832 to Miss Sarah Ann Wager, of Harpers Ferry, Virginia. There
were born of this union four sons — General VVager Swayne, Henry Foote
Swayne, j!^oah and Frank Swayne ; also five daughters — Catherine. Rebecca, Vir-
ginia, Sallie and Mrs. Edwin Parsons. The four daughters first named died in
childhood, and are buried in Green Lawn Cemetery. Judge Swayne died in New
York City on June 8, 1884, at a ripe old age and full of honors.
WILLIAM H. GRUBS
[Portrait opposite page 7&4.]
Was born July 29, 1840, in Jefferson Township, Franklin County, Ohio, and is the
son of James and Sarah Grubs. His father, James Grubs, was born in Frederick
County, Virginia and his mother in Franklin County, Ohio. Jesse Grubs, the
father of James, was engaged in the transportation of army supplies during the
war of 1812. and removed with his family from Virginia to Somerset, Perry
County, Ohio, in 1817. James Grubs was married to Sarah Compton, daughter of
Job Compton, in 1837. He settled near Reynoldsburg, Ohio, where he engaged in
agricultural pursuits, the lumber and tombstone business until 1858. He then
began the sale of musical instruments, which he carried on until he retired from
business in 1876. William Harrison Grubs was born on his father's farm. He
received his early education in the district school, afterwards attending for a few
terms a select school at Reynoldsburg. He also took a commercial course in Duft'
& McCoy's Business College, in Columbus. He taught school for two winters
seven miles east of Columbus on Broad Street, and traveled in the summer with
his father in the music business. In August, 1862, he enlisted in the army, join-
ing the Ninetyfifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served three years as private,
second sergeant, orderly sergeant, sergeantmajor and first lieutenant. On his
return fi-om the army in 1865 he engaged in the music business in Eeynoldsbui-g
with his father, continuing there until 1809. He then i-emoved to Chicago, where
RBPaESENTATIVE ClTl/.ENS. 8-!il
he entered the real estate business. After a residence there of eighteen
months, he returned to Franklin County, Ohio, settling at Westerville, and soon
after formed a partnership with his father and two brothers to carry on the sale
of musical instruments. In 1874 the firm removed to Columbus, and two years
later Mr. Grubs bought the interests of his father and brothers. He has since
carried on the business himself on High Street. From a smallbeginning his business
has steadily developed, until he is now proprietor of one of the largest establishments
of its kind in Central Ohio. He has a large ball connected with his salesrooms,
especially adapted for rehearsals, recitals and concerts, the use of which he freely
grants for the purposes of musical entertainments, both amateur and professional.
Mr. Grubs was married in 1866 to Elizabeth C. Torrence, and they have one
child, Mary Jessie. Politically Mr. Grubs is a Republican, and is a member of
the Lincofn League. He belongs to the Masonic order. Magnolia Lodge, and
McCoy Post, G. A. R.
A. T. MORLEY
[Portrait opposite page 360.]
May be called the father of the furnace trade in Columbus. He is the son of
Marshall W. and Eliza T. Morley, natives of New York, and was born November
23, 1839, in Onondaga County, that State. He has one brother living, George W.,
residing in Columbus. Mr. Morley obtained his education at Falley Seminary,
Fulton, Oswego County, New York. He was twice married. His second wife,
who is still living, is a" native of New York, her maiden name being Annis Pal-
mer. This second marriage occurred eighteen years ago. No children were born
of either union. When about eighteen years of age, Mr. Morley went to Kala-
mazoo, Michigan, where he clerked for two years in a bookstore. From Kalama-
zoo he went to Danville, Illinois, where he remained three years and learned the
tinner's trade. From Danville Mr. Morley returned to Syracuse, New York, and
from there went to Eed Creek, Wayne County, where, in 1863, he enlisted in the
Ninth New York Heavy Artillery, serving two years. After being mustered out
he located at Cleveland, Ohio, thence drifting back to Rochester, New York,
where he carried on furnacemaking for eleven j'ears. In 1874 became to Colum-
bus, Ohio, where he has since been engaged in the furnace business. He origin-
ated and was for seven years identified with the Columbus Warm Air Furnace
Company Fire destroyed the company's building, and the company dissolved.
Subsequently Mr. Morley was engaged for two and a half years with the P. Hay-
den Saddlery Hardware Company, and for the past four years he has been the
Columbus agent for an eastern Ohio factory. Mr. Morley erected the first brick-
set furnace in Columbus, and has over 4,000 furnaces in operation in this city.
There is probably not another man in Ohio who has had so much experience in
furnace building and setting as
CHARLES WEGE,
[Portrait opposite page 67(
One of the most prominent marble dealers of Columbus, was born in the year
1852, in Germany, and came to America in 1869. He spent bis first three years
in this country in the State of New Jersey, and afterwards lived for a similar
840 History of the City of Columbus.
length of time in New York Citj-. He tlien came west to Ohio, settling in the
city of Columbus, where he has since resided. Mr. Wege was married while in
New York to Miss Anna Nagel, and four children now living resulted from the
union, the eldest being a son of twelve years. Mr. Wege engaged in his present
business the second year after his arrival in this city. He is now located at Num-
bers 22-26 West Mound Street. A sample of his work may be seen in the marble
work at the Chittenden Hotel, and in the present summer of 1892 he is finishing
in marble an elegant bank building in Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Wege enjoys an exten-
tensive trade in monuments of all kinds, and is a successful business man.
ALLEN F. EMMINGER
IPortrait opposite page 760.1
Is one of the best known citizens of Columbus. He is the son of Abraham
and Sarah Emminger, of Mansfield, Ohio, the former a native of Pennsylvania
and the latter of Ohio. Abraham Emminger is now dead ; his wife still resides in
Mansfield in the old family homesidad. Doctor A. F. Emminger was born in
Mansfield December 5, 1847. He was educated in the Mansfield public schools,
being graduated therefrom at the age of eighteen. Following his graduation he
began the study of his chosen profession, dentistrj-, with Doctor Moses De Camp,
in that city. Later he attended the New York Dental College, in New York City,
and was graduated from the Ohio Dental College, Cincinnati. He located in Col-
umbus April 10, 1868, opening an office at Number 18 East Broad Street,
where he remained in continuous and successful practice for a quarter of a cen-
tury. Doctor Emminger is now located in the elegant brown stone front at Num-
ber 150 East Broad Street, formerly the Neil residence. He is the lessee of the
building, and occupies as fine a suite of dental rooms as there is in America. These
rooms are all on the first floor and form an ideal location for the reception of the
doctor's patrons, who are the wealthiest and most influential people of the Buck-
eye Capital. Doctor Emminger is prominent, not only in Columbus, but is known
all over the country as one of the leaders in his profession. He is a member of
the Board of Trustees of the new Ohio Medical University, opened to the public in
September, 1892, and is also Dean of the Department of Dentistry in this institution.
He is an influential member of the Ohio State Dental Society "and the American
Dental Association, being at one time president of the former, and the youngest
member ever elected to that exalted position. Doctor Emminger is a 32° Mason,
and Knight Templar and an Odd Fellow.
On April 27, 1876, he was mari'ied to Miss Minnie E. Potter, daughter of
David H. Potter, of Delaware, Ohio. One daughter has been born from this
union.' Doctor and Mrs. Emminger reside in an elegant home at the corner of
Broad and Seventeenth streets. There is only one dentist in Columbus who has
been in practice here longer than Doctor Emminger, and the latter is exception-
ally fortunate, both in the quality and extent of his patronage.
ANDREW G. PUGH,
IPortrait uppusite page 544.]
Senior partner of the prominent firm of Columbus contractors, A. G. Pugh &
Company, is the third son of Richard and Elizabeth Pugh. and was born June 5,
1857, in a log hou.'<e on what was then known as the Whitini;- Farm, on East
Representative Citizens. s41
Livingston Avenue, near the Loekbourne Road (now inside tlie corporation). Mr.
Pugh's father find mother emigrated to Cohimbus from Wales, June 15, 1854, and
both are yet living. Mr. Pugh was educated in the common schools of Colum-
bus. At the age of fifteen he was employed by Brown Brothers, Civil Engineers,
for one year. In December, 1873, he entered the employ of John Graham, City
Engineer, and continued there until' the fall of 1878. He then went to Indian-
apolis, Indiana, with Kanmacher & Denig, Columbus contractors, who built the
Indiana State House, assisting Thomas H. Johnson, engineer for the contractors.
In February, 1880, Mr. Pugh was employed in the office of the Chief Engineer,
M. J. Becker, of the Pennsylvania Lines, and by biin was detailed to assist Chief
Engineer Jennings, of the C. H. V. & T. Railroad, on some surveys for location
near New Straitsville, Ohio. In May, 1880, he was appointed as Assistant En-
gineer Maintenance of Way on the Indianapolis Division of the Pennsylvania
Lines, and continued in this position until May, 1882. He was then employed bj-
City Engineer Graham, of Columbus, as superintending engineer of the construc-
tion of the Northeast Main Ti-unk Sewer — length 2| miles, inside diameter 9 and 6^
feet — and also of the extension of the Northwest Trunk Sewer, the exten-
sion of the Mound and Pulton Street sewers, etc. This work was completed De-
cember 15, 1883, when Mr. Pugh was elected Assistant City Engineer by the City
Council, which office he held until April, 1886. At this time he was employed by
Booth & Flinn, contractors, of Pittsburgh, to manage their Columbus contracts.
For this firm he built the first brick pavement ever laid in Columbus, in October,
1886 — from High to Third Street on Spring Street. From Columbus Mr. Pugh
was sent by his employers to manage a contract for laying about five miles of gas
lines in New York City, between Fiftyfifth and One Hundred and Twentyfifth
streets and Madison and Second avenues. This work was completed in Decem-
ber, 1886. On January 1, 1887, Mi-. Pugh was employed bj' Chief Engineer M. J.
Becker, of the Pennsylvania Lines, to superintend the construction of a system
of sewers for the new Columbus shops of that company, a.nd also as Superintend-
ent of the Construction of Masonry on the Southwest System. Mr. Pugh was
thus employed until December 31, 1887. In March of the following year, Mr.
Pugh began business for himself as contractor, continuing alone for one year and
doing a business in 1888 of $170,000. He then organized the firm of A. G. Pugh
& Company, of which he has since been the active manager. In April, 1892, the
old firm dissolved and a new firm was organized under the same title. The firm
has done work to date amounting to about $665,000, of which amount about $73,-
000 was done at Canton, Ohio, $30,000 in Indiana, ;ind the remainder in Colum-
bus. Mr. Pugh owns a onehalf interest in the Asphalt Paving Works of A. G.
Pugh & Company, on North Woodland Avenue, where the material for the con-
struction of asphalt pavements is manufactured. Mr. Pugh is firm in the belief
that asphalt is the pavement of the near future. Mr. Pugh was married October
25, 1882, to Miss Mary Helen Black, of Richmond, Indiana, from which union
have been born two daughters, both bright, interesting children.
WILLIAM A. HARDESTY.
LPorti-ait opposite page 86b.J
Every important community contains within its environs a few men of inval-
uable worth, by reason of their integrity of character and high moral and social
attributes; men whom suspicion has never tainted with its breath, whose deal-
ings with their follow men have always been fair and honorable, whose financial
S42 HiSTORV OV THE ('iTV l)F Coi.UMBUS.
stabilitv has uever been questioned, and whose success in life is the ambition of
many but the reward of few. Men combining these excellences of character are rare,
and the more admirable because of their rarity. Such a man and citizen is the
gentleman of whom this brief biography is written, Mr. William A. Hardesty. This
estimate of his worth is that placed on him by those who have been longest and
most intimately associated with him, both socially and in business life. Person-
ally Mr. Hardesty is gifted with rare modesty, that at times approaches to difiS-
dence. In business circles his credit is always high and his dealings honest,
honorable, straightforward and unexceptionable. Successful in every business
venture, he is ever careful and closely attentive to all his affairs. His sagacity in
this line has enabled him to acquire a handsome estate, and he may .justly be
classed with the most substantial business men of Ohio's Capital. In addition to
his high qualifications in commercial life, Mr. Hardesty is a great lover of his
home, and extremely fond of his wife and family, who reside in a beautiful mod-
ern stone mansion at 91 Hamilton Avenue.
Mr. Hardesty's life dates back to February 14, 1848, on which date he was born
in Malvern, Carroll County, Ohio, the son of Thomas and Mary Jane Hardesty.
His grandfather, William Hardesty, was a Pennsylvanian by birth, and emigrat-
ed to Ohio Ht a very early day, building one of the first flouring mills in the State.
Settling at Malvern, he reared a family of ten sons, nine of whom followed the
pursuit of their fatiier and owned their mills. Most of the grandsons in their
day also became millers, so that, at the present day, a legion of successful millers
bears the name of Hardesty. Thomas Hardesty, the father of the subject of this
biography, was born in Carroll County, one of the nine brothers just mentioned.
Milling was his principal occupation, but he also became interested in the banking
business. He retired from active life in 1868, and died in the following year at the
age of fifty-four.
William A. Hardestj'-'s eai-ly education in the public schools of Malvern was
supplemented by a commercial course of study in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In
1864, at the age of sixteen, he enlisted in Company K, One Hundred and Fifty-
seventh Ohio infantry, and was stationed at Fort Delaware, Delaware. In 1867,
at the age of nineteen, he entered the milling' business with his father and brother,
A. H. Hardesty, at ('anal Dover, Ohio. At his father's retirement in 1868, he and
his brother assumed the management of the mill, since which time thej' have
been highly successful in business, and have built three additional mills. Mr.
Hardesty owns a half interest in two flouring mills at Canal Dover, Ohio, and is
the sole owner of the large milling plant on West Mound Street, Columbus. The
combined c.ipacity of the three mills is twelve hundred barrels per day.
Mr. Hardesty came to Columbus in 1880. His success in life is best shown
by the fact that he is now President of the Ohio State Savings Bank and Trust
Company, Vice-President of the Jonathan Mills Manufacturing Company, and
Vice-President of the Hanna Paint Manufacturing Company. He has never
held public office other than that of Director in the Columbus Board of Trade, of
which body he is a valued member.
Mr. Hardesty is happiest in his home life, sun-ounded by his estimable wife
and three lovely children. Mrs. Hardesty is the daughter of the late Thomas
Moore, of New Philadelphia, Ohio, a gentleman widely known as one of the
original lessees of the Public Works of the State. The date of her marriage to
Mr. Hardesty was December 27, 1870. The three children born to Mr. and Mrs.
Hardesty are Florence, Thomas M. aud Helen Josephine.
Representative Citizens.
[Portrait opposite page 600.1
Was born in Dauphin Couutj', Pennsylvania, on April 1, 1830, and is the son of
Christian Hartman. In his earlj- years his parents moved to Lancaster County
of the same SUite. At the age of fifteen he left his native State to attend the
Farmers' College near Cincinnati, Ohio, at which place he finished his literary
education. Soon after completing his literary studies, he turned his attention to
the stud}' of surgery and medicine which from his earliest bo3'hood had been his
highest ambition. He began his medical studies with Doctor Shackelford of
Medway, Ohio, under whose tutorship he continued until prepared to enter college.
Ue matriculated at the Medical University at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1855, and after
having completed the required course of lectures and clinical instructions he began
the practice of medicine at Tippecanoe, Ohio, where he continued to practise for
two years. Ambitious to become a prominent member of his profession, he went
to the city of New York to take a special course of lectures in orthopedic surgery
and the surgical treatment of the eye and ear, a branch of surgery which he had
already given special attention. Having availed himself of the clinical advan-
tages afforded by the various institutions of the cit}' of New York, he decided to
enter the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia in order to put himself under
the instruction of the renowned Samuel D. Gross, who was the professor of sur-
gery of that college. Having passed through the required course of study, and
having graduated from the Jefferson Medical College with honor in March, 1857,
he again commenced the practice of medicine and surgery in Lancaster, Penn-
sylvania.
Doctor Hartniau's mechanical skill in perfecting and inventing surgical
appliances for the practice of orthopedic surgery soon gave him a prominent
position among the surgeons of this country. He also became extensively known
as a skilful operator in diseases of the eye and ear. Ten years ago he located in
Columbus to give himself wholly to the practice of his specialties. The immense
practice in which he soon found himself involved made it necessary for him to
employ competent assistants to successfully carry on his work. Being compelled
repeatedly to enlarge his offices by his steadily increasing business, he decided at
last to build a surgical institution which would give him ample accommodations
for the demands of his large practice and equip it with the latest improved
mechanisms and instruments for the practice of special and general surgery. As
the result of his indefatigable labors he is now at the head of one of the finest
institutions of surgery in this country. The treatment rooms occupy the entire
second floor of a fine fourstory brick building, seventy bj' one hundred feet, the
other three floors being occupied by a chemical and pharmaceutical laboratory
which is engaged exclusively in the manufacture of his special medical preparations
and surgical appliances. A set of the latest improved mechanical and massage
movement cures operated by steam power is in constant use by many patients
under his treatment for paralysis, deformities and other ailments. Connected
with his treatment room he has a large threestory brick building for the exclusive
use of patients under his treatment. They are here provided with accommoda-
tions equal in all respects to a firstclass hotel.
The doctor, although sixty years of age, thirtyfive of which have been spent
in the most constant pursuit of his profession, is possessed of vigorous health and
splendid physique. His enthusiasm in the perfection of his surgical institution
and his skill as an operator show no sign of abatement. His many personal
accomplishments give him a useful prominence both inside and outside his chosen
profession.
844 History of the City of Columbus.
GEORGE M. AND OSCAR G. PETERS.
BY MRS. JONATHAN PETERS.
[Portraits opposite pages 64 and 152]
Tunis Peters, the greatgrandfiither of the subjects of this sketch ( the
Peters brothers of the Columbus Buggy Company ), came to this country from
Holland some time previous to the American Revolution. He was accompanied
by several brothers, but wiiat became of them or their families is not known to
the present generation. Tunis for a time lived in New Jersey, and had charge of
some large flouring mills called the Elliot Mills. Not long after coming to this
country he married a young woman of Scotch-Irish descent, Francisca Adams by
name, who, history says, was a relative of John Quincy Adams. Judging by the
births of their children, their marriage must have taken place about the year
1774. He settled in Hampshire County, Virginia, and there brought up bis
family. He fought for his adopted country during the Eevolutionary War, and
was first lieutenant of a company. The captain having died, he was offered pro-
motion to that rank, but resigned from the army in order to go home and protect
his family from the threats and annoyance of the Tories, and lived and served in
Virginia as High Sheriff for some years previous to coming to Ohio. In religious
faith he was a Baptist, probably a descendant of the early Holland Baptists who
were originally of England and were driven across the Channel because of per-
secution. He followed his children into Pickaway County, Ohio, early in the
present century, and subsequently to the War of 1812 went with his sons Ger-
shom and John to Hocking County, where he died aged about eighty years.
To Tunis Peters and Francisca Adams were born thirteen children — nine
sons and four daughters. Their descendants may almost be called legion, and
have been blessed with advantages of education which were denied their pilgrim
fathers, and they may be found in all the higher walks of life. In regard to their
coming to Ohio it appears that Gershom M., the seventh child and fourth son of
the family, was first to leave Virginia, and in the absence of dates the writer,
being a member of the family located as early as 1802 in the immediate vicinity
of Westfall on the Scioto, judges from circumstances and incidents then familiar,
that he, Gershom, was at Westfall as early as 1809 or 1810, perhaps earlier. That
all his brothers and sisters, as well as his i^arents, soon followed him to Ohio is
known, for his j-ounger brother Tunis was married Februar}' 28, 1811, at his,
Gershom's, house on the Pickaway Plains to Eve Glaze, Gershom's wife's sister, a
daughter of George Glaze, Senior, who had bi-ought his daughters. Eve and Mary,
to Ohio from Virginia some time previous on horseback. Tunis and Eve Peters
made their home on the Pickaway Plains not one mile from where Dunmore
treated with the Indians and Logan's celebrated speech was made. Here they
remained until 1814, but Gershom and a younger brother, John, after the War of
1812, in which Gershom and Tunis served, migrated to what was afterward Hock-
ing County, where they remained several years, and Gershom was the first judge
and John the first clerk of the court of the county. It is recorded of Gershom
that while he was judge he seutenced the first two prisoners ever confined in the
Penitentiary, then a small building near Mound and Front streets. By studying
at night, by the light of the pine knot, and the occasional help of some peripa-
tetic schoolmaster, Gershom M. Peters picked up a good education for that day.
Among other things he learned surveying, and was engaged considerably in mak-
ing government surveys. While thus engaged he was over the ground where
Ciiluinlius iHjw siands, whun it was covered with a dense forest, a single log hut
Representative Citizens. 845
being the only habitation in ail tiiis region. One of t-rershom's sons, G. M., mar-
ried the daughter of the late Mr. King, the wealthy powder manufacturer who
founded the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Bank of Columbus, and is now
president of that bank.
Near 1816 Tunis Peters, Junior, located east of Circleville, in Pickaway
and Fairtield counties, where he remained until 1830, engaged in farming and
tanning ; then removed to Columbus where he purchased a large tannery, with
other propertj', and built himself a good home on the southeast corner of what is
now High and Beck streets. Here he spent the remainder of his life. He built
a good brick Baptist church on West Mound Street at his own expense, but when
Mound Street was graded some j^ears ago this building was torn down. Tunis
Peters died in 1855, aged sixtysix years, and was interred in Green Lawn Ceme-
tery, where his wife, Eve, was laid by his side on July 14, 1855. George W., the
younger son of Tunis Peters, married Sarah, daughter of William Merion, one of
the most respectable and substantial of the early pioneers of Columbus. George
W. Peters soon bouglit the Massie tannery in Chillicothe and was a citizen of that
place for several years. Returning to Columbus about the year 1845, he bought
the property on the corner of Long and Front streets, where he started the trunk
business, but his health failed, and about the year 1852 he died aged thirtyfive
years, leaving a young wife, one daughter and three sons. All that it is necessary
to say of the family is that George M., the first son, learned the carriagemaking
business of the Messrs. Booth, of Columbus, and from that circumstance and his
natural inventive genius he originated the Columbus Buggy Company and the
Peters Dash Company. Of these great manufacturing enterprises, of which Mr.
Peters is the founder, he and his next younger brother Oscar Glaze Peters and
Mr. C. D. Firestone are owners and proprietors.
Sarah, the mother, has survived her husband many years; and to her in-
fluence, through the principles and habits instilled into her three sons, G. M.
Peters, O. G. Peters and C. M. Peters, belongs the credit of much of the success
and prosperity of the family ; and to her charitable life, both of precept and ex-
ample, in connection with her only daughter Lucy, whose life has been largely
devoted to the works of missions and home charities, can many of the needy
individuals as well as benevolent societies of Columbus bear witness. Many hun-
dreds of citizens will always remember Lucy A. Peters, who taught for twenty-
five years in the public Sundayschools and day schools of Columbus, as the one
who inspired and trained them to nobleness of character.
LOGAN C. NEWSOM
[Portrait opposite page 6a4.J
Was born on February 6, 1851, in Gallia County, Ohio, where, and in the adjoin-
ing county, his father owned flouring mill and blast furnace interests. His
grandparents on bis mother's side were of Connecticut nativity, and came to Ohio in
1802, the year Ohio was organized as a State, locating in Gallipolis. His people
on his father's side were of the French Colonj- that located in Gallipolis in Octo-
ber, 1791.
Mr. Newsom received his education in the High School and Academy atGil-
lipolis. After completing his education, his first venture in the world was in a
distillery at Steubenville, Ohio, after which enterprise he was engaged in the grain
trade in the city of Pittsburgh. Owing to excessive rates of freight from Pitts-
burgh to eastern points, Mr. Newsom found it necessary, in order to increase his
business, to again take up his residence in Ohio, where he secured contracts of a
846 fflSTOhT OF THE CiTY OF COLUMBUs.
number of grain elevators in different parts of the State, and successfully prose-
cuted the grain shipping business for some years.
Mr. Newsom was married in 1885 to Miss Sallie Monypeny, of Columbus.
In 1889 he secured a contract from the City of Columbus for the construction of
the intercepting sewer, at a cost of $461,839, against competitors whose bids ranged
from §523,000 up to $780,340. In entering upon this work, Mr. .Newsom experienced
eve'-y obstacle that could be put in the way of its economical prosecution, and met
with" a great deal of opposition from city officials. The work of construction was
ordered to be begun without one foot of right-of-way having been contracted for b^-
the city, a condition under which it was impossible to begin the work at the most
natural place, namely, the outlet; consequently, the work had to be pushed for-
ward from time to time, as the contractor himself was able to secure the right-of-
way from point to point. Because of these hindrances the finishing of the work
was delayed for about one year longer than the time specified in the contract.
Notwithstanding the many vicissitudes met with in such varied construction, the en-
tire route, covering about eight miles, and in eluding about fifteen tunnels, as described
elsewhere in this book, was duly completed. Throughout this entire distance but
one dwelling house was disturbed by undermining the foundation. During the
whole time of construction Mr. Newsom had in his employ on the work from 150
to 450 men. In the tunnel construction, which was all from thirty to fifty feet
below the surface, the undertaking progressed unintermittently, with three shifts of
men for each twentyfour hours, work never ceasing for an hour from the time the
first shovel of dirt was thrown until the entire line was finished, from the south
end to the north end. In spite of all the opposition and difficulties, the sewer
was finished and accepted by the eitj- officials as a perfect piece of work, and the
contractor, while not reaping the large financial result that he anticipated, made
a profit on his labor.
Since completing this large work for the city, Mr. Newsom has finished other
contracts, among which is the construction of a powerhotise and subway leading
therefrom to all the different buildings of the Ohio State University ; also build-
ing the extension and improvements on Fourth Street from Chittenden Avenue
northw ard.
Mr. Newsom has been identified with the manufacturing interests of the city,
among which was the manufacture of cooperage and flouringmill machinerj'. He
was an owner of stock and a director of the old First National Bank and is iden-
tified in a similar way with the National Bank of Columbus, which is the succes-
sor of the First National Bank. He was one of the original stockholders in the
establishment of the Columbus Electric Light and Power Company and is now a
large stockholder in that company.
JAMES MYEHS MONTGOMERY
[Portrait opposite page 464.]
Was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, December 28, 1825, the son of Robert
and Elizabeth Young Montgomery. His mother's parents were of German ances-
try, and emigrated from Maryland to Pennsylvania at a very early day. His
great grandparents on his father's side came to America from the north of Ire-
land. In the fall of 1830, being then in his fifth year, Mr. Montgomer}'^ came to
Knox County, Ohio, with his parents. Shortly after arriving there, his father
died and was buried at Martinsburgin the same county. About one year alter his
father's death his mother, with the family of two boys and one daughter — now
Mrs. Charity Loren, the mother of Mr. James M. Loren. well known in Columbus
Representative Citizens. 817
— removed to Delaware County. It was in this county that Mr. Montgomery
received his early training during the winter season in the district schools. When
he had attained the age of thirteen years his mother hired him out at five dollars
a month. His mother married again, and, at the age of fourteen, not liking the
treatment he received from his stepfather, he loft home to struggle for himself, and
worked for Mr. Nathan Paul, a neighbor, for about six months on a farm. The
following spring he went to Knox County; afterwards he returned to Delaware
County, where he learned the carpenter trade with his older brother and went into
partnership with him. After leaving his home he took up his residence with
Nathan Paul and went to school every winter during his school age and worked
by jobs through the summer at his trade.
By the will of his grandfather, Mr. Montgomery and his brother John became
the owners of one hundred and sixty acres of land in Crawford County, two miles
north of Bucyrus. Every year for a number of years tlie two young legatees
walked sixty miles to Bucyrus to pay the taxes on this property, usually making
the distance in a day and a half. In the year 1847, Mr. Montgomery bought his
brother's interest in the farm for four hundred dollars. In the fall of the same
year, he sold the farm to a German for 11,000 in cash, over $700 of which
was in silver coin. In the spring of 1849, he came to Columbus afoot and was
obliged to wade Big Walnut Creek to reach the city. He began buying Mexican
land warrants and after purchasing six of these, calling for 160 acres each, he
started for Bellevue, Iowa, to locate the land. This proved an eventful trip. Mr.
Montgomery took the old stagecoach to Springfield, Ohio, whence he traveled
over the old Mad River Railway to Cincinnati, and thence proceeded by steamers
via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to St. Louis and his destination. On his return
he walked in the short space of five daj^s the entire distance of two hundred miles
to Chicago, whence he proceeded byl'rail and water to Delaware County. He had
encountered many hardships but was comforted by the assurance of having
secured 1,000 acres of rich Iowa land and paid all of his expenses out of his small
fund of $1,000. During the succeeding year he worked at his trade, and then
bought a small grocery and drygoods store at Centre Village, Delaware County.
Here he was married on January 1, 1851, to Rebecca A. Campljell, of Plain Town-
ship, Fi'anklin County, Ohio. He kept this store about two years, then sold
out, traded part of his land in Iowa and in the fall of 1853 went to Union
County, where he bought a farm. After one year he sold this property
and removed to Plain Township, Franklin County. There he bought a
farm and I'emained until 1860. In that year he came to Columbus and
invested in property on North High Street. In the fall of 1863, he bought
a farm east of Worthington Station. This property he disposed of in Jan-
uary, 1865, for $26,000 cash, that being about double the price he had paid for it.
Moving thence to Truro Township, Franklin County, he bought another farm, on
which he lived for the succeeding ten years. After buying and selling several
fiirms, Mr. Montgomery again returned to Columbus, where he located on East
Broad Street. There he engaged in the hardware business with James S. Abbott
and Joseph H. Stoner under the firm name of Abbott, Montgomery & Stoner, at
99 South High Sti'cet. Mr. Montgomery was actively represented in the firm by
his son, Sylvester R. After three years of successful business, he sold his
interest in the store to William E. Horn. He is devoting himself at present to the
management of his large real estate interests, including a fine farm of 280 acres
in Truro, Township, this county, 500 acres of timber and prairie land in Missouri, and
1,800 acres in Indiana. Mr. Montgomery lives in a comfortable home at 253 Eigh-
teenth Street, Columbus. He has three children living, his eldest son, James M.
Montgomery, Junior, having died in 1890, leaving a widow and three little boys,
also a son who died in infancy, and a daughter aged 17 years. The three sur-
viving children are : Mrs. Charles F. Guthridge, Sylvester Ranney and Leon Justin.
History of the City of Coiaimbiis.
MATTHEW J. BERGIN
[Portrait opposite page 672.]
Was born February 17, 1857, in Nashville, Tennessee, but he has lived all his life
in Columbus. His parents, Thomas and Margaret Bergin, natives of Ireland,
came to this country about 1850, and were married in Columbus in April, 1855,
but removed soon afterward to Nashville. Returning to Columbus in the follow-
ing j'ear, his father started in the grocery business on High Street, and continued
in that punsuit until 1889, when he retired from active business. Mr. Bergiu's
mother died on October 21, 1892. Mr. Bergin's early education was received at
8t. Patrick's Parochial School, which he attended until he was fourteen years of
age, when he entered St. Aloysius Seminary at the establishment of that institu-
tion by Bishop Rosecraiis. He remained there two years. On leaving the Semi-
nary he entered B. K. Bryan's Business College, in which he finished the course
in about two years. On quitting school he entered his father's grocery, in which
he remained until 1880, when he was elected Secretary of the Columbus Police
Board. He held this position until March 1, 188(5, when he resigned, having
entered into partnership with Mr. Thomas J. Dundon for the purpose of carrying
on the lumber business. In this enterprise the firm of Dundon &■ Bergin has met
with the mo.st signal success, and their mills and yards are among the largest and
best in the city. Mr. Bergin was married May 14, 1884, to Miss Theresa Burns,
daughter of Mr. Michael Burns, Police Commissioner. Mr. and Mrs. Bergin have
three children ; Ralph, aged seven years, Helen four years, and Matthew one
year. Mr. Bergin is a stanch Democrat, a thorough business man, and a popular
and valued citizen.
THOMAS J. DUNDON
[Portrait opposite page 448.]
Stands in the front rank of prominent and successful Irish-American citizens
in Ohio's Capital. Mr. Dundon was born on April 15, 1854, in Askeaton, County
Limerick, Ireland. His parents, John and Mary Dundon, emigrated to this coun-
try in August of the same year, and located in Columbus, where they have since
resided. Mr. Dundon was educated in St. Patrick's School, at the southeast corner
of Grant and Mt. Vernon avenues, Columbus. At the age of fourteen years he
was emploj'ed by Abraham Carlisle to work in his pjaningmill at the northeast
corner of Spring Street and Pearl Alley. Four years later he was promoted to
the position of foreman of the entire place, in which capacity he continued until
the year of the panic. He then accepted the position of foreman of Hershiser &
Gibson's pjaningmill, at the southeast corner of Spring and Water streets. When
Mr. Gibson retired from the firm he bought a third interest in the plant, the firm
being known as Hershiser, Snyder & Dundon. Remaining fourteen months with
this firm, Mr. Dundon concluded to draw out and handle lumber in carload lots for
himself This he did until February, 1886, when he and M. J. Bergin formed a
partnership to carry on the lumber business and the manufacture of all kinds of
millwork, at the southwest corner of Spring and Water streets.
Mr. Dundon was married to Ella E. Berry on February 28, 1878, and has one
bright little son named Frank, born October 20, 1881. Like his partner, Mr.
Dundon is an uncompromising Democrat, standing high in the councils of his
Representative Citizens 849
party. He held the office of Police Commissioner for four years, being elected on
the Democratic ticket on the first Monday in April, 1882. He is an honored mem
ber of tiie Ancient Order of Hibernians, in which he was initiated in September
1878. He was elected State Delegate of Ohio, June 13, 1888, at the State Con
veiition held in Chillicothe, and at the National Convention held in Alyn Hall
Hartford, Connecticut, May 15, 1890, was elected National Treasurer, being hon
ored with a reelection May 15, 1892, at New Orleans. He is also a member of
the Jackson Democratic Club of this city.
FREDERICK J. GOTTSCHALL
[Portrait opposite page 768.]
Was born in 1855, at Newark, New Jersey, and came to Columbus, Ohio, with his
parents when he was tiiree years ot age. He has since resided continuously in
this city, having been reared on the South Side, where he is widely known. Mr.
Gottschall received a commonschool education, and in the year 1870 went to work
for Mr. John Kienzle in the shoe business. In the fall of 1872 he entered the
employ of Mr. Gus. Maier, the dry goods merchant, at tlie corner of Main and
Fourth streets He continued to be thus employed until 1884, when he went
into the drj'goods business at the corner of High Street and Livingston Avenue
under the firm name of Gottschall & Company. On June 12, 1891, Mr. Gottschall
bought out the interest of his partner, Mr. John Kohl, the firm then being in bus
iness at 397 South High Street, where Mr. Gottschall is still located. The subject
of this biography is distinctively a selfmade man. By his diligence and business
ability he has built up an excellent trade, and his store is ranked as one of the
foremost drygoods establishments of the South Side. Mr. Gottschall lives at 934
South High Street. He was married in the year 1881 to Miss Louisa Lefller,
daughter of tlie wellknown contractor at Marion, Ohio. Mr. Gottsch.-ill is the
father of one child, a bright little daughter of ten years. He is a member of the
Masonic Order, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Druids.
JOHN WENZ
[Portrait opposite page 792.]
Was born in Dilkirchen, Germany, on February 7, 1822, and emigrated to America
on the twentyseventh of' February, 1847, arriving in New York on April 15, same
year. He came direct to Columbus, where he arrived Api'il 30, 1847. and where
he has since i-esided. Being a stone-mason by trade, he first engaged in work for
a week or more on tlie Odeon Hall, afterwards accepting a position at his trade on
Hayden's Eolling Mill, then being built, where he worked during the remainder
of the summer. In the fall he went to Lockburne to work in a distillery, remain-
ing there until tlie end of Februarj', when he returned to Columbus and worked
at his trade during the two succeeding months. He then secured employment on
the Statehouse, then in process of construction, where he worked for the ensuing
ten years, most of that time under the supervision ot Joseph Edwards. At the
conclusion of this engagement, Mr. Wenz entered into a partnership with Beck &
Brother, under the firm name of Wenz, Beck & Company, in the stone masonry,
paving and sewer business. In this he continued for about ten years ; afterward,
in 1870, he went into business for himself. In the year 1883, owing to failing
54*
850 History op the City of Columbus.
health, he retired from active business, and he now lives in a comfortable home at
197 East Fulton Street. Mr. Wenz's parents came to America in 1851. Both are
now dead, his mother having departed this life in 1858 and his father in 1863.
He has one sister living, Mrs. Valentine Koehl. Mr. Wcnz was married on July
7, 1850, to Miss Martha Elizabeth Whisker, of Columbus, a native of Germanj'.
No children were born to them, but about the year 1865, Mr. Wenz adopted Lizzie
Bolauder, now Mrs. Henkle, an orphan girl, who has since made her home with
him and will be the heir to his estate.
Mrs. Wenz died July 7, 1880, jwst thirty years after her marriage, to the very
day. Mr. Wenz has a large circle of friends and acquaintances, and stands high
in the estimation of the people of the South Side, among whom he has for so many
years resided.
[Portrait opposite page 736.]
Was the son of Pennsylvania parents, and was born in that Stata in the year 1812.
He came with his parents to Ohio when only one year of age. He was a lifelong
and respected resident of Franklin County, and died here on March 3, 1890. His
young life was darkened by a terrible affliction that befell him while living with
his parents on a farm a short distance east of what is now known as-Bullitt Park.
His'father and two brothers were sutfocated by fire damp in a well on the prem-
ises, two of them losing their lives in an attempt to save the third. Mr. Saul
resided on this farm until after his marriage, when he located on a farm north of
Reynoldsburg, from which place he removed to Columbus about the year 1858, and
engaged in business in a general store at the southeast corner of Main and High
Streets, under the firm name of C. Eberly & Co. He was thus occupied until
1862 or 1863. He subsequently removed to the corner of Main and Pearl streets,
when the firm became Saul & Bobb. Mr. Saul continued in successful business in
this room for a quarter of a century, and his name becime one of the most familiar
of all the business men of the South Side. For the last two years prior to his
death, he was engaged in the grocery trade at Number 74 East Main Street, under
the firm name of Saul & Eberly, during which time their patronage grew to mam-
moth proportions. Mr. Saul's wife, whose maiden name was Catharine Eberly,
died in 1874, no children having been born of the union.
Mr. Saul was at one time, in his earlier years, a school teacher, and had
charge of a district on Alum Creek, east of the city. He never held public office.
He was a sober, industrious man, regular in his habits, fond of his home life and
successful in his business. Oncoming to Columbus he lived on East Eich Street,
in the house now numbered 464, and afterward moved to Third Street, be-
tween Main and Rich. Subsequently he built the residence at Number 79 East
Main Street, opposite to the grocery, and here he lived for twentyseven. years and
died at the age of 77. During his quiet, unostentatious life he acquired a comfort-
able fortune, including the business property at Number 24 East Main Street, his
residence and some other real estate.
Eepresentative Citizens.
THEODORE \V. TALLMADGE,
I Portrait opposite page 176.]
Attorney at-law, real estate operator and military claim ai^ent, is a descendant of
Thomas Tallmadge, who, accompanied by liis brother William, emisjrated from
England in 1631, and located at Southampton, Long Island, where William died
without issue, leaving Thomas as the progenitor of those bearing the Tallmadge
name in America. Among his illustrious descendants the names of the famous
Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage', Senator Nathaniel P. Tallmadge of New York (sub-
sequently Governor of Wisconsin), Major Tallmadge of revolutionary fame and
General James Tallmadge, prominent in the history of New York City, are all
worthy of mention.
Darius Tallmadge, the father of the subject of this sketch, was one of the
pioneers who have contributed much in making Ohio what it is, and as much of
his time and business was identineil and known in the capital city he should have
a place in its history as though an actual resident In his day of activity no
other man was better known throughout the State of Ohio. He became promi-
nent because he was a contractor for carrying the United States Mail in post
stagecoaches, both on his own account and as General Superintendent of the
Stage Company which monopolized that business in the State from 1833 until
1850. Columbus was the central point for the various stage lines and the general
office of the company was there located. Most of the stockholders were residents,
among whom were William Neil, William SuUivant, D. W. Deshler, Bela Latham,
Peter Campbell, William Dennison, and others who are often mentioned in this
histor>-. Mr. Tallmadge being a member of the Board of Control of the State
Bank of Ohio which met at Columbus semiannually duiing its existence for twenty
years, and also for ten years serving as one of the most active Directors of the
Columbus and Hocking Valley Railway, the office of which was at Columbus, con-
tinued his identity with the interests of the city even subsequent to his stage oper-
ations. He was born in Schaghticoke, Rensselaer County, New York, on June 30,
1800, the youngest of the fourteen children of Josiah Tallmadge, who died in the
year 1802. His mother died in 1810. At the age of twelve he commenced earn-
ing his living. At the age of fourteen with his share, a small amount, in the divis-
ion of his father's farm, he went to Dutchess County where his maternal uncle,
Henry Hoffman, resided on a farm and where his first employment was as a tem-
porary school-teacher. At the age of nineteen, near Varna, Tompkins County,
where his brother Peter resided, he purchased a fortyacre farm, and at twenty-
one married Miss Stirah Ann, daughter of Jonas Wood, a neighbor farmer. His
ambitious spirit and indomitable perseverance led him, during the spring of 1825,
to emigrate to the West. For a period of six months after his arrival at Mays-
ville, Ky., his labor was on the wharf with horse and dray. He made six trips
overland to New Orleans with horses for sale either for others or on his own
account, but with little success. In the purchasing of horses at Wilmington, Ohio,
he met William Neil, then president of the Ohio Stage Company, who subsequently
proposed to employ him, first at a salary of $400, but soon increased to $1,200 per
year. Thus he finally found a business to suit his enterprising ardor, and he
became the General Superintendent and a partner in that company which proved
his great success, a source of personal wealth, and a field for his attributes. He
became a leading citizen of Lancaster, and was also noted as a progressive farmer
and stock raiser. His private charities were bountiful. It was mostly through
his exertions and influence that the Methodist, Episcopal and Baptist churches of
852 History of the City of Columbus.
that place were built; he was also prominent in establishins; the two lines of rail-
way known as the Muskingum Valley and Hocking Valley which intersect in
that city, he serving as director in each company. In 1847 he projected the Hock-
ing Valley Branch of the State Bank of Ohio of which he was president during its
entire existence, serving in the same capacity for many years when it was merged
into the National Bank of the same name. He died at Lancaster, March 27, 1874,
the funeral ceremonies being conducted in the Ma.sonic ritual, and attended by
Knights Templar commanderies from Columbus and other neighboring cities, he
having attained the highest degree in the order and being generally known and
esteemed. He was twice married. His first wife died in June, 1849, and in October,
1850, he was again married to Elizabeth, daughter of John Creed, a prominent
banker in Lancaster. He had no children by his second marriage. The issue of
the fir.st was, Theodore Wood Tallmadge, of whom we now write, and James
Augustus Tallmadge, who died at the age of twentyfbur at Valparaiso, Chili.
Having given this brief but interesting outline of his ancestry, the biogra-
pher now enters upon a description of the active and useful career of Theodore
W. Tallmadge. He was born at Maysville, Kentucky, January 25, 1827. In 1830
his fiather moved to Tarlton, Pickawaj- County, Ohio, and three years later
changed his abode to Lancaster, in Fairfield County. His early education was
attained in Howe's Academy in the latter place, his fellow students being the
Ewing and the Shermau boys who have contributed so much in making the State
conspicuous. After passing two years at Augusta College, Kentucky, and the fresh-
man year at the Ohio University at Athens, he completed his college course at the
college of New Jersey, Princeton, which conferred upon him in 1846, the degree of
Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in 1849. He was admitted to practice in the
courts in the State of Ohio and the Circuit Court of the United Stales at Colum-
bus iu 1849 after pursuing the study of law for three years in the office of Henry
Stanbery, the first Attorney-General of the State of Ohio.
Mr. Tallmadge removed his residence to Columbus in April, 1859. Previous
thereto he had resided at Lancaster, having practiced his profession in connection
with Hon. John T. Brasee, one of the distinguished members of the bar of that
city, which was then very conspicuous because it embraced Thomas Ewing, Henry
Stanbery, Philemon Beecher, Hocking H. Hunter, Gov. William Medill and other
distinguished men. While in Lancaster he was also interested in the banking busi-
ness, both in charge of a private bank in that city and as president of the
Upper Wabash Bank of Indiana which attained a note circulation of §200,000. In
1852 he was active in the purchase and sale of military bounty land warrants,
locating many on public land in the Western States tben being settled. He also
subdivided 160 acres adjoining Lancaster known as the Hop Company addition,
being the President of the Company, which for many years harvested hops from
fifty acres of land. He laid out additions to the cities of Keokuk, Des Moines and
Dubuque, Iowa, in the early history of those places. He was connected with the
development of the coal fields in Perry County on the Zanesville, Wilmington &
Cincinnati Eailway, and also at the confluence of Monday Creek and Snow Fork
in Athens County on the Hocking Valley Eailway.
When he removed to Columbus Mr. Tallmadge resided on a fifteenacre tract
of land then just east of the corporation line, on Broad Street, which he subdi-
vided, dedicating to the public what is now known as Garfield Avenue, from
Broad Street to Mount Vernon Avenue, the addition lying between that Avenue
and Tallmadge Street. He planted all the trees which have beautified that place
by their growth and was a pioneer in the improvement of East Broad Street, now
the most beautiful in the city. He also subdivided ten acres near the City Park
in the southern portion of the city. He erected the first houses soon after the war
granting the right-of-way for the Hocking Valley Railway track on his subdivision
Representative Citizens. 853
of twentyfive acres west of the Scioto River, and partly through his exertions the
river bridge on State Street and the levee south of Broad Street were made. He
also platted an addition in the vicinity of the Panhandle R. R. roundhouse and
shops, in the northeastern part of the city, and 160 acres on North High Street
contiguous to the State University grounds, then known as Northwood Villa ; there-
fore he is marked as among the very first who foresaw what has since developed
in the growth of the city, his various additions being at this time occupied by
residences, schoolhouses and other indications of population. Among other real
estate operations Mr. Tallmadge for one year subsequent to August, 1877, was the
General Manager of a company which organized and was very active for coloniza-
tion purposes in the State of Texas, with central office at St. Louis, Mo., requiring
his personal attention, and hence his residence temporarily in that city.
In his profession, Mr. Tallmadge has made a specialty in prosecuting
soldiers' claims under the United States and State laws. He established that busi-
ness in March, 1862. ' His office on High Street, opposite the Capitol, became, dur-
ing the war, a regular bureau, employing forty clerks, and he found it necessary to
open other offices in Columbus as well as at Cincinnati and other cities in the State.
Because of his extensive advertising and very energetic disposition his agency
became very prominent, especially as his clients, numbering in the thousands,
mostly soldiers, were dispersed among all classes of citizens in every village of the
State. Becoming familiar with the acts of Congress and the orders of the War
Department, as well as the rulings in the departments of the United States Govern-
ment, he was enabled to dispatch this character of business readily and speedily,
as well as to represent the interests of the claimants, even when not provided for
by existing law. In some cases it was necessary for him to appear before the
committees of the State legislature and the National Congress to obtain proper
legal provision. At the close of the war he was the most prominent pension
attorney in the State, and in the vicinity of Columbus had no competitor, his
qualifications for success being testified to by all the officers of the State as well as
his numerous clients and the other attorneys-atlaw of the city.
In October, 1878, be opened an office at Washington, D. C, as he found he
could represent the interests of his clients before the courts and depart-
ments of the United States in a greater degree by constant personal attention.
He has able assistants in his office at Columbus and many of the cities of the
State, giving hi.s personal attention as required in the same.
On April 18, 1861, when the Governor of Ohio, William Dennison, called for
volunteers, under the proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Tallmadge
was placed as quartermaster on the staff of Henry Wilson, the ranking major-
general of the Ohio militia, and at once commenced active duty in receiving and
placing into quarters the troops arriving at Columbus, the general rendezvous.
The following Mav, when the militia of the State was reorganized under act
of the legislature, Mr. Tallmadge was commissioned for five years as Assistant
Quartermaster and Commissary of Subsistence by the Governor of Ohio, with
the rank of captain in the Ohio volunteer militia, beinir first sent to the
camp of the Seventeenth Ohio Infantry at Lancaster. When that regiment
was ordered into active service. Captain Tallmacige was placed in charge of a steam-
boat with supplies and arms sent by the Governor of Ohio to troops under
General McClellan, who was preparing to make an advance into West Virginia.
Arriving at Parkersburg, and delivering said supplies to General W. S. Rosecrans,
then in command of thirteen regiments of Ohio and Indiana threemonths volun-
teers. Captain Tallmadge was detailed to serve on the staff of that general as quar-
termaster, and marched with the brigade via Clarksburg, until the battle of Rich
Mountain, July 11, 1861. He fontinued on active duty as assistant quartermaster
and commissary for one year, having been ordered to various points where Ohio
854 History of the City of Columbus.
troops were in rendezvous and in service needing arms and supplies. He accom-
panied the hospital boats sent by the Governor of Ohio with physicians and nurses
for taking care of the wounded at the battle of Shiloh, arriving two days after the
battle, and was placed in charge of the detail which conveyed the wounded to the
boats. In Jul}", 1863, Governor Tod ordered the State militia to Camp Chase,
four miles from the Capitol, and Captain Tallmadge was placed on duty as the
quartermaster. This call was occasioned by the raid then being made through Indi-
ana and Ohio by the Confederate General Morgan.
He is a member of the Federal Bar Association of the District of Columbia ;
also of the Burnside Post, Number 8, of the Department of the Potomac of the
Grand Army of the Republic, serving the third term as Chaplain. He has served
as Aide-deCamp on the staff of Colonel Charles P. Lincoln and of A. F. Dins-
more, Commanders of the Department of the Potomac, and in the same capacity
on the staff of Commander-in-Chief William Warner and Wheeloek G. Veazey.
During most of his life he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
holding the oflSce of trustee of Wesley Chapel in Columbus for ten years, and the
past ten years leader of the Stranger's Class iu the Metropolitan Methodist Epis-
copal Church, Washington City.
In October, 1849, he mari'ied, in Lancaster, Hon. John T. Brazee's daughter
Ellen E., who died at Columbus, February 2, 1865. He was remarried June 27,
1867, to Harriet Washington, daughter of Major Andrew Parks, of Charles-
ton, Kanawha County, West Virginia. By his first marriage he had six
children, two having died in infancy; the eldest surviving, Sallie, born January 9,
1852, resides at Cleveland, married to Henry A. Stevens. His two sons —Frank,
born January 9, 1854, and Darius, born May 9, 1859 — are well known and active
citizens of Columbus, the former an agent and adjuster for several insurance com-
panies, and the latter chief stockholder and mana£;er of the " Tallmadge Hard-
ware Company." The youngest, Theodore, born November 18, 1862, is an attor-
ney-at-law residing at VVashiugton, D. C. By his second marriage he has two
children. Flora, born October 1, 1868, and Andrew, born January 16, 1870, the
latter making his mark in the new and opening field of electrical appliances.
HENRY S. HALLWOOD
[Portrait opposite page .336.]
Was born April 30, 1848, near Warrington, Lancashire, England, and was the
second son of Captain Henry and Elizabeth Hallwood. Captain Hallwood was a
native of Liverpool ; while a young boy ran off to sea, and at the age of nineteen
was promoted to a ship's captaincy. Later, while hunting-seals in floe ice, he
became detached from the vessel's crew, and for three days and nights was lost,
but on tiie fourth day he was found frozen to the ice and apparently dead. He
was restored to consciousness by rubbing him with snow and the use of stimulants.
While the name of Hallwood is composed of two very common syllables, yet
the two combined form probably the most uncommon name on this continent, no
other family of this name being known to the writer. In England, also, the name
is uncommon, yet there is a parish of this name near Runcorn, in Cheshire, that
dates back many centuries.
The subject of this sketch was educated in private schools and received what
might be termed onlj' a fair education, passing poor examinations in Latin, and
the like, but good ones in the three Rs, his mensuration, trigonometry and Euclid
afterwards coming into good play in the practice of mine engineering. At sixteen
he was apprenticed to Jackson A. Ackers, chemist of Manchester, and later to
Eepresentative Citizens. 855
Mr. Grime, of Warrington, England, with whom a good commercial education
wa8 obtained, and to whose care, instruction and ability the subject of this sketch
acknowledges his indebtedness. Shortly after the completion of this apprentice-
ship the eldest brother, Thomas H., died. He was the junior member of the firm
of Hallwood & Son, and was succeeded by Henry S. Hallwood, Junior, in the
partnership, which arrangement lasted for several years.
On August 22, 1874, a picnic was planned to which Miss Annie Lockey, of
Norihwich, was invited. She was the daughter of James T. Lockey, owner of
the Novelty Ironworks, and a salt manufacturer. She being only sweet sixteen,
the picnic was hold by special license, at the Barnton Parish Church, and a cere-
mony was performed by the Rev. Mr. Willetts which made Miss Lockey and H. S.
Hallwood man and wife. As a result of this happy union eight children have
been given to them : Lillie, born September 25, 1875 ; Thomas Henry, born June
1, 1877; JSTellie, born January 30, 1880; Beatrice Hale, born October 11, 1883;
Frank Percy, born November 16, 1885 ; Harold, born November 12, 1886 ; Frank
Graham, born April 23, 1889 ; and Nathan Abbott, born October 22, 1891. The
marriage ceremony was followed by a hasty departure for the land of the free
and the home of the brave. The angry parents of an only daughter at sixteen
are usually not very anxious to see a soninlaw. To escape this anger, and to elude
pursuit, a 110711 de plume was adopted, but dropped upon a reconciliation and re-
turn to England for the parental blessing. After a few months' stay, a return to
the United States was decided upon.
Mr. Hallwood spent ten years in West Virginia practicing as a mining engi-
neer and coal operator, in which business heavy losses from sudden freshets and
ice gorges, breaking loose fleets of loaded coal barges, proved to be financial dis-
asters of a serious nature, which it required years of labor to liquidate and over-
come. Tiring of such a risky pursuit, Mr. Hallwood decided six years ago to
remove to Columbus, Ohio, and enter into the contracting business. First was
organized the firm of McMillen, Knauss & Hallwood, which, after two years' suc-
cessful operations, was merged into the Ohio Paving Company, of which Colonel
N. B. Abbott is the president and H. S. Hallwood the engineer and manager.
Under the direction of its able and efficient president this company has done an
immense business. One of its specialties has been the manufacture and disposal
of the Hallwood paving block, twelve factories having engaged in its production,
viz. : two in Columbus, two in Zahesville, two in Portsmouth, one at Athens, one
at Middleport, one at Logan, one at Nelson vi lie, one at Robbins and one at Addy-
stone. Besides "these establishments, which have a capacity of 350,000 blocks per
day, there are are several others which make other material for the Ohio Paving
Company. The Hallwood block has been laid in many cities; in the North, at
Grand Rapids and Saginaw; in the South, at Lexington, Kentucky, and
Chattanooga; in the East, at Hartford and Baltimore; and at Cincinnati in the
West. Mr. Hallwood is the senior member of the firm of H. S. Hallwood & Com-
pany, contractors for the completion of the intercepting sewer; also the West
Side system of sewers, which is the entire system of a separate city, involving
many miles of sewer ranging in diameter from two to seven feet. Mr. Hall-
wood is also a member ^of three other successful contracting firms and owner
of the patents for the "international Cash Register which is now being pre-
pared for the market. He is a member of Excelsior Lodge of Odd Fellows,
of the Columbus Owls, of the Columbus Elks, of Columbus Lodge Number 30,
P. & A. M.; of Mt. Vernon Commandery Knights Templar, a 32° A. A. S. R.; and
of the Columbus Shrine Club.
GENERAL INDEX.
The Roman numerals denote the volume, the figures the page.
Abbott, N. B. ; portrait, 11,520; biography,
823.
Academies and institutes, see Schools.
Advent of the White Man, I, 81-104 :
LaSalle's explorations, 81. 82.
Lewis Hennepin, 81
Voyage of the Griffon, 81, 82.
LaSalle's descent of the Mississippi, 82.
Ohio Land Company of Virginia, 82, 91.
French trading posts, 82, 83.
Bienville's reconnaissance, 83.
Indian treaty of 1744, 83.
Christopher Gist's journey, 83, 84, 85.
Shawnee town on the Scioto, 84.
Logstown, treaty of 1752, 85.
Washington's mission, 85, 86.
Franco English war, 86.
Pontiac's revolt, 86.
Bouquet's expedition, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90.
Primitive map of the Ohio country, 90, 91.
English territorial claims, 91.
Lancaster, treaty of 1744, 91.
Fort Stanwix treaty, 1768, 91.
Washington's journey to the West, 91, 92.
Mingo town on the Ohio, 92.
Connolly's mischielmaking, 92, 93.
Indian war fomented, 93.
Massacre of the Mingoes, 93, 94.
Logan's rage and revenge, 94.
Dunmore's war, 94, 95.
Battle of Point Pleasant, 95,
Camp Charlotte. 95, 96, 97.
Dunmore's treaty, 96, 97, 98, 99.
Cornstalk's eloquence, 96.
Logan's speech. 96. 97.
Crawford's march against the Mingoes,
97, 98.
Death of Logan, 99.
Murder of Cornstalk, 99.
Renewal of hostilities, 99, 100.
Bowman's march, 100.
Clark's expedition, 100.
Massacre of the Moravians, 100, 101.
Advent of the White Man— Continued.
Crawford's expedition, 101.
His rout, capture and torture, 101, 102.
Treaties of 1782-3-4-5-6, 102.
Agricultural Societies, see Industrial.
Agriculture, State Board of , see Industrial
Events.
Algonquins, the, see Iroquois.
Alum Creek, I, 49, 51,55.
Ambos. Peter; portrait, I, 128; biography, 863.
Ancient Races in the Scioto Valley, I, 19-43:
Antiquity of man in the Ohio Valley, 19,
21, 22.
Glacial period and boundary in Ohio, 19,
20, 21.
Succession of prehistoric races, 22, 23.
Race of the moundbuilders, 23.
Their works in the Scioto Valley, 23.
Explorations of Squier and Davis, 24.
Distribution of the ancient earthworks,
23, 24, 25.
Design in the distribution, 25.
Magnitude of the works, 26, 27, 30.
Their different forms, 30, 31, 32.
Purposes of the ancient works, 25, 26, 27,
28, 29, .30, 31, 32.
Human sacrifice suggested, 31, 32.
Difference between the northern and
southern works, 28.
Fort Hill, 28.
Fort Ancient, 29.
Classification of the works, 33.
Sacrificial mounds, 33, 34, 35.
Mound City group, 34.
Sepulchral mounds, 35, 36.
Grave Creek mound, 35.
"Temple mounds, 36.
Cairns, 36.
Pictured rocks, 36.
Effigy works, 36, 37.
The Licking County group, 36, 37.
The Serpent Mound, Adams County, 37,
38,39,40.
Antiquity of the mounds, 40.
Who were the moundbuilders? 40, 41.
L857]
History of the City of Columbus.
Ancient works in Franklin Countj', I, 4^61 :
The Scioto basin, 44, 45.
Effacementof its pretiistoric works, 45, 51.
Ancient work at Wortiiington, 46, 47.
Remnants on tlie Cook farm, 47.
Works near Dublin, 47, 48.
Works on the Big Darby, 48.
Works near Columbus, 48, 49, 55, 59.
Works near Franklinton, 49.
Works near Shadeville, 49.
Pickaway and Delaware County, AVorks,
49, 50.
A work of uncertain origin, 51.
South High Street mound, 51, 52.
Pope farm mounds, 53.
Shrumm farm mounds, 54.
Mounds on the Legg, Davis, Cook and
Vining farms. 54.
Mounds on the Kenney, Coe, Wetmore,
White, Samuel, Buttles and Morrison
farms, 55.
Works on Rocky Fork, .56.
Table mound near Gahanna, 56.
Mounds on the Black Lick, 56.
Works on the O'Harra, Francis, Alkire
and Young farms, 57.
Works near Morgan's Station, 57.
Works on the Corry, Horror, Cloud, E. J.
Young, Spangler, and Shoaf f-Hrms, 58.
O'Harra and Spangler mounds, 59.
Mounds near Canal Winchester, 59, 60.
Fairfield County mounds, 60.
Indian sepulture in the mounds, 61.
Andrews, Doctor Johu ; portrait, I. 400 ; biog-
raphy, 888.
ArmstroniT, Jeremiah ; I, 97, 139, 145-149, 260,
284, 369.
Artesian well, see Capitol.
Aztecs, the; 1,31, 36.
Baily, Francis; I, 6, 10, 17.
Balloon Ascensions, II, 49-54:
First ascension in Columbus, 49.
The aeronaut's account of it, 49. 50.
Ascensions by John Wise, 50, 51.
Monsieur Godard's ascension, 51.
Grimley's first ascension, 51, 52, 53.
Grimley's second ascension from Colum-
bus, 53.
Banks and Banking. I, 396-418 :
Sketch of John J. Janney, 396, 397.
Early Banks in Ohio, 397.
Currency disorders in the twenties, 398,
400, 402.
The United States bank, 398, 400, 403, 401.
Oldtime silver pieces current, 398.
The Suffolk bank system, 399.
Unreliable bank paper, 399.
Bankers' convention of 1838, 399.
Specie resumption in that year, 400.
Small banknot" donominations prohib-
ited, 400. 402, 403.
Banks and Banking— Coniinrtcd.
Bankers' convention of 1836, 400, 401.
Currency crisis of 1837, 401.
Ohio Life & Trust Company, 401, 402.
Bankers' convention of 1839, 402.
"Wildcat" banking in 1854, 402.
Antibank legislation, 402, 403, 405.
Benton's " mintdrops "403.
Taxation of the United States Bank in
Ohio, 403, 404.
States rights doctrines asserted, 404, 405.
Banking laws of 1816 and 1819, 405.
Franklin Bank of Columbus, 405, 406.
Franklin National Bank, 406.
Franklin Savings Bank, 406.
Clinton Bank of Columbus, 406, 407, 408.
Notable bank forgery, 407. 408.
First national war loan of 1861, 408.
Clinton National Bank, 408.
First bank i<sue in Ohio, 409.
Miami Exporting Company, 397, 409.
State Bank of Ohio, 409, 410, 411.
Bank suspension of 1862, 410.
Mechanics' Savings Institution, 410, 411.
City Bank, 411, 412.
A cashier's Christmas story, 411, 412.
Independent banks provided for, 412.
Private banks, 413.
Robbery and attempted murder of S. S.
Rickly, 413, 414.
Recent Columbus banks, 414, 415, 416.
Extent of recent banking in Columbus,
417.
Baptist churches, see Church History.
Bench and Bar, 1,582-615:
The judiciary as a moral and intellectual
agent, 582, 583.
Early Ohio Courts, 583.
The territorial courts, 584.
Codifying commissions, 585.
Early Franklin County judiciary, 585,
586.
Courthouse and jail in Franklinton, 585,
586.
Old United States Courthouse, 586.
First jail in Columbus, 586.
Justices of the peace, 587, 588.
The Mayor's court, 589.
The Probate court, 589.
Court of Common Pleas, 589, 590, 591,
592, 593.
The Associate Judges, 589.
Circuit Courts, 589, 590, 596.
First Common Pleas Court in Franklin
County, 590, 591
Supreme Court, 593, 594. 595.
Supreme Court commissions, 594.
District Court, 595.
National Courts in Columbus, 596 597,
Notable litigation, 598.
Jane Garrison fuaitive slave case, 598,599.
Jprrv Finney kidnapping case, 599, 600,
601.
General Index.
Bench and Bar — Continued.
Case of the slave girl Rosetta, 602, 603.
Eriran, Biishnell and Langston cases,
604, 605, 606.
United States Bank tax case, 606.
Virginia Military District land case, 606,
607.
Martha Washington case, 607, 608.
Hinderer landtitle case, 608, 609.
The " geography war," 609. 610.
Corbin saloon case, 610, 611.
A naturalization incident, 611.
A hogstealer's mishap, 611.
An " able argument " 611.
Criminal pnictice, 611, 612.
Circuit traveling in early times, 612. 613.
Anecdote of Thomas Ewing, 613, 614.
Giants of the early bar, 614.
Local influence of the legal profession,
614, 615.
Benlon, Thomas H. ; I, 326. 329, 403.
Bienville, Celeron de ; I. 83.
Big Walnut Creek. I. 49, 51, .55. se, 58.
Biographical. I. 85.S-91 7; II 820 855."
Black Swamp, I, 238. 241, 243, 246. 249, 318.
Bloody Island ; I, 309.
Blind, Institution for the ; II 611-616;
Its origin, 611.
Site choS'Mi ami architect appointed, 611.
Temporary locaiion and first opening,
612.
First building occupied, 612.
Adult department begun, 612, 613.
The school made free. 613.
Superintendency of Doctor A. D. Lord,
614, 615
G. L. Smead's administration, 615.
Erection of present building provided
for, 615.
Instruction and apparatus, 612, 613, 615,
616.
What the institution has accomplished,
616.
Its resident trustees, 616.
B'nai Israel, Congregation of; II, 714, 715.
Board of Trade, see Trade.
Soke's Creek, I, 1.3S.
Boone, Daniel ; I, 5, 9, 85.
Bouquet's expedition, I, 75, 86, 88, 89, 90.
Born, Conrad, .lunior ; portrait II, 752;biog-
raphv, 832.
Borough of Columbus, I, 260-28Q :
The borough incorporated, 260.
First borough election, 260.
First year's finances, 261.
President Monroe's visit, 261, 272.
Financial crisis of 1819, 262.
Starling's title disputed, 263, 264.
Its confirmation celebrated, 263.
Domestic life of the borough period, 263,
264.
Borough housekeeping, 264, 265, 272.
Mrs. Merlon's adventure, 264.
Mrs. Betsy Green Deshler's letters, 265-
271.
Borough of Co^amhua — Continued.
A struggle for a home, 265, 266, 267.
Borough price.«. 262, 26r.-271.
Frontier fruits, 266.
Scioto River " salmon," 266.
Neighborly amenities, 266, 267.
First meetinghouse, 267.
A Statehouse contract, 267, 272.
Currencv depreciation, 268.
Labor's hardships, 268, 269.
A lively season, 268.
Henry Clay in town, 268, 272.
His dress and appearance, 268.
Frontier sickness, 268, 269, 270, 271.
An unspeakable winter, 271.
Mrs. Deshler's death, 271.
Borough topography, I, 273-277:
Springs and running streams, 273.
Broad Street morass, 273, 274.
Its drainage, 273.
Site of the Kelley mansion, 273.
Springs on East Broad Street, 274.
Spring Street morass, 274.
Doe Run and Lizard Creek, 274, 275.
The Cattail swamp. 274.
Crookedwood pond, 275.
Fourth and Main Street brooks, 275.
Dick's pond, 275.
The borough in 1817, 277.
The borough in 1820, 276.
A pawpaw thicket, 277.
Treestumps in High Street, 277.
High Street in 1830, 277.
Long Street in 1834, 277.
Eastward from High Street in 1834, 277,
278.
The circus lot, 277.
Nigger Hollow, 277, 278.
Peters Run, 275. 278.
Stewart Grove, 278.
Jonesburg, 278.
Earlier German immigrants, 279.
Earlier Welsh immigrants, 279.
Borough census, 1829, 279.
Borough census, 1830, 279.
Transfer of the county seat from Frank-
linton, 279.
Brackenridge, H. M. ; I, 7.
Bradbury, John; 1, 12, 15,18.
Breslin treasury defalcation, 11,67-70.
Brickell, John ; I, 17, 97, 139, 140-145, 155,
210, 211, 216. 505.
Bridges. I. 218, 235, 302, 303, 304, 310; II,
222, 223.
Bright, George W.; portrait, II, 720; biog-
raphy, 831
Bruck, Phiiip H ; portrait, II, 480; biography,
820.
Buildings, the First Public ; I, 251-259:
State Director's authority, 251, 258.
His first report, 252, 254.
Plan of the first Statehouse, 251.
Plan of the first Penitentiary, 251, 252.
Capitol Square staked out, 252.
Penitentiary located, 252.
History op the City op Columbus.
Buildings, the First PnhWc— Continued.
New State Director appointed, 254.
Erection of the First Statehouse, 255, 258.
Its inscriptions, 255.
Its first carpets laid, 255.
A historic teaparty, 256.
Executive offlce building erected, 256.
First United States Courthouse, 256, 259.
Original County office building, 256, 257.
Primitive condition of the early capital,
257, 259.
State archives transferred from Chilli-
cothe, 257.
First sitting of the General Assembly in
Columbus, 257.
Settlement of the State with the proprie-
tors, 257.
Business, Beginnings of ; I, 368-379:
Frontier trade in Franklinton, 368.
Business and economic effect of the War
Subsequent reaction, 369.
Whisky as a medium of exchange, 368,
369.
Early business establishments, 369.
General stores in Columbus, 369, 370.
Absconding apprentices. 370.
Trade in the twenties, 370, 371.
"The cavalry " on High Street, 371.
Trading Indians, 371.
Signboard orthography, 372.
Effect of the canal on business, 372, 373.
Trade in the thirties, 373, 374, 375 376,
377, 378.
First trade directorv, 379.
Business Evolution, I, 380-395:
Its relations to public finance, 380.
Early banking. 380.
Currency inflation and collapse, 380.
"Shinplaster" currency of 1841, 381,
382, 383, 384, 385, 400.
Lotteries and gambling, 386.
Canal debt of Ohio, 386.
Its proposed repudiation, 386.
How prevented, 386.
State Bank of Ohio incorporated, 386.
Ohio Life & Trust Companv's failure,
386, 404. 410.
Prices current in Columbus, 387, 388,
389, 390.
Business in the forties, 390. 391, 392, 393.
Later drygnods trade, 394, 395.
Buttles, Joel; I, portrait, I, 56; biography.
California Exodus, II, 30-37:
Gold discovery at Sutter's Mill, 30.
Excitement caused by it, 30.
Migration to the gold regions, 30, 31 , 33, 34.
Organization of gold seekers in Colum-
bus, 31, 32.
California Exodus— Continued.
Franklin Mining Company, 31, 32, 33.
California Industrial Association, 33.
Departure of gold seekers, 33.
Franklin Company's misfortune, 34.
The Industrial Association dissolved, 35.
Gold seeking tide in 18.50, 35.
Personal mention of Columbus gold
seekers, 35, 36, 37.
Camp Charlotte, I, 95, 96, 97.
Camp Chase, see War for the Union.
Canal, see Ohio Canal.
Canal Winchester, I, 59, 60.
Capitol, the ; II, 565-577 :
Act to provide for the erection of, 565.
Premiums lor plans of, 565, 566.
I Capitol commissioners, 566, 567.
Cornerstone of the new Capitol laid, 566,
567, 568.
Building operations i
Construction resumed, 568.
I Slowness of the work, 568, 569.
Supervising architects appointed, 569.
j Changes of plan, 569, 572.
j Old Statehouse burned, 570, 571.
1 Reorganization of the Capitol Commis-
sion, 571, 573, 574.
Progress of the work, 571.
I Change of architects, 571.
Contracts awarded, 572.
Heating and ventilation, 572, 573, 577.
Arrangements for light, 573,
The quarry railway, 570, 573, 577.
The building inspected by a special
board of architects, 574.
Report and recommendations of the in-
I spectors, 574.
Opening of the new Capitol, 574, 575.
Demolition of the old publicoffice build-
I ing, 575.
1 The Artesian well, 575.
1 Plans for the cupola, 576.
Cause of " Statehouse malaria " discov-
ered, 576.
The Capitol of the future, 577.
Caron, Joseph le ; I, 68.
j Carpenter's Settlement, I, 192, 195.
Carpenter, William B ; portrait, I, 720 ; biog-
raphy, 909.
Cartier, Jacques ; I, 67.
Catholic churches ; see Church History.
Cat Nation, I, 3.
Cemeteries, II, 721-727.
Centennial Exposition, see Industrial.
Central Asylum for ths Insane, see tnsane.
Central Christian Church, II, 710, 711.
Central College, I, 55.
Charaplain, Samuel de; I, 68, 71.
Charities, II, 728-746.
Children's Hospital, II, 745.
Chillicothe, old; I, 75, 100, 104, 112, 114.
Cholera, see Hygiene.
Churches of Columbus, 1892; II, 719, 720.
General Index.
Church History; Baptist, II, 675-692:
Baptist churches in Columbus enumer-
ated, 075.
First Baptist society, 675, 676.
First Baptist Church, 677, 678, 679, 680,
682, 686.
Welsh Baptist church organized, 678.
New church building erected, 679, 680.
Separation of white and colored Bap-
tists, 680.
Central Baptist Church, 681, 682.
Predestinarian society, 683.
Russell Street Baptist Church, 681, 681,
687, 688.
Hildreth Baptist Church, 684, 685.
Memorial Baptist Church, 685, 686, 687,
Colored Baptist churches, 680, 688, 689,
690, 691, 692.
Church History ; Catholic, II, 631-674:
Early Catholic missions, 633, 634.
First Bishop of Cincinnati, 635.
The Columbus mission, 635.
First Catholic congregation in Columbus,
636, 637, 638.
St. Remigius's Church, 638, 639.
First resident priest, 639.
First Catholic school, 639.
Holy Cross Church, 639, 640, 641, 642.
St. Patrick's Church, 643, 644, 645.
Diocese of Columbus, 645, 646, 647.
St. Mary's Church, 647, 648.
St. Joseph's Cathedral, 648, 649, 650. 651,
652, 653.
Bishop Sylvester H. Rosecrans, 653, 654,
655, 656.
Bishop John Ambrose Watterson, 656,
657, 658, 659, 660.
Sacred Heart Church, 660, 661.
Holy Family Church, 661, 662, 663, 664.
St. Vincent de Paul's Church, 664, 665,
Church of St. Francis of Assissi, 666, 667.
St. Francis Hospital. 667, 668, 669.
Mt. Carmel Hospital, 669, 670.
St. Anthony's Hospital, 670, 67J.
St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, 671.
St. Mary's of the Springs, 672, 673.
Catholic cemeteries, 673, 674.
Church History ; Congregational, 1, 830-852 :
Talbot, Rev. Benjamin, 830.
First Congregational church in Ohio, 830.
Other early Congregational societies, 830,
831.
First Congregational society in Colum-
bus, 831.
Congregational Club oi Central Ohio, 832.
First Congregational Church of Colum-
bus, 833-840.
Plymouth Church, 840-843.
Third Congregational Church, 843, 844.
North Columbus Church, 844, 845.
Eastwood Church, 8i6, 847, 848.
Church History— Continued.
Mayflower Church, 848-850.
Welsh Congregational Church, 850, 851.
South Congregational Church, 851, 852.
St. Clair Avenue Chapel, 852.
Church History ; Lutheran, II, 693-704:
First Lutheran services in Columbus,
693.
First Lutheran church building, 693, 694.
First Lutheran society, 694, 695, 696, 697.
St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 693-696, 697.
Trinity German Evangelical Lutheran
Congregation, 696, 697, 698, 699.
Grace Lutheran Church, 699, 700.
St. Mark's English Lutheran Church,
700.
Christ Lutheran Church, 700.
St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Mission,
700.
Capital University, 701-704:
Its origin, 701.
Temporary location at Canton, 701.
Removal to Columbus, 701.
Original site in that city, 701.
Faculty and course of instruction,
701, 702, 703, 704.
Town Street location, 703.
Site donated by Ooctor Lincoln
Goodale, 703.
Removal to present site, 703.
Church History ; Methodist, I, 784-829 :
Sketch of Rev. J. C. Jackson, 784.
Early Methodism in Columbus, 784, 785,
786, 787, 788.
Its origin, 784.
First Methodist society, 784, 785.
Its earlier pastors, 787, 788, 789.
Pastors during the thirties and forties,
789, 790, 791, 792, 793.
Pastors from 1850 to 1890, 796, 794, 795.
Wesley Chapel, 795-801.
Its destruction by fire, 799,
•The new Wesley Chapel, 800.
Third Street Church, 801-807.
Gift Street Church, 808.
Heath Chapel. 808-812.
Neil Chapel, 813, 814.
Broad Street Church, 814-817.
King Avenue Cburch, 817-819.
Third Avenue Church, 801, 819-823.
Shoemaker Chapel. 823.
North Columbus Church, 824.
Christie Chapel, 825.
Mt. Avenue Church, 826, 827.
Donaldson Church, 829.
Church History ; Presbyterian, I, 757-852 :
Sketch of Rev. W. E. Moore, 757.
Presbyterian pioneers of Central Ohio,
758.
Presbyterianism defined, 758, 759.
First presbvtery in the United States,
759.
• General Synod of 1788, 759,
History of the City of Columbus.
Church History— C(w(ii/wd.
Early churches in Ohio, 760.
Frankliuton Church in ISU, 760.
Arrival of Rev. James Hoge, 760, 761.
First Presbyterian society, 761.
Its call to Rev. James Hoge, 762.
First Presbyterian society in Columbus,
762, 763.
Original First Presbyterian Church in
Columbus, 764, 765, 766.
Trinity in Unity, 766.
Fiftieth anniversary of the First Church,
767.
Rev. James Hoge and the public chari-
ties. 768.
Doctor Hoge's retirement, 769.
Second Presbyterian Church 770-778.
Westminster Church, 778, 779.
Hoge Church, 779, 780.
Fifth Avenue Church, 780, 781.
Welsh Church, 781.
United Presbyterian Church, 781, 782.
Broad Street "Presbyterian Church, 782.
City of Columbus, First Years of; II, 3-14:
Transition from the borough, 3.
Its business and professional personnel
in 1834, 4, 5.
The capital in 1836, 5.
How it appeared in 1839, 5, 6.
Michigan boundary dispute of 1835-6,
6, 7, 8.
New Statehouse act of 1838, 8.
The capital removal episode, 8, 9, 10, 11,
12, 13, 14.
The William B. Lloyd incident, 9. 10.
Legislative retaliation, 9, 10.
Adoption of the Spalding resolution. 10.
The Statehouse act repealed, 11.
Proposals for relocation of the capital
invited, 11.
History of the original location reviewed,
11, 12.
Effect of the location on local taxa-
tion, 12.
Financial stress as a hindrance to State-
house construction, 12.
Licking County's bid for the seat of
government, 13.
Committee report thereon. 13.
End of the capital removal schemes, 14.
City, Evolution of the ; I, 199:
The Forest Settlement, 201-235.
Original seat of State government, 201,
204.
Statehouse at Chillicothe, 201, 219.
Commission to permanently locate the
capital, 201, 235.
Objections to Franklinton, 204.
Columbus proprietors' proposals, 204,
205
Original owners of the Columbus plateau,
204.
Act permanently locating the seat of
government, 208, 219-234.
City, Evolution of the— Continued.
The capital named Columbus, 208, 234,
235.
Original plat of the city, 202, 203.
Survey oli the plat, 210, 212.
Partnership of the original proprietors,
210.
First sale of the original lots, 212, 213.
Original purchasers, 213, 214.
Site of the new capital dercribed, 212,
213, 272.
First dwellings erected, 214.
Early inns, shops and tradingplaces, 214,
215, 216.
Christian Heyl's experiences, 215.
First postoflice, mill and markethouse,
216, 217.
First newspaper, 217.
First physicians and lawyers, 21 1.
First religious societies ami churches,
217, 218.
First birth and first marriage, 218.
First census of the settlement, 219.
Early streets and thoroughfarts, 219.
Woithington petition, 219, 220, 222, 223.
City Council, see Minik-ipalilti.
City government, see Mnniripalitu-
City Poor Fund, II, 745.
Civil War, see Ilar/oc the Union.
Clarke, Rev. Dennis A.; portrait, II, 640,
biography, 827.
Clay, Henry ; I, 263, 268, 272, 322, 323 ; II, 61,
62, 379.
Climate, I, 685, 695-715:
Meteorology of Central Ohio, 695, 696,
697, 698, 713, 714, 715.
Earthquakes, 696, 701, 709, 715.
A summerless year, 696. 697.
Notable storms, 696, 697, 706, 707, 709.
Meteoric storm of 1833, 698, 699, 700.
Aurora borealis, 700, 702, 703, 704, 706,
707, 708, 709, 710.
Extreme cold, 697, 698, 701, 703, 704, 705,
708.
Comet of 1843, 702.
Great frost of 1859, 705.
Comet of 1860, 706.
Occultation of Venus, 706.
Comet of 1861, 706.
Lunar rainbow, 707.
Seventeenvear locusts. 708.
Weather observations, 695, 696, 697, 698.
702, 709, 711, 712, 713. 714, 715.
Clayton, John ; I, 18.
Clinton, Governor DeWitt ; I, 72, 332, 333,
334.
Coffeehouses and Taverns, I, 281-290;
Early innkeeping, 281.
Pioneer tavern in Columbus, 281.
Russell's Globe Inn, 281, 285.
The Columbus Inn, 281, 282.
White Horse Tavern, 282.
Swan Tavern, 282, 283, 284.
Red Lion Hotel, 284.
General Index.
Coffeehouses and Ta-verns—Contimied.
The Ohio Tavern, 28i.
The Biack Bear Inn, 285.
The Golden Lamb, 284.
The Golden Plough, 284.
Gale's Tavern, 285.
Union Tavern, 286.
Meneely's wagonyard, 285.
Culbertson Tavern, 285.
John Young's Eagle Coifeehouse, 285,
286, 287.
Tontine Coffeehouse, 287.
Temperance Tavern, 287.
National Hotel. 287, 288.
The Neil House, 288.
The American House, 288.
The Buckeye House, 288, 289.
United States Hotel, 289.
'• Old Rosin the Bow," 289, 290.
Colden, Cadwallader; I. 80.
Commercial Travelers, Order of; II, 772, 773.
Congregational Churches, see Church History.
Congress lands, I, 616.
Conventions, see Political Events.
Cornplanter, the Indian chief; I, 102.
Cornstalk, the Indian chief ; I, 75, 93, 95, 96,
99, 104.
Courts, see Bench and Bar.
Courthouse, see Borough, Bench and Bar,
Events, and Municipality.
Countyseat, see FranUinton, Borough, City,
Bench and Bar.
Cox, Samuel Sullivan ; portrait, I, 448 ; bi-
ography, 893. See also Press.
Crawford, Colonel William ; I, 95, 98, 101, 102.
Critc'nfleld, Leander J.; portrait, I, 584;
biography, 902.
Croghan, Major George ; 1, 18, 84, 86, 91, 92.
Cumberland, Fort; I, 325.
Cutler, Manasseh ; I, 14, 107, 109, 112, 184.
Darby, the Big ; I, 9, 11, 17, 48, 57, 98, 99, 151.
Dawes, E. C. ; I, 120.
Deaf and Dumb, Institution for the ; II, 599-
610:
Sketch of Professor ftobert Patterson,
599, 600.
Origin of the in.stitution, 601, 602.
Memorial of Rev. James Hoge, 602.
Act to establish the institution passed,
603.
The school at Tallmadge, 603.
Scope of the Columbus institution, 604.
Its first location and opening, 604.
Removal to Front Street, 606.
Erection of a building provided for, 606.
Its cornerstone laid, 606.
Its completion and opening, 606, 607.
The institution made free, 607.
Its svstem of instruction, 607, 60S.
Deaf and Dumb— Continued.
Daily routine, 608.
Superintendents and their services 609,
610.
Beneficent work of the institution, 610.
Delaware Indians, I, 40, 70, 73, 74, 79, 84, 92,
99, 101. 102, 114.
Deshler, Mrs. Betsy Green; I, 265-271, 369.
Disciples of Christ, II, 710, 711.
Doe Run, I, 274.
Douglas, Frederick, I, 354.
Douglas, Stephen A.; II, 426, 438, 4.39.
Dunmore's War, I, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99.
Dutch Prairie, I, 171.
Earthquakes, see Climate.
Egan, Patrick A. ; portrait, I, 736 ; biography,
Electric light ; see Street Lighting.
Ellinipsico, the Indian chief ; 1, 95, 99.
Emminger, Allen F. ; portrait, II, 760; bi-
ography, 840.
Fries, the; I, 6, 7,69, 79.
Esquimaux, the ; I, 63.
Ettwein, Rev. John ; I, 92.
Evans, Maurice ; portrait, II, 570 ; biog-
raphy, 825.
Events Current in the Foities and Fifties, II,
55-71 :
Prosperity and growth of the city, 55-60.
Its increase in population, 55, 56.
New additions laid out, 56.
Town Street in 1852, 56, 57.
Rich Street in 1852, 57, 58.
Improvements during the fifties, 58, 59,60.
Cuban independence meeting, 60.
Thomas Francis Meagher meeting, 60, 61.
Henry Clay obsequies, 61. 62.
Know Nothing riots of 1855, 62-65.
First attack on the Turnverein, 62.
The Miinnerchor threatened, 63.
Riot of July 4, 1855, 63,64.
Henry Foster killed, 65.
Arrest of the Turners, 65.
Their trial and discharge, 65, 71.
The Kane obsequies, 65,66, 67.
Breslin-Gibson treasury defalcation ,67-70.
Indignation meeting in Columbus, 68.
Particulars of the embezzlement, 68, 69.
Treasurer Gibson's resignation, 69.
His indictment and trial, 69, 70.
Events Current since 1865 ; II, 221-232 :
City improvements during the Civil War,
221, 222.
Death of Governor Brough, 221.
Visitors entertained by the Municipality,
222.
North End Markethouse, 222.
City Hall built, 222.
New bridges thrown, 222, 223.
" Old landmarks" removed, 221, 223
History or the City of Columbus.
Events Current since 1865— Continued.
Reception of Ex-President Grant, 223,224,
225, 226, 227, 228
New Courthouse erected, 228, 229, 230,
231.
Schiller monument, 231, 232.
The city's growth in population, 232.
Feebleminded, Institution for the -,11,617-620:
Suggested by Doctor William M. Awl. 617.
Recommended by Governor Medill, 617,
619, 620.
Senator Townshend's resolutioij and
committee, 617.
First opening of the institution, 618.
Its original location, 618.
Purchase of present site and erection of
buildings thereon, 618.
Central building destroyed by fire, 618.
Its reconstruction, 618.
The institution's plans of instruction,619.
Its chief present need, 619.
Felber, Jacob; portrait, II, 344; biography, 836.
Female Benevolent Society, II, 731-737.
Fieser, Frederick ; portrait, I, 432 ; biogra-
phy, 893.
Financial disturbances, I. 262, 268, 269. See
also Banks and Banking and Business.
Finley, Rev. J. B.; 1, 76.
Finney kidnapping case ; see Bench and Bar.
Floods ; see Scioto River and Climate.
Fire Protection, II, 544-.i55 :
The borough fire companies and appara-
tus, 544, 545.
Fire service bounties, 545, 560.
Fire ordinance of 1835, 546.
Earlier organizations of firemen, 516.
Hand fireengines, 547, 548, 549, 550, 551.
The Franklin Engine Company, 547, 548.
Contemporary firemen's organizations,
548, 549.
Dispute between the fire companies and
the council, 549.
The companies disband, 549.
First steam fireengine in Columbus, 549,
550.
Dissensions in the Fire Department, 549,
550.
First Silsby steamer, 551.
Office of chief engineer created, 551.
Firealarm signals, 544, 549, 552.
Important fires. 544, 545, 546, 547, 548,
549, 550,551, 552, 553, 554.
Reliance on the Holly forcepumps, 553.
Return to the steamers, 555.
Contention over the firechieftainship,554.
Fort Ancient, I, 29.
Fort Hill, I, 28.
Franklin County, 111, 135, 137, 152, 153, 162,
163, 174-183; 279.
Franklin County Civil List, I, 174-183.
Franklin County Agricultur.d Society, see
Industrial Events.
Franklinton, settlement and town of; I, 135-
173:
Lucas Sullivant's surveying party, 135.
SuUivant's history, 135.
His assignment as surveyor, 135.
His surveys on Deer Creek, 136.
Indians attack and disperse his party,
136, 137.
His subsequent explorations in Franklin
County territory, 137.
Adventure with a panther, 137.
A camp cook's expedient, 137.
An unbidden bedfellow, 137.
Adventure on the Whetstone, 137, 13f).
How Boke's Creek was named, 138.
Snakeden at Marble Cdtl. 138, 139.
Sullivant's land acquisitions, 139.
Franklinton settlement founded, 139.
Its pioneer inhabitants, 139, 140.
Original plat of Franklinton, 140.
John Brickell's career, 140.
His captivity with the Indians, 141-145.
Adventures of Jeremiah Armstrong, 145-
149.
First store in Franklinton, 149.
Primitive mealmaking, 149.
First Franklinton ferry, 150.
Lucas Sullivant's permanent settlement,
1 150
Lyne Starling's arrival, 150.
Other arrivals of pioneer settlers, 150, 151.
Franklin County set otfand organized, 152.
Its seat of government located at Frank-
linton, 152, 153.
I Its first courts, 153, 162.
1 First county jail, 157, 163.
Personal mention of Franklinton pio-
neers, 158,159, 160.
I Major Nathan Goodale's captivity and
fate, 160, 161.
History of Franklin Township, 162, 163.
Anecdote of Lyne Starling, 163.
Pioneer life in Central Ohio, 164.
Hardships of early settlers, 164.
Pioneer housekeeping, 166.
Greiner's Song of the Pioneers, 168, 169,
Gallagher's poetry of pioneer life, 169, 170,
Indian trade at tranklinton, 170.
Adventure with a bear, 171.
A pioneer courtship, 171, 172.
j First religious society in Kranklinlon,
Lyne Starling's land purchases on the
I Columbus plateau, 173.
1 His Mississippi trading ventures, 173
i Freeman, George D.; portrait, II, 192; biogra
phy. 812.
Friends, church of the ; II, 711.
, Frisbie, Charles H.; portrait, I, 368 ; biogra-
phy, 885.
Fuel gas, II, 559, 560.
General Index.
Gahanna, I, 56, 151.
Gallagher, William D.; I, 8, 169, 449, 488.
Galloway, Samuel ; portrait. I, 32 ; biography,
856.
Game of the Central Ohio woods, particularly
around Columbus, 291-300:
Wyandot and Mohawk hunters in the
Scioto Valley, 291.
Game known to the early settlers, 29, 292.
Buffaloes and elks, 11, 292.
Panthers and wildcats, 11, 292, 293.
Bears, wolves and wild deer, 10, 11, 293,
294
Squirrels and their migrations, 12, 18, 295,
296.
Grand squirrel hunt. 295, 296.
Quails and wild ducks and geese, 14, 296.
Martins, 296, 297.
Wild pigeons, 12, 13, 14, 297, 298.
Buzzards and eajjles, 15, 16.
Song birds, 16.
Serpents, 299, 300.
Fish, 298, 299.
Garrison fugitive slave case, see Bench and
Bar.
Gas, see Street Lighting.
Geological Survey, I, 13, 28, 29, 39, 41, 42,
300.
Geology and Geography, I, 663-694 :
The Ohio geological scale, 664.
Geological situation of Columbus, 665.
Helderburg limestone, 665.
Its divisions, 665.
Its utility, 665, 666,
Its history, 666, 667.
Its fossils", 667, 668, 669, 670.
Ohio black shale, 671.
Its fossils, 671, 672, 673.
Its concretions, 673, 674.
Its petroleum and gas springs, 675,
676.
Its waterbearing qualities, 676.
Soils derived from it, 676.
Its geological history, 676.
Surface deposits :
Drift beds, 678.
Boulder clay, 678.
Sand and gravel, 678.
Alluvial and glacial action, 679, 680, 681.
Explanations of the drift, 681, 682, 683
Geographical situation of Columbus, 683.
Its topography, 683, 684, 685.
Climate, 685.
Temperature, 686.
Rainfall, 686
Sanitary conditions, 686.
Sewerage, 684, 687, 690, 691, 692, 693, 694.
Water supply, 687, 688, 689, 690.
Analysis of water, 690.
(ierman immigrants, see Borough.
Girtys, the; I, 102, 103, 104, 141.
55»
Ciist, Christopher; I, 18, 73, 75, 79, 80, 83, 84,
85, 86.
(ilacial period and boundary, I, 19, 20, 21.
trnadenhiitten, I, 20, 92, 100, 101, 102.
Goldschmidt, Rev. John C. ; portrait, II, 656,
biography, 829.
Goodale, Major Nathan; 1, 160, 161, 192, 217.
Goodale store in Franklinton, I, 165.
Graham, A. A.; I, 195, 235.
Grand Army of the Republic, see Military
and National Encampment.
Grant, General U.S.; reception of; II, 22.S-
228.
Granville, I, 13.
Graveyard in Franklinton, I, 163.
Graveyard, Old North ; I, 210.
Gtray, D. S. ; portrait. II, 240; biography,
814.
Greene, Milbury M. ; portrait, 1, 240; biog-
raphy, 870.
Grenadier Squaw, I, 75.
Greenville, Treaty of; I, 116, 170.
Griffon, voyage of the ; I, 81, 82.
Groveport, I, 60.
Grubs, William H.; portrait, II, 784; biog-
raphy, 838.
Griin, Dietrich; portrait, II, 288; biography,
816.
Hamlin, Keziah ; I, 218.
Harris, Thaddeus Mason ; I, 7, 15, 17.
Harrison, Richard A.; portrait, I, 600; biog-
raphy, 903.
Harrison, W. H. ; I, 2, 17, 40, 51, 70, 72, 76
77, 78, 79, 80, 2.36-250.
Harrison Elm, treaty at the ; I, 244, 245,
250.
Hebrew Tabernacle, II, 714, 715.
Heckewelder, John ; I, 41, 76, 92, 99, 114. 115.
Heddiius, Rev. Christian; portrait, II, 704;
biography, 830.
Hendrickson, O. P. ; portrait, II, 592 ; biog-
raphy, 826.
Hennepin, Louis; I. 4, SI.
Hildreth, Abel ; portrait, I, 376 ; biography,
885.
Hillery, Luther ; portrait, I, 816 ; biography,
872.
Hinman, Edward L. ; portrait, I, 25li ; biog-
raphy, 872.
Home for the Aged, II, 743.
Horticultural Society, see Industrial.
Hoster, Louis ; portrait, 1, 752 ; biography, 915.
Hubbard, William B.; portrait, I, 416 ; biogra-
phy, 890.
Hughes, John R.; portrait, I, 264 ; biography,
873.
Humane Society, II, 744, 745.
Hutchins, Thomas ; I, 107, 108.
History op the City of CoLusiBtis.
Hvgiei.e, I, 716-729:
Bilious disorders in the frontier settle-
ments, 716, 717, 718.
Milk sickness, 716, 717.
Jevfett & Smith's dam as a cause of sick-
ness at Columbus, 717, 718.
Chills and fever. 718.
Cholera, 719, 720, 721, 722, 723, 724, 725,
726, 727.
Foulness of streets and alleys, 719, 721,
722, 725, 726.
Epizootic, 726, 727.
Diphtheria, 726.
Smallpox, 727.
Yellow fever, 728.
Scarlet fever. 728.
Pinkeye, 728.
Trichina spiralis, 728.
State Sanitary Association, 728.
State Board of Health, 728.
I.
Idiot Asylum, see Feebleminded.
Independent Protestant German Church, II
709, 710.
Indians, the ; see Iroguois.
Industrial Events, II, 341-365.
Mechanics' Beneficial Society, 341-342.
Russell's Planetarium, 341.
Columbus Typographical Society, 342.
Absconding apprentices, 342.
Convict labor comoetition, 342, 343, 348,
351.
Ohio State Agricultural Society, 343. 334,
345, 346, 350, 351.
First Ohio agricultural paper, 344.
First State Fair, 346.
Columbus Horticultural Society, 346, 347
Labor strikes, 348, 350, 353. 354, 355, 357
358, 359.
First State Fair at Columbus, 348,
Franklin Countv Agricultural Society
328, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 356
357.
Miscellaneous industrial societies, 351-
359.
Agricultural schools proposed, 344, 345
350.
Ohio Centennial Exposition, 359-365.
Inns, see Coffeehouses.
3, Central Asylum for the ; II, .591-598
Disposal of the insane prior to the asy-
lums, 591.
Their condition in jails and poorhouses,
591.
Doctor Awl's sympathies for them awak-
ened, 591.
Origin of the Central Asylum, 592.
Its original site and plan of construction,
592, .593.
Its completion and tirst occupation, 593.
Its management under Doctor Awl, 594.
Its destruction by fire, 594, 595, 596.
Insane, Central Asylum for — Continued.
Reconstruction on the old site begun, 596.
Removal to a new site urged and accom-
plished, 596 597.
Sale of the old site, 596.
Cornerstone of the new building laid, 597.
The chronic insane provided for, 597.
Partisanship in the care of the insane,
^ 597, 598.
Iroquois and Algonquins, I, 62-80:
Aboriginal Americans, 62, 63.
Their languages, 62.
The Indian races :
1. Algonquins, 63.
2. Iroquois, 63.
3. Florida Indians, 63.
Physical characteristics, 63.
Tribal government, 64, 65, 66.
Ohio Indians, 66.
The Iroquois League, 67.
The Andastes, 68.
The Wendats, 68.
The Huron confederation, 68.
Huron cosmogony, 68.
The Ottawas, 69, 74.
Neutral Nation, 69.
The Fries, 69.
The Miamis, 69. 70, 73.
The Delawares, 70, 73.
The Shawnees, 70, 74.
The Iroquois conquest, 71, 72.
Iroquois cosmogony, 72.
Mengwe and Mingoes, 73.
Indian migrations, 73.
The Wyandots, 75, 78.
Execution of Leatherlips, 76. 77, 78.
Israel, Congregation of B'nai ; II, 714, 715.
I Jaeger, Christian ; portrait, I, 224 ; biogra-
phy, 869.
Jaeger, Frederick ; portrait, II, 496 ; biogra-
I pby,- 821.
I Jails, see Franklinton, Bench and Bar, and
' Municipality.
Janney, John J.; biography of, I, 396; por-
trait, II, 256.
Jessing, Rev. Joseph ; portrait, II, 648 ; biog-
: raphy, 828.
1 Jesuits, the ; I, 3-72.
I Johnson, Orange ; portrait, I, 312 ; biographv,
912.
Joliet, Louis ; I, 4.
Jones, J. K.; portrait, II, SO; biography, 807.
Jones, Richard ; portrait, I, 304 ; biography,
Jonesburg, I, 278.
Kane obsequies, II, 65, 66, 67.
Kenton, Simon ; I, 96, 97, 104.
General Index.
86?
Kilbourn, James, Senior ; portrait, I, 184 ;
biography, 866.
Kilbourn, James, Junior ; portrait, II, 128;
biography, 810.
Kilbourn, Lincoln ; portrait, I, 3i!6 ; biogra-
phy, 878.
Knight, H.W.; portrait, 11,528; biography, 824.
Know Nothing movement, II, 420, 430-434.
Know Nothing riots, II, 62-65.
Kossuth's Reception and Visit, II, 38-48 :
The Hungarian revolution, 38.
Kossuth's arrival in the United States,38.
His reception and speeches, 38, 39.
His personal appearance, 39.
His westward journey, 39.
His reception in Columbus, 39, 49.
Welcoming mass meeting on High Street,
41, 42, 43.
His reception bv the General Assembly,
43, 44.
Franklin County Hungarian Association,
43.
Ohio Association of Friends of Hungary,
45, 46.
Kossuth's concluding addresses in Col-
umbus, 45, 46.
A juvenile tribute, 47.
The City Council denounced, 47.
Kossuth's departure, 47, 48.
Columbus contributions to the Hunga-
rian fund, 48.
Labor, see Industrial.
Lands and Land Titles, I, 616-662 :
Classification of Tolumbus lands, 616.
The Indian and French titles, 617, 618,
620.
The English title, 619, 621.622, 623.
Claims of the colonies, 624, 625, 626, 627,
628.
Indian titles extinguished, 629, 630.
Greenville treaty, 630, 631.
Virginia Militarv lands, 616, 628, (
637,
Refugee lands, 616, 632, 634. 635, 638.
United States Military lands, 616, 632,633,
634, 635.
Congress lands, 616, 632, 638, 639, 640.
Disputed titles, 608, 609, 640, 641-647.
Conveyances by will, 647.
Rates of taxation, 647, 648, 661.
Records of land titles, 648, 649, 652, 653,
654, 655, 656.
Burning of the Franklin County records,
649-652.
Prices and growth in value of Columbus
real estate, 656, 657, 658 659.
Deeds and mortgages, 661.
Cost of street improvements, 662.
La Salle, Cavelier de la ; I, 3, 72, 81, 82.
Leatherlips, see Iroquois and Algonquins.
Lee, Alfred E.; portrait, I, 504; biography,
480, 481, 900.
Le Moine, Simon ; I, 71.
Lenni Lenape, I, 40, 41, 67, 70.
Leonard, Theodore; portrait, I, 296; biog-
raphy. 876.
Licking Summit, I, 18.
Liederkranz, The ; II. 769, 770, 771.
Light, see Strett Lighiinq.
Lilley, M. C; portrait, II, 16 ; biography, 803.
Lindeman, Louis; portrait, t, 384; biogra-
phy, 887.
Little Turtle, I, 115, 116.
Lincoln, Abraham ; I, 97 ; II, 148-155, 426,
442, 436, 437, 438.
Lizard Creek, I, 274.
Lower. Valentine ; portrait, 11, 272 ; biogra-
phy, 816.
Logan, the Indian chief ; I, 75, 93, 94, 96, 97,
99.
Logstown, I, 84, 85, 86, 91.
Lutheran churches, see Church History.
Miinnerchor, The ; II, 768, 769.
Masonic Bodies, II, 747-764, 775, 776.
Matzel, George H. ; portrait, II, 224 ; biog-
raphy, 814.
Mail and Stagecoach, I, 341-.356:
Colonial mail service, 341.
Early postal service in Franklin County,
341, 342.
Franklinton postoffice, 341, 342.
First Columbus postofKce, 342, 343.
Early mail routes in Ohio, ,343, 344, 345.
Express post, 344.
Philip Zinn's mail service, 344, 345.
Columbus and Sandusky route, 345.
William Neil's mail and stagecoach en-
terprises, 345, 346, 347.
Extension of mail routes, 346, 347.
Improvements in speed, 347.
Stagedriving and drivers, 348.
Stage adventure, 348, 349.
Neil Moore & Company's lines, 350, 353.
Express mail, 350.
Columbus and Cleveland line, 351.
" Unparalleled speed," 351.
Credits for postage, 352.
Coin payment required, 352.
National Road Stage Company, 352.
People's Line, 353.
Stage accidents, 353, 354.
Frederick Douglas incident, 354.
Hinton mail robberies, 354, 355.
Hinton's trial, 356.
End of the old stage service, 356.
Mail and telegraph, I. 357-367 :
Imperfections of the stage mail service,
357.
Reduction of postage rates, 357, 358.
Railway postoffices, 358.
History of the City op Columbus.
Mail and Telegraph— Contijmed.
Beginning of free delivery, 358.
Free delivery in Columbus, 358, 359.
First letter carriers, 358.
PostoflBce locations, 359.
Present postotfice building, 359, 360.
Criminal delinquencies in local mail ser-
vice, 360, 361, 362.
For telegraph and telephone service, see
Telegraph.
Manufactures, II, 315-340:
Mills of the early settlers, 315, 316, 337.
The Worthington Manufacturing Com-
pany, 316.
Jewett & Hines's spinning mill, 316, 317.
Ransburg's fulling mill, 318.
The Ridgway foundry, 318, 319.
White's coach factory, 319.
Tanneries, 316, 319, 324, 331.
Breweries. 316, 319, 320, 321.
Fabrication of silk, 319, 320.
Cutler's coach and carriage factory, 320.
Gill's foundry, 320.
Franklin Foundry and Machine Shop,
320.
Paper mills, 320, 321, 322, 323.
Starch factory, 321 , 338.
Carpets and cordage, 321.
Neil Moore & Company's factory and re-
pair shop. 321, 322.
M. L. SuUivant's mill, 322.
A mhos & Lennox foundry, 332, 334, 338.
Eagle Foundry, 323
Ridgway & Company's carworks, 323.
Manufactories in leather, 319, 323.
The Peters and Hughes trunk factories,
323, 324.
Beginning and development of Columbus
buggymaking, 324, 325.
Origin of the Columbus Buggy Company,
326.
The Peters Dash Company, 326, 327.
The Hayden manufacturing establish-
ments, 427, 428.
Ohio Tool Company, 327.
Columbus Woolen Factory, 327.
Furniture factories, 327, 328, 329.
Hollow wooden ware, 328.
Ohlen's saw factory, 328, 380.
Manufactories in the fifties, 328, 329, 330.
Ohio Furniture Company, 330.
Columbus Sewer Pipe Company, 331.
Brown, Hinman & Huntington Company,
Columbus Rolling Mill, 331, 332.
Blast furnaces, 332.
Later manufacturing establishments, 332-
Manufactures in 1888, 339, 340.
Markethouses, see Borough, Events, and Muni-
cipality.
Marquette, Jacques ; I, 4.
Massassiniway expedition, I, 239, 240.
May, John ; I, 5.
Mayoralty, see Municipality.
McKinley, William ; portrait, II, 384 ; biog-
raphy, 817.
Membre, Father; I, 82.
Mengwe, the ; I, 41, 73.
Meteorology, see Climate.
Methodist churches, see Church History.
Metz, C L.;I, 22.
Mexican War, see War with Mexico.
Miamis, the ; I, 69, 70, 73, 84.
Military organization before 1860 ; II, 72-87 :
Franklinton Riflemen, 72.
Franklin Dragoons, 72, 73.
Militia law of 1821, 73.
Columbus Artillery, 73, 74.
Militia musters, 74.
A militia " skedaddle," 74.
A gorgeous quartermaster, 74, 75.
The Columbus Guards of 1827, 75.
Franklin Rifle Company, 75.
Mexican War veterans, 75, 81, 84, 85.
Military languor, 75, 85.
Columbus Guards of 1837, 75-79, 82.
Their service at the Clark-Foster execu-
tion, 78.
State military conventions, 78, 81, 85,
191.
German Artillery, 79, 80.
Montgomery Guards of 1846, 80, 87.
Columbus Grays, 80, 187.
Columbus Light Guards, 80, 187.
Columbus Light Artillery, 80.
German Grenadiers, 81.
Columbus Guards of 1855, 81.
State Fencibles, 82, 83, 84, 86, 87, 88, 97,
189.
Columbus Vedettes, 83, 84, 86, 87, 88,
97, 121, 128, 188.
Montgomery Guards, 83, 85, 86, 88, 97.
Steuben Guards, 84, 86, 88, 97.
State arms and arsenal, 84, 90, 91, 122.
Ijams's Light Artillery, 84, 86.
Governor's Guard, 85, 86, 88, 97, 188, 189.
Colonel Latham's funeral, 85.
Coldstream Zouaves. 86, 101, 187.
Military organizations and associations since
theCivil War, II, 186-198:
Grand Army of the Republic, 186, 195,
199-217.'
Sons of Veterans, 187.
Exsoldiers' and Sailors' Association, 187,
193.
Various Columbus companies, 187.
Thurman Light Guards, 187.
Fourteenth Ohio National Guard, 187,
192, 196, 197, 198, 207.
Columbus Vedettes, 187, 188.
Columbus Cadets, 188.
Ex prisoners of War Association, 188.
Governor's Guard, 188, 189, 191.
State Fencibles Association, 189.
Memorial Day, 189.
General Index.
Military organizations— Con(i«ned.
Columbus Memorial Association, 189,
190.
Soldiers' Section in Green Lawn Cem-
etery, 190.
Visiting military, 191.
State convention of the National Guard,
191.
Colored National Guard, 191.
Military reunions. 192, 193, 194, 195.
Mingoes, the; I, 73, 84, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98,
101, 291.
Monroe, President James; 1, 261, 272.
Moravians, massacre of the ; I, 99, 100, 101.
Morgan's escape from the Penitentiary, see
Penitentiary.
Morley, A. T. ; portrait, II, 360 ; biography,
839.
Moundbuilders, works of the; 1, 19-61.
Mound City, I, 33, 34.
Mountain ships, I, 344.
Municipality, the ; II, 467-561 :
Incorporation of the borough, 467.
Powers and duties of borough officers,
467, 468.
Borough legislation, 468, 469, 470, 471,
472, 473.
Incorporation of the city, 474.
Original city boundaries, 474.
The first city charter, 474 475.
City legislation in the thirties and for-
ties, 476-481.
Absolutism of the council, 475, 479.
Early city, finances, 477.
City watch and oolice, 480, 481, 484, 485,
486, 488, 492:
City charter of 1850, 482.
Municipal government law of 1S52, 482,
483.
Its readjustment of executive and legis-
lative functions, 483.
Basis of the municipal code, 484.
City legislation in the fifties, 484, 485.
City legislation in the sixties, seventies
and eighties, 486-495.
The city in the courts, 487,491.
Hare Orphans' Home, 486, 488.
City Park, 487.
Metropolitan P-olice, 488.
City Hall, 488, 489, 490, 491.
Municipal code of 1869, 489.
Mavor's police authority in 1870, 489.
Codification of ordinances, 491, 492.
City finances, 477, 486, 490.
Ward districting, 474, 479, 491, 492.
Street improvement law, 498.
Municipal reform agitation. 493, 494.
Review of local municipal history, 494,
495.
Roster of the borough and city govern-
ments, 496-518.
Music and the Drama, II, 782.
N
National Encampment of the Grand Army
of the Republic, II, 199-217:
Twentysftcond National Encampment
invited to Columbus, 199.
General Council organized, 200, 201, 202,
203.
Its plans, preparations and announce-
ments, 204, 205, 206, 207.
Camps for the veterans, 205, 208.
General statf organization, 209, 210.
The great parade, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213,
214.
Programme for the Encampment Week,
214, 215.
Reunions held, 215.
Finances of the Encampment, 215, 216.
National Road, I, 320-329:
Colonial highways, 320.
Early arterial thoroughfares, 320, 321.
National aid to road construction, 321,
322.
The Cumberland Road, 321, 322.
Its extension to Ohio, 322, 323.
How surveyed and built, 324.
Its continuance through Ohio, 326.
Suspension bridge at Wheeling, 327.
'Travel on National Road, 327.
Importance of the joad to Columbus,
328.
Its disuse and decay, 328, 329.
Neil, Hannah; portrait, I, 784; biography,
911.
Neil, Henry M. ; portrait, II, 112 ; biography,
809.
Neil, Moses H. ; portrait, II, 144.
Neil, Robert E. ; portrait, I, 352 ; biography,
885.
Neil. William ; portrait, I, 344 ; biography,
879.
Newberry, Professor J. S. ; I, 21, 22.
Newsboys' Home, II, 744.
Nigger Hollow, I, 277, 308.
Northwest Territory, see Ohio.
Obetz, Nelson ; portrait, II, 608 ; biography,
825.
Odd Fellowship, II. 765-768, 776.
Ohio Canal, I, 330-340 :
Governor Ethan A. Brown's canal pro-
jects, 330.
His message recommendations with re-
spect thereto, 330.
First Canal Commission, 331.
Canal engineers and surveys, 331, 332.
Proposed canal routes, 332.
Beginning of canal construction, 332, 333.
Governor Clinton's visit. 334.
Canal contracts and laborers, 334. 335.
The Columbus latt-ral built, 335, 336.
History of the City of Columbds.
Ohio Canid— Continued.
Its opening to traffic, 336.
Arrival of tlie first canal boat, 336, 337.
Commercial importance of the canals,
337, 338. •
Canal passenger traffic, 338.
Present extent of the canal system, 339,
340.
Ohio, Founding of ; I, 105-120;
Indian titles to the northwestern terri-
tories, 105.
Colonial claims, 105.
Claims of Great Britain, 106.
Schemes of western settlement, 106.
The Ohio Company organized, 107.
Its purchase, 107, 108.
The Scioto Company and purchase, 108.
Migration of the Ohio Company's colo-
nists, 108, 109.
Their arrival and settlement at the
mouth of the Muskingum, 109.
Political organization of the Northwest
Territory, 109, 110.
Ordinance of 1787, 110.
The territorial officers, HI.
Arrival of Governor St. Clair, 111.
First territorial courts, HI, 112.
Second white colony on the Ohio, 112.
Origin of Cincinnati, 113.
Settlement of Manchester, 113.
First white settlement in Northern Ohio,
113.
Recommencement of Indian hostilities,
114.
General Harmar's expedition, 114.
St. Clair's campaign and rout, 114, 115.
General Wayne's campaign and victory,
115. 116.
Treaty of Greenville, 116.
First territorial legislature, 116, 117, 118.
Division of the territory proposed, 117.
Territorial politics, 118.
Governor St. Clair's contentions, 119.
His removal from office, 119.
State constitution of 1802, 119.
Roster of the Territorial Government,
121-123.
Roster of the State Government, 123-132.
Ohio Company, see Ohio, Founding of.
Ohio country, primitive map of ; t, 90. 91.
Ohio Land Company of Virginia, I, 82.91.
Ohio Life & Trust Company, I, 386, 401, 409.
Ohio Penitentiary, see Penitentiary.
Ohio State University, see University.
Ohio Wilderness, I, 3-18:
Its first explorers, 3, 17.
Its wild forest scenes, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Scenes on the Ohio River, 5, 6, 7. 17.
Wild beasts and birds, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12,
13, 14, 15, 16, 18.
The Muskingum Valley, 8, 9.
The Scioto Valley, 9.
Primitive prairies, 9.
Ohio Wilderness — Continued.
The wilderness in winter, 10.
The wilderness songsters, 16.
Whetstone, Olentangy, Big Darby, 17.
Old Joe and his Garden, I, 751, 752, 753.
Olentangy, I, 9, 11, 14, 17, 45, 46.
Omnibuses and carriages, see Street Transpor-
tation.
Orphans' Home, II, 737-740.
Orton, Edward ; I, 42, 663; portrait, 672 ; bi-
ography, 906.
Otstot, John ; portrait, I, 200 ; biography, 868.
Ottawas, the ; I, 74, 102, 114.
Parkman, Francis ; I, 17, 103.
Parks, II, 535, 536, 537 :
Goodale Park, 535, 536.
City Park. 536.
Franklin Park, 536.
Jefferson, Lexington and Hamilton parks,
537.
Public building grounds, 537.
Patterson, Robert; biography, II, 599, 600.
Patton, A. G.; portrait, II, 208 ; biography, 813.
PauUy, Ensign; I, 86, 103.
Penitentiary, see Buildings, and Penitentiary.
Penitentiary, the Ohio ; II, 578-590.
The firs"t State prison, 578, 579, 580.
Its government, 579, 590.
Its manufactures, 579.
New prison recommended, -579.
Its erection proviiled for, 580.
Its site selected, 580.'
Its completion and occupation, 580.
Disciplinary reforms, 580, 582.
Old Penitentiary grounds in litigation,
581.
Execution of James Clark and Esther
Foster, .581.
Cholera in the prison, 580, 581.
The plague of partisan interference, 581,
590.
Prison cruelties, 582.
Juvenile convicts, 582.
Notable escapades, 579, 583, 587, 588.
The Myers murder, 582.
John Morgan's escape, 583-587.
Case of Mary Garret, 587.
Graded punishments, 588, 589.
Enlargement of the prison, 588.
The prison reform movement, 589.
List of keepers and wardens, 590.
Peters Run, I, 278.
Pfaff, Carl T.; portrait, I, 272; biography, 874.
Pioneer life, I, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170.
Plat, original of Columbus ; I, 202. 203.
Plat, original of Franklinton ; I, 140.
Plat, original of Worthington ; I, 190.
Piatt, William A.; portrait, 1, 144; biography,
864.
General Index.
Political Events, II, 372-463.
Patriotism of the pioneers. 372.
How they celehrated Independence Day,
372, 373, 374, 375.
Dinner to Philemon Beecher, 375.
A legislative funeral, 376.
Habits of early legislators, 376.
Oldtime political notions and customs,
376, 377, 381.
Fugitive slave advertisements, 377.
Slavery in Ohio, 377, 378.
African exclusion, 378.
Kentucky slaves in Ohio, 378.
Eighth of January political festivals, 378,
379, 394, 395, 396, 398, 400, 401, 412,
420, 423. 424, 425, 441, 445, 456.
Dinner to Henry Clay, 379.
General W. H. Harrison's political visits,
379, 390.
Hon. R. M. Johnson's political visits,
379, 390.
Protest of Welsh citizens, 379.
Oldtime political meetings, 380. 381.
State conventions, 381, 382, 389, 390, 394,
396, 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 402, 412,
413, 414, 416, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422,
423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 435, 439,
440, 441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 447, 448,
449, 450, 451, 452, 453, 455, 456, 457,
458, 4.59, 460, 461, 462, 463.
Whig convention of 1840, 382-386, 388.
Campaign of 1840, 388, 389.
Hon. John Tyler's visit, 391.
President Harrison's death, 391.
Funeral honors paid him, 391, 392.
Whig revolt in the legislature of 1842,
393.
Politics of the capital removal scheme,
394.
Oregon boundary dispute, 395, 398.
Republicans of 1843, 395, 396.
Kelley versus Brough, 397.
A Whig dinner, 397,
A Democratic antislavery declaration,
400, 401, 403.
A Whig supper, 401.
Death of John Q. Adams, 402.
Freesoil convention, 402.
Legislative deadlock of 1848-9, 402-412.
Origin and subjects of the contention,
404, 405.
Position and course of the Freesoil mem-
bers, 405, 406, 407.
Incidents of the controversy. 407, 408.
Repeal of the Black Laws, 407.
S. P. Chase elected to the National Sen-
ate, 407.
Disappointment and rage of the Whigs,
409.
" Beelzebub's Cattle show." 409, 410, 411.
Legislative deadlock of 1849-50, 411, 412.
" Battle of the sandboxes," 415.
Visits of Horace Greeley and General
Scott, 415.
Political Events— Confinued.
Henry Clay's obsequies, 415, 416.
Martin Koszta extradition case, 416.
Beginning of the Republican party, 418,
419, 420, 421, 422
Anti-Nebraska convention of 1854, 418.
The Know Nothing movement, 420, 430-
434.
Fusion convention of 1855, 420, 421, 422,
430-434.
The new party named Republican, 422.
Its triumph in 1855, 422, 323.
Speech by Stephen A. Douglas, 426.
Speech by Abraham Lincoln, 442.
Visit of the Kentucky and Tennessee
legislatures, 427.
Dismemberment of the Democratic
party, 427. 428.
Coalition of 1855. 430-434.
Outbreak of the Civil War, 435.
Reception of President Lincoln, 436, 437,
438.
Peace commissioners appointed, 438.
Last speeches of Stephen A. Douglas at
Columbus, 438.
Mr. Douglas's death, 439.
Relaxation of party lines, 439.
The Union party formed, 439.
Vallandigham's nomination and defeat,
441, 442.
Inauguration of Governor Tod, 440.
Inauguration of Governor Cox, 444.
Speech of General B. F. Butler, 445.
President Johnson's visit, 445.
First inauguration of Governor Hayes,
447.
His second inauguration, 448.
Inauguration of Governor Noyes, 450.
Allen County movement of 1873, 451.
Inauguration of Governor Allen, 452.
Governor Hayes nominated for the
Presidency, 453.
His farewell reception and departure for
Washington, 454, 455.
Inauguration of Governor Bishop, 455.
Inauguration of Governor Foster, 456.
As.«assination of President Garfield, 458.
Tallysheet frauds of 1885, 460.
Inauguration of Governor Foraker, 461,
462.
Hon. Allen G. Tliurman nominated for
the Vice Presidem y, 462.
Point Plea.sant, battle at ; 1, 95.
Police, see Municipality.
Pontiac, I, 74, 86.
Population, I, 279; II, 55, 56, 232.
Posloffice, see Mail.
Powell, Thomas E. ; portrait, II, 400 ; biog-
raphy, 819.
Powell, William; portrait, I, 392; biogranhy,
888,
Prehistoric races, see Ancient Races.
Presbyterian churches, see Church History.
History op the City of Columbus.
Prescott, William H. ; I, 31, 32, 43.
Press, the; 1,419-493:
First Ohio newspaper, 419.
The Ohio press in 1821, 420, 422.
Freeman's thronicle, 421, 422, 423, 431,
455, 465
Weste.rn Intelligencer, 423, 4?5, 477.
Columbus Gazelle of 1820-1825, 423.
Ohio Slate Journal, 423, 424, 425.
Ohio Monitor, 425, 426.
Ohio Statesman, 426, 427.
Miscellaneous newspapers and other
periodicals, 427-451.
DifBcnlties of early journalism, 4.52-454.
Primitive editorial fairness, 454.
Free extras, 4.54 456.
Advent of the daily paper, 456.
First telegraphic news transmission, 456,
457.
Struggles of the first dailies, 457, 458.
Legislative reporting, 457.
Journalism of the Civil War period, 458,
459.
The Cnsts office mobbed, 459.
Advent of the steam press, 460.
Newspaper office locations, 460.
Journalistic fracases, 461, 462.
Editorial associations, 462, 463, 464, 466,
467.
Journalistic biography, 467-493.
" A Great Old Sunset." 473, 474.
Prices, I, 262, 265-271, 387, 389, 390. Pee also
Business, and Lands and Land Titles.
Protestant Episcopal churches, II, 705-7OS.
Pugh, Andrew G. ; portrait, II, 544 ; biog-
raphy, 840.
Pugh, John M.; portrait, I, 288; biography,
Pulling, James G. ; portrait, II, 304 ; biog-
raphy, 817.
Railways, 11,233-303:
Origin of railway locomotion, 233, 234.
Railway beginnings in the Unitedl States,
234, 235.
Railway beginnings in Ohio, 234, 235.
Railway projects in the thirties, 236, 237,
238.
In the forties, 238, 239.
Incorporated lines touching Columbus,
240, 303.
Little Miami Railway, 240, 241, 242.
Columbus & Xenia, 242-249.
Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati, 249-
258.
Central Ohio, 258-264.
Columbus. Piqua & Indiana 267-271.
Steuben ville & Indiana, 267-271.
Cleveland. Akron & Columbus, 271-272.
Columbus, Springfield & Cincinnati, 272-
273.
Ra,\\wa.y8— Continued.
Columbus & Hocking Valley, 273-289.
Ohio & West Virginia, 289, 290.
Columbus & Toledo, 290 292.
Scioto Valley, 292-294.
Toledo & Ohio Central, 294-295.
Atlantic* Great Western, 295.
Michigan & Ohio, 295, 296.
Columbus & Ironton, 296.
Columbus & Maysville, 296.
The Union Depot Company, 296, 297.
Street obstruction by railways, 298, 299,
526. 527.
The High Street tunnel, 298.
Fast freight lines, 299. 300.
Express companies, 301, 302.
Rarey, John S. ; I, 740, 741, 742.
Red Hawk, I, 95, 99.
Refugee Lands, I, 616.
Reinhard, Jacob; portrait, I, 328; biography,
877.
Republican party, formation of ; see Political.
Reserve, Western ; I, 106, 118.
Reynolds, Wilham C. ; portrait, II, 352;
biography, 837.
Rickly, S. S. ; biography, II, 833.
Rickly, Ralph R ; portrait, II, 312.
Roads, see Turnpikts and Plank Rvads.
Rosetta fugitive slave case ; see Bench and
Bar.
Sagard, Father ; I, 68, 69.
Sanitary conditions of Columbus, see Geulogy.
Sater, John E. ; portrait, I, 616 ; biography,
905.
Savage, W. M. ; portrait, II, 48; biography,
805.
Schiller monument, II, 231, 232.
Schools, I, 494-581 :
School funds and legislation, 495-504.
Land grants for school support, 494, 495.
Virginia Military District, 494, 495,
486.
Refugee grant, 496.
First general school law of Ohio, 497.
School law of 1825, 497, 498.
Supplementary legislation, 498, 499.
Taxation for school purposes, 499, 500,
501,502,504.
Law of 1845,500,501.
Akron school law, 501.
Law of 1848, 502. *
General school law of 1853, 502.
Law of 1873, ,502.
Compuhsory education act, 503.
Examination of teachers, 503.
Legal school age, 504.
Textbook legislation, 504, 546.
Private schools, 504-520.
How supported, 505.
Early schoolhouses, 505, 506.
General Index.
873
Schoo\s — CuntirLued.
First, schools in Frankljnton, 494, 495,
505.
The Oil) Academy, 506, 509 510, 511, 528,
529.
Teachers of private schools, 509.
Hazeltine's school, 511, 512.
Female Academy, 512.
School on Doe Run, 51.3.
Lutheran Seminary, 51.S. 514.
HighschonI of 183-', 515.
Charity school of 1836, 515.
Schools for colored vouth, 516, 550, 560,
565.
Columbus institutes, 516, 517, 518.
Commercial schools, 520.
Public schools, 521-581.
Worthington College, 521.
First Sunday school, 521.
Origin of the common school system,
First school examiners, 522, 538.
First certified teachers, 522
Schooldistrict boundaries and house-
holders, 497, 522, 523, 524, 52-5, 526,
527.
Pioneer teachers of public schools, 528,
531, 532, 533.
Their compensation, 528.
First public school and schoolhouse in
Columbus, 529.
Public school disbursements, 529, 530,
531. 532, 533, 534, 535, 536, 543, 544.
Columbus as a separate school district,
536-545.
Private versus public schools 537.
IneflBciency of the latter, 537.
State school Superintendent, 499, 537,
538.
First graded schools, 539.
Common school revival, 539, 540.
Reform in school apartments. 540, 541.
Rented schoolrooms used. .541.
Erection of school buildings proposed
and provided f' ir, 540-542.
Evening schools. 542, 558.
School disburenients in 1841, 543, 544.
School organization under the act of
1845, 545.
Additional school buildings erected, 546.
Textbooks made uniform, 546.
First superintendent of Columbus
schools. 547.
, Highschool department opened, 548.
Made permanent, 549.
Earlier Highschool course, 549.
. German-English scho Is, 550. 564.
Compensation of teachers, 528, 551.
Columbus schools in 1851, 552, 553.
The different superintendents sketched,
553-568.
Present Columbus school regulations,
566, 567.
Schools Continued.
Women as principals, 567.
Instruction in music and art, 567, 568.
The Normal School, 568, 569.
The school library, 550, 569.
North End Highschool, 563.
Board of Education, 570-573.
School Examiners, 573.
School sites and buildings, 574.
Enumeration, attendance and expendi-
ture, 575
Graduates of the Highschool, 576-581.
Scioto Purchase, I, 108.
Scioto River, the; I, 301-310:
Its early navigation, 301, 302
Its obstruction prohibited, 302.
Sullivant's Bridge, 303, 304.
The Old Ford, 304.
Floods of 1798, 1832 and 1834, 304.
Flood of 1847, 304, 305.
Floods of 18.52 and 1859, 305.
Flood of 1862, 305, 306.
Floods of 1866, 1869, 1870 and 1881, 3 6.
Flood of 1883, 306, 307, 308.
High water of 1887, 308.
The Bloody Island, 308, 309.
Navigation of the river by steam, 309,
310.
Seat of government, legislative proceedings
as to location of; I, 208, 223-235.
Serpent Mound, the ; I, 37, 39, 39.
Sessions, Francis C. ; portrait, T, 832; biog-
raphy, 912.
Sewerage, I, 684, 687, 690, 691, 692, 693, 694.
Sewers, II, 529-535:
First sewers underground, 529.
Sewerage commission of 1865, 529.
The Scioto River as a sewer, 529, 532, 534.
Peters Run sewer, 529, 530, 531, 532, 533.
Fourth Street sewir, 530.
Cost of the sewers, I, 662 ; II, 530:
Absence of system in sewerage, 531.
Northeastern trunk sewer, 531, 533.
Southfastern trunk sewer, 531.
Northwestern trunk sewer, 531, 533.
Franklin Park sewer, 561.
The intercepting sewer, 532, 534, 535.
The Canal asas-wer, 532, 533.
Peters Run sewer dam, 533
Shades of Death, I, 320.
Shadeville, I, 49, 58.
Shawnees, the ; I, 70, 73, 74, 84, 85, 89, 91
102.
Shea, John Gilmary ; I, 17, 79.
Shepard, William ; portrait, I, 704 ;
raphy, 908.
Shrock, M. E. ; portrait, II, 32; biography,
804.
Slade, William H. ; portrait, I, 480; biog-
raphy, 899.
Smith, David; portrait, I, 456; biography,
Smith, James; I, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, i8.
100,
biog-
History of the City op Columbus.
Societies, miscellaneous ; II, 775-781.
Squier and Davis, I, 24, 25, 28, 30, 33, 37, 38,
42, 43, 46, 47, 75.
Squirrel bunt, I, 294, 295.
Stages and staging, see Mail.
State Fair, see Industrial Events.
State Government, see Ohio.
Statehouse, see Public Buildings and Capitol.
State University, see University.
Streets, II, 519-528 :
Streets of the borough, 519.
Citv streets during the thirties and for-
■ ties, 520.
Streets during the fifties, 520, 521, 522.
High Street paving, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524,
525, 520, 527, 528.
Bridges and viaducts, 521.
Street shadetrees, 521, 522.
Street cleaning, 520, 522, 523, 525.
Street names, 521, 523, .524.
North High Street improvement, 525, 526.
Street obstruction by railways, 298, 299,
526, 527.
Numbering of houses, 520, 521, 527.
Irregularities of streets, 527.
Street assessments on public propertv,
528.
Recent street paving, 538, 539, 540.
Street Lighting, II, .558-559 :
Candles, lardlamps and lanterns, 556, 566.
Origin of gas illumination, 555.
First gas ordinance, .556.
Columbus Gas and Coke Companyorgan-
ized, 556.
Gas works erected, 557, 558.
First gas supply, 557.
Amount of supply and prices. 558.
A naphtha interlude, 558.
Electric lighting, 558, 559.
Street Transportation, II, 304-314:
Early omnibus and hack service, 304, 305.
Limitation of fares, 304, 305, 306.
First street railway in Columbus, 306, 307.
Its construction and opening on High
Street, 307.
Its decadence, 308, 309.
North Columbus and Friend Street lines
incorporated, 309.
North Columbus line built, 3i3.
Long Street line built, 310.
High and Friend Street lines consolidated,
310.
Neil Avenue line authorized, 311.
Oak Street line incorporated, 311.
Bought by the Consolidated Company,
312. •
Consolidated Street Railway Company
formed, 312.
Sale of its property, 309.
Electric motors introduced, 313.
Glenwood and Green Lawn line, 313, 314.
Belt railway schemes, 314.
Street Railways, see Street Transportation.
Sullivant's Bridge, I, 218, 235, 302, 303, 304,
310.
SuUivant, Lucas* I, 135-139, 150, 151, 153, 157,
158, 159, 162, 163, 170, 171, 172, 189, 218,
235, 237, 244, 261 , 295, 302, 313, 405, 505,
507,509,521.
Sullivant's Mill, I, 162.
Sullivant's Prairie, I, 173.
SuUivant Store in Franklinton, 154.
Swayne, Noah H.; portrait, II, 8 ; biography,
837.
Swayne, Wager ; portrait, II, 96 ; biography,
808.
Tahre, I, 77, 79.
Tallegni, the; I, 41.
'Taverns, see Coffeehouses.
Taylor, David ; portrait, I, 160 ; biography,
881.
Tecumseh, 1, 246.
Telegraph, electric, I:
Its invention and first use, 362, 363.
First lines strung, 363.
First line touching Columbus, 363.
First message over it, 363.
First telegraphic news service, 363, 364.
Additional lines in Ohio, 364.
First Atlantic cable, 365.
Magnitude of present telegraph service,
365, 366.
District telegraph, 366.
The telephone in Columbus, 366, 367.
Telephone, see Telegraph.
Territorial government, see Ohio.
Thames, battle of the; I, 75, 170, 248, 309.
Thurman, Allen G.; portrait, I, 16; biogra-
phy, 855.
Titles, see Lands.
Titles, Indian, I, 105.
Tod Barracks, see War for the Union.
Townshend, Norton S.; portrait, I, 80 ; biogra-
phy, 859.
Townships, history of; 163.
I Trade, Board of; H, 366-371:
I First organization of in Franklin County.
366.
Second board organized in Columbus, 367.
1 Board of 1872, 368.
1 Organization of 1880, 368.
Reorganization of 1884, 369.
Board of Trade building, 369, 370.
Subjects to which the Board has given
attention, 370, 371.
Turnpikes and Plankroads, I, 311-319:
The wilderness trails and bridlepaths,
I 311,312.
Early wagonroads, 312, 313.
Franklin Turnpike Company, 313, 314.
Granville Road, 314.
i Columbus and Sandusky Turnpike, 314,
I 315, 316.
General Inhex.
Turnpikes and Plankroads — Continued.
Turnpikes and plankroads touching Col-
umbus, 316, 317, 318.
Diflaculties of country road travel, 318,
319.
Worthington Plankroad, 319.
Turnverein, 11, 771, 772.
Twightwees, I, 84.
U.
United Brethren in Christ. II, 710.
United States Military Lands, I, 616.
Universalist Church. II, 711, 712, 713.
University, the Capital; see Lutheran.
University, Ohio State ; II, 621-630:
First demands for agricultural education
in Ohio, 621.
Doctor Townshend's school at Oberlin,
621, 630.
Congressional endowment of agricultural
colleges, 621.
Sale of the Ohio land scrip, 622.
Proposed division of the Ohio fund, 621,
622.
Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical Col-
lege provided for, 622.
Franklin County's donation thereto, 622.
The institution located, 622 623.
The main building erected, 623.
Course of studv and Faculty, 623, 625, 626,
627. 628, 629, 630.
Opening of the institution, 624.
Additional buildings erected, 624, 62.^,
627, 629.
Lectures on agriculture, 625, 630.
Bureau of meteorology, 625, 630.
Veterinary department established. 626.
Chemical laboratory buildingburned, 626.
Manual training department proposed,
626.
Law department established, 627.
Second Congressional endowment, 627.
Permanent State levy for support of the
institution, 627.
Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station,
628, 630.
Wheaton collection of birds, 628.
Moores collection of shells, 628.
The SuUivant and Deshler collections.
German library, 628.
Geological museum, 628.
Virginia Land Company, I, 83.
Virginia Military District, I, 113, 494, 495,
606, 607, 616, 628.
W.
War of 1812, I, 236-2.50, 261, 262:
Declaration of, 236.
Rendezvous of Ohio troops, 236.
General Hull's conference with the In-
dians, 236.
Northward march of his army, 237.
Blockhouses in the Black Swamp, 237.
Hull's capitulation, 237.
Indian alarms, 237.
Governor Mi igs and the Ohio militia, 237.
Governor Scott and the Kentucky militia,
237.
Harrison appointed to command, 237.
Relief of Fort Wayne, 238.
Harrison at Franklinton, 238, 242, 244,
245, 250.
His military plans, 238.
Franklinton as a military rendezvous, 238,
239, 249.
Harrison's movements, 239, 243, 244, 250.
The Massassiniway expedition, 239, 240.
Freeman's Chronicle military news, 240,
241, 243, 244, 245, 248.
Winchester's advance, 241.
His defeat at the River Raisin, 241.
Fort Meigs built, 241.
Besieged by Proctor, 244, 250.
Harrison's conference with the Indians,
244, 245, 247, 249, 250.
Scene of the conference (Harrison Elm),
247.
Harrison's speech to the Indian warriors,
250.
Execution of a deserter 245.
Alarming rumors, 245, 246.
An Indian foray, 246.
Harriton at Presque Isle, 246.
Proctor's feint, 246.
Croghan's disobedience, 246.
His defense of Fort Stevenson, 216, 248.
Rally of the Ohio militia, 248.
Commodore Perry's preparations, 246.
His victory, 248.
Harrison's retirement, 249.
End of the war, 249.
British captives at Franklinton, 249.
War with Mexico, II, 15 29 :
How it was precipitated, 15.
Contemporary condition of the militia,
15, 16.
Ohio's quota of volunteers, 16.
Organization and equipment of the
troops, 16, 17.
Recruiting in Columbus, 17.
News of Taylor's first victories, 17.
Camp Washington, 17, 18, 19.
Columbus companies organized, 18, 19, _'0,
21.
War discussions in Congress, 19.
Departure of Columbus companies, 18, 19,
20, 21.
History of the City of Columbus.
War with Mexico— Continued.
Return of the volunteers, 21, 22, 23.
Testimonial to Colonel Morgan, 21.
Captain William A. Latham's Company,
23,24
Captain J. T. Mickum's Company, 24, 25.
Captain Otto Zirckel's Company, 25. 26.
CaptainM.C. Lilley'sCompany,27,28, 29.
War for the Union, II, 88 155:
Fort Sumter attacked, 88.
First call for volunteers, 88.
Responses to the call, 89, 90.
First enlistments at Columbus, 88, 104.
Columbus as a military rendezvous, 89.
Governor Dennison's proclamation, 90.
Temporary war loan, 90.
Million dollar bill passed, 90.
Unpreparedness of the militia, 90, 91.
Confusion at militarv headquarters, 91,
105.
First arrivals of volunteers, 91, 106.
How the troops were quartered, 91, 92, 96.
Scenes in the Capitol, 92.
Commissary contracts. 92, 105.
Tentpoles provided, 93.
Arrangements for obtaining arms, 93.
Contracts for clothing, 93.
Departure of the First and Second regi-
ments, 93, 94.
Camp Jackson (Goodale Park), 92, 93, 94,
96, 97, 99, 103, 106.
Women's Soldiers' Aid Society, 95, 106,
120, 121, 124, 162, 163.
Relief of soldiers' families, 95.
Board of medic il examiners, 65.
Volunteers' complaints, 96.
Legislative action thereon, 96.
Camp Dennison established, 96.
A camp incident, 96.
Third and Fourth regiments organized,
96, 97.
Camp Chase established, 97.
Reconstruction of the Governor's staff,
98, 105.
President's second call, 98.
Movements of threemonths regiments,98.
Eighteenth United States Infantry, 99.
Camp Lyon, 99.
Camp Carlisle, 99
Return of threemonths men, 100.
Bull Run defeat, 100, 101.
First threeyears call, 101.
.Vew companies in Columbus, 101, 102.
First arrivals of prisoners of war, 102.
Governor Dennison's appeal for dona-
tions, 103, 104.
Contracts for army supplies, 103.
Heavy shipments of arms, 103, 105.
General Sherman's alleged insanity, 103,
Military chaos reduced to order, 107.
State laboratory, 105, 122, 123, 136.
Governor Tod's administration begun,
108.
War for the Union — Continued.
Staff changes, 108.
Fall of Fort Donelson announced, 108.
News of the Shiloh battle, 109.
Hospital supplies forwarded, 109.
F. C. Sessions's letters, 109, 110, 125.
Arrivals of sick and wounded, 110.
A premature announcement. 111.
A notable war meeting. 111, 112.
Bounties for volunteers, 112, 140.
Franklin County Military Committee,
112.
A draft avoided, 113.
General Pope's battles in Virginia, 113.
Battle of Antietam, 113.
Kirby Smith's advance on Cincinnati,
113.
Rally of the squirrel hunters, 1 13, 114,
178, 179.
Battles of Fredericksburg and Stone
River, 114, 125.
A cry for competent leadership, 114, 115.
Local record of military movements in
1862, 115, 116.
Captured Confederates at Camp Chase,
116, 117, 135, 136, 144, 157.
Insolence of paroled Confederates, 117,
120, 144.
Paroled Union soldiers, 117, 118, 136.
Camp Lew. Wallace, 118.
Camp Chase under Colonel Moody, 118
Camp Chase Military Prison, 119.
Unique flagraising, 119.
Negro slaves at the Camp Chase prison,
119.
A camp alarm, 119, 120.
War canards locally current, 121, 137.
Columbus Cadets, 102, 121.
National Arsenal and Barracks at Colum-
bus, 123, 163, 164.
Esther Institute, hospital and prison,
125, 126.
Medary's Crisis office mobbed, 126.
Burnside's Army Corps passes west, 126.
Street fight with its stragglers, 126, 127.
An Andrews raider honored, 127.
Diplomas for "squirrel hunters," 127.
Gettysburg victory announced, 127, 128.
Surrender of Vicksburg, 128.
Milit a law of 1863, 128.
John Morgan's raid, 128, 129, 137, 180,
181.
A political incident, 129.
Chickamauga battle, 130.
F. W. Hurtt embezzleiflent, 1.30.
General courlmartial, 130, 143, 161.
First colored recruits, 130, 131.
Response to the sixmonths call, 131.
Call for 300,000 more volunteers, 132.
Eleventh and Twelfth army corps pass
west, 132, 181.
More militia companies organized, 133.
Twentvsecond Ohio Battery recruited,
133.
General Imdex.
War for the Union — Continued.
Camp Tod, 134.
Clearance of lounging officers, 134.
Wholesale desertion, 134, 135.
Inauguration of Governor Brough, 139.
Veteran reenlistments, 140, 145, 146.
One-hundred-days troops, 141, 142.
Oneyear regiments organized, 142.
The draft in Columbus, 142, 143.
Bountyjumpers and substitutes, 143.
Tod Barracks, 134, 143, 144, 145, 156, 157,
158, 159.
Department commander Heintzelman,
144.
Military campaigns of 1863, 147, 157.
General Lee's surrender, 147, 149.
Rejoicing at Columbus, 148, 149.
Speech of Senator Sherman, 148, 149.
Assassination of President Lincoln, 149,
150.
His remains at Columbus, 151, 152, 153,
154, 155.
Return of the volunteers, 156-167.
Camp Dennison discontinued, 159.
An affecting incident, 160.
A veteran's dilemma, 160, 161.
Camp Chase broken up, 161.
United States Sanitary Commission, 162.
State Soldiers' Home, 163.
State Arsenal, 164.
Welcome to General Sherman, 164, 165.
General Grant received, 165, 166.
War Experiences at Columbus, II, 168 185:
Biographical sketch of General George
B. Wright, 168, 169.
Beginning of the war, 169.
The rush of volunteers, 170.
Bull Run defeat, 170.
How the volunteers were supplied, 170.
How war funds were provided, 171, 172,
173.
Transportation of the troops, 171, 172,
173.
How the volunteers were equipped, 173,
177, 178, 182, 183.
Governor Dennison's services, 173, 174.
The Confederate captives, 174, 175.
Hon. Andrew Johnson at Columbus, 175.
"Parson" Brownlow's visit, 175.
Care of the sick and wounded, 175, 176,
177.
Ohio State Agents and their services, 176,
177, 181.
Defense of Cincinnati, 178.
Alarms on the Ohio border, 179,
How the draft was enforced, 179.
The "conscientious fund," 180.
John Morgan's raid, 180.
Vallandigham's arrest, 181.
Efficiency of repeating rifles, 182, 183.
Governor Tod's generosity, 183, 184.
Anecdotes of President Lincoln, 184, 185.
Washington, George ; I, 82, 85, 86, 87, 91, 92,
98, 99, 115.
Water Supply, I, 687, 688, 689, 690; II, 541-
544:
Wells and springs, 541.
First watersupply schemes, 541, 542.
Burning of the Neil House, 542.
Burning of the Central Asylum, 542, 543,
344.
Watterson, Bishop John A.; portrait. 11,632.
For biography see Caihu ic Churches.
Wayne, General Anthony ; I, 79, 106, 115, 116.
Weather and weather observations, see Cli-
mate.
Webster, Hon. Daniel ; I, 110, 746, 747.
Wege, Charles; portrait, II, 576; biography,
839.
Wheaton, Doctor John M.; 13, 14, 16, 18, 297.
Whetstone River, I, 17, 45, 55, 97, 137, 186,
191, 220, 295, 299.
Whipping post and pillory, I, 158, 163.
Whittlesey, Charles; I, 27, 43, 46, 48, 73.
Wilderness, see Ohio.
Wilson, Andrew; portrait, I, 168; biogra-
phy, 916.
Wolf Ridge, I, 293.
Woman's Exchange, II, 741.
Woman's Home, II, 741.
Woman's Hospital, II, 740.
Woman's Industrial Home, II, 742.
Worthington, I, 184.197:
New England and the Northwest, 184.
Western emigration and the slavery
question, 184.
Exclusion of slavery from the Northwest
Territory, 184.
James Kilbourn, founder of Worthing-
ton, 184, 185.
His first journey to the Ohio country,
185, 186.
His report thereon, 186, 187.
The Scioto Company organized, 187.
Kilbourn's diary, 188, 189.
Origin of the Worthington colony, 189.
Original plat of Worthington, 190.
Distribution of town lots, 191.
Diary i.f Joel Buttles, 192, 193.
Trving experiences of the Worthington
■ colonists, 192, 193, 194.
First newspaper in Central Ohio, 194.
The Worthington Manufacturing Com-
pany, 194, 195, 196, 197, 214, 215.
President Monroe's reception at Worth-
ington, 272.
Wright, George B.; portrait, II, 168; biogra-
phy, see War Experiences.
Wright, Professor G. F.; I,M9, 21, 22, 41, 42, 61.
Wright, Horatio ; portrait, I, 192 ; biography,
917.
Wright, James E.; portrait, T, 104 ; biography,
Wyandot, Billy, I, 170.
Wyandot Club, II, 773, 774, 775.
Wyandot Indians, I, 9, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 71,
75, 77, 79, 84, 86, 87, 92, 99, 100, 102, 114,
291, 371.
878 History of the City of Columbus.
Y ' Zane, Ebenezer ; I, 93, 103.
Zane, Jonathan ; I, 103.
Young Men's Christian Association, II, 715, Zane, Silas ; I, 103.
716,717,718. ' Zane's Trace, I, 149,151, 185, 311.
Zeisberger, David ; I, 8, 92,
Zettler, Louis: portrait, I, 610; biography.
Zane, Bill ; I, 170. I Zinn, Philip ; I, 344, 345, 346.
ERRATA.
Page 8, line 21 from bottom, read " famed " for " framed.
Page 14, last note should be numbered 7 instead of 17.
Page 73, line 11, read " .Jacob " for " Jabob." On same page, line 9 from bottom, read " Regi-
ment."
Page 87, line 9 from bottom, read " II " for " III."
Page 128, line 16 from bottom, read "auxiliary " for " auxilliary."
Page 135, line 15 from bottom, read " army the cost " instead of " army cost."
Page 164, line 20 from bottom, read " Councilmen " for " Councilman."
Page 249, line 2 from bottom, read " statistics " for " statictics."
Page 239, line 26 from the top, read " Darke " for " Drake."
Page 240, line 3 from the bottom, read " Robert " for " Rebert."
Page 246, line 18 from the bottom, omit " as a branch of their line."
Page 262, line 7 from the bottom, read " of " instead of " to."
Page 279, line 3 from the bottom, read "Run " instead of " River."
Page 282, line 6 from the bottom, read "our " instead of " your."
Page 288, line 17 from the top, read " an " instead of " a."
Page 292, line 10 from the top, read " built" for " build."
Page 292, line 6 from the bottom, read "Glover" for " Clover."
Page 439, line 20 from the bottom, read " representative " for " representatives."
Page 444, read " habeas " for " haebeas."
Page 447, bottom, read " 447 " for " 477."
Page 374, line 3 from the top, read " 1822 " for " 1882."
Page 864, Volume I, lines 9 and 10 from top, for " a hundred," read " a few hundred."
Page 865, Volume I, line 16 from the top, for "bereavement" read "bereavements."
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